20160624 HELPING OUR CHILDREN TO FIND THEIR VOCATION IN LIFE
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First reading
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Isaiah 49:1-6 ©
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Islands, listen to
me,
pay attention,
remotest peoples.
The Lord called me
before I was born,
from my mother’s womb
he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a
sharp sword,
and hid me in the
shadow of his hand.
He made me into a
sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in
his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You
are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be
glorified’;
while I was thinking,
‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted
myself for nothing’;
and all the while my
cause was with the Lord,
my reward with my
God.
I was honoured in the
eyes of the Lord,
my God was my
strength.
And now the Lord has
spoken,
he who formed me in
the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back
to him,
to gather Israel to
him:
‘It is not enough for
you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes
of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the
light of the nations
so that my salvation
may reach to the ends of the earth.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
138:1-3,13-15 ©
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I thank you for
the wonder of my being.
O Lord, you search me
and you know me,
you know
my resting and my rising,
you
discern my purpose from afar.
You mark when I walk
or lie down,
all my
ways lie open to you.
I thank you for
the wonder of my being.
For it was you who
created my being,
knit me
together in my mother’s womb.
I thank you for the
wonder of my being,
for the
wonders of all your creation.
I thank you for
the wonder of my being.
Already you knew my
soul,
my body
held no secret from you
when I was being
fashioned in secret
and
moulded in the depths of the earth.
I thank you for
the wonder of my being.
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Second reading
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Acts 13:22-26 ©
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Paul said: ‘God
deposed Saul and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I
have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out
my whole purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of
David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when
he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before
John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one
is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”
‘My
brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of
salvation is meant for you.’
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Lk1:76
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Alleluia, alleluia!
As for you, little
child, you shall be called
a prophet of God, the
Most High.
You shall go ahead of
the Lord
to prepare his ways
before him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 1:57-66,80 ©
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The time came for
Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her
neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness,
they shared her joy.
Now on
the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him
Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to
be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’,
and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked
for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all
astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and
praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was
talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it
treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they
wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
Meanwhile
the child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness
until the day he appeared openly to Israel.
HELPING
OUR CHILDREN TO FIND THEIR VOCATION IN LIFE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ Is 49:1-6; Ps
138:1-3, 13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66, 80 ]
The birth of every child
brings great joy to the parents and to those who know them. This was the
case of Zechariah and Elizabeth. “The time came for Elizabeth to have her
child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard
that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.”
Indeed, we can imagine the joy of a mother and father when the child is
born. It calls for celebration and rejoicing.
But once the rejoicing is
over or at the back of the mind of the parents and friends, there is the
question, “what will this child turn out to be?” This is by
far the most crucial question. The anxiety of parents begins now.
All parents are worried about the future of their children. What will
become of them? Will they be able to be admitted to a good school?
Will they excel in their studies? Will they be of good character?
Will they be happily married? Will they get a good job and be
successful in their career?
In order to answer this
question, “what will this child turn out to be”, we need to come back to the
cause of rejoicing. Why do we rejoice when a child is born? Why do
people want to have children? Why are some couples so desperate to have
children? In the past, children used to be an investment for old
age. Now they can be a liability rather than an investment. Why,
then, do we have children? Is it because we need them to look after
us? Or we need someone to amuse us like a toy or a pet? The
truth is that parents experience the joy of loving, caring and giving. It
is our nature to love and be loved. This explains why grandparents and
relatives like to pamper children with gifts and love. What greater joy
can one have than to share this joy with someone who is the product of your
love?
Consequently, we must also
ask what we hope for our children. Is it simply hoping that they
will be healthy, do well in their studies and in their career and have a
beautiful family? If that were so, our vision for our children will be
rather myopic and even self-centered. Rather, the gospel reminds us that
every child is not just a gift to his or her parents and relatives but to the
nations. In giving life and love, they receive life. Of the Suffering
Servant, the Lord said, “I will make you the light of the nations so that my
salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” For this reason, when John
the Baptist was born, Elizabeth and Zechariah named him, “John” which in Hebrew
means, “God is gracious.”
