20180624 HELPING OUR CHILDREN TO FIND THEIR VOCATION IN LIFE
24 JUNE, 2018, Sunday, The Nativity of
John the Baptist
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First reading
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Isaiah 49:1-6 ©
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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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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(139):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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Jesus, whose coming was heralded by John
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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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'His name is John'
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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 139:1-3, 13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 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 a 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 servant leaders 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 to form 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!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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