John simply means that he
is the gift of God not just to his parents but to humanity, as we read later on
in the Benedictus when Zechariah under the inspiration of the Holy Spirt sang
praises to God saying, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most
High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give
knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, through
the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide
our feet into the way of peace.” (Lk 1:77-79
)
)
Indeed,
we have been chosen, like the Suffering Servant, to be at the service of God
even before we were born. The prophet said, “Islands, listen to me, pay
attention, remotest peoples. The Lord called me before I was born, from my
mother’s womb he pronounced my name.” We are gifts from God for others.
We do not live for ourselves. We have a mission to fulfill in life.
King David too was chosen for a role. St Paul said: “God made David the
king of our ancestors, of whom he approved in these words, ‘I have selected
David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole
purpose.’” God knows us and has a plan for each of us.
Within this perspective is
the question of how, as parents, we are called to form our children. They
are not our possession and property. As parents, we have been entrusted
with the children so that they can be of service to God and to humanity.
Every child is called to be light to the nations. Every child is
called to bring all men and women back to God. “And now the Lord has
spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to
him, to gather Israel to him: It is not enough for you to be my servant, to
restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make
you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the
earth.” This is the calling of every human person. Every one of us
is called to be the light that leads all of humanity back to God.
The work of parents is
primarily the work of discernment and guidance so that their children can
fulfil not the parents’ desires but to find their vocation in life. We
need to consider what are their charisms and calling in life. Not
everyone is called to be a preacher like John the Baptist. “He made my mouth
a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a
sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.” Our gifts are different
and so parents have the necessary task of helping their children to discern
their calling and to guide them accordingly, just as John the Baptist’s parents
did for him. They did not stop John the Baptist from going into the
desert, living an ascetic life and becoming a preacher of repentance. As
parents, they were simply seeking to fulfill the plan of God for John the Baptist,
not theirs.
As parents therefore our
task is to help and equip our children to become shepherds after the heart of
Christ and to be a servant leader in the world. Like John the
Baptist, we are called to prepare the way for the Lord. Parents have a serious
duty to ensure not so much that they do well, be successful and wealthy in
life. Rather, the preoccupation of parents must be to discern their
vocation in life so that they can live out our common calling to be the light
of the nations. Our task is to help them to be true servants of the Lord.
The future of our children
will depend on the formation we provide for them. The kind of values they
will adopt, the depth of their faith in God, the extent of their generosity
towards others and their ambition in life will depend on how the parents impart
these values. Most of all, values are given not so much through words but
by their very lives. In other words, the future of our children depends
on parents living out their faith. They themselves must first be shepherds
after the heart of Christ before they can prepare the way of the Lord for their
children to accept Christ and His love. Parents are the first and primary
educators in love, life and faith.
So the joy of having a
child must be followed up by forming the child in the likeness of Christ.
The psalmist expressed, “For it was you who created my being, knit me together
in my mother’s womb. I thank you for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of
all your creation.” We need to ensure that, like John the Baptist, our
children not only grow in knowledge but in grace and maturity. The evangelist
says of John the Baptist, “And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him. The
child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until
the day he appeared openly to Israel.”
This process of formation
is challenging and difficult. Formation is one of the most difficult
things in life. Quite often we feel like giving up. It is not easy
to form children nowadays because of the exposure they have to so many
philosophies of life. Although extremely challenging and trying, it is
fulfilling when we see the end product of the future of our children.
Thus we need to persevere in faith, love and prayer. This is what the
Lord is assuring us in our task of bringing people to Christ. He said to
the Suffering Servant, “You are my servant (Israel) in whom I shall be
glorified; while I was thinking, I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself
for nothing; and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my
God. I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my strength.”
So in our struggles in
forming our children to be God’s children, let us be patient and rely on His
grace alone. Let us trust in God as Zechariah and Elizabeth did because
God is gracious! He will show us the way. Indeed, the psalmist
assures us, “O Lord, you search me and you know me, you know my resting and my
rising, you discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie
down, all my ways lie open to you. Already you knew my soul, my body held no
secret from you when I was being fashioned in secret and moulded in the depths
of the earth.” At the end of the day, it is grace. This is what
John is reminding us, the Lord is gracious!
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