20241229 CHILDREN AS A GIFT OF GOD TO BE FORMED IN THE STATURE OF CHRIST
29 December 2024, Sunday, The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
First reading |
1 Samuel 1:20-22,24-28 |
This is the child I prayed for: he is made over to the Lord.
Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son, and called him Samuel ‘since’ she said ‘I asked the Lord for him.’
When a year had gone by, the husband Elkanah went up again with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfil his vow. Hannah, however, did not go up, having said to her husband, ‘Not before the child is weaned. Then I will bring him and present him before the Lord and he shall stay there for ever.’
When she had weaned him, she took him up with her together with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the bull and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said, ‘If you please, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 83(84):2-3,5-6,9-10 |
They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord, God of hosts.
My soul is longing and yearning,
is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my soul ring out their joy
to God, the living God.
They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord.
They are happy, who dwell in your house,
for ever singing your praise.
They are happy, whose strength is in you,
in whose hearts are the roads to Zion.
They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer,
give ear, O God of Jacob.
Turn your eyes, O God, our shield,
look on the face of your anointed.
They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord.
Second reading |
1 John 3:1-2,21-24 |
We are called God's children, and that is what we are
Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s children;
and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge him,
therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the children of God
but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is.
My dear people,
if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience,
we need not be afraid in God’s presence,
and whatever we ask him,
we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 2:41-52 |
Mary stored up all these things in her heart
Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.
Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’
‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant.
He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority.
His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.
CHILDREN AS A GIFT OF GOD TO BE FORMED IN THE STATURE OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SAM 1:20-22.24-28; PS 84:2-3,5-6,9-10; 1 JN 3:1-2.21-24; LK 2:41-52]
This evening, the local Church celebrates the opening of the Jubilee Year of Hope. Today, we also celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. There is a certain despair in the world today. This is because the family unit is breaking down. People have become more individualistic. The present generation sees the futility of this life. They have lost God. With the absence of God in their life, there is no after-life. And since there is only one life on earth, when we die, we will disappear forever from the face of this earth, so there is no reason to make sacrifices, to do good to others; just take care of ourselves, enjoy as much as we can today. After all, we have worked hard for it.
The loss of hope in society today has very much to do with the disintegration of family life. The basic cell of society is the family, comprising of parents and children. How strong society is, how cohesive and what kind of people we are, is dependent on the state of our family. By extension, anyone who is related by birth, marriage or adoption is a member of the family. Not only is marriage being threatened in today’s world, but the family as well. For this reason, the Church has a duty to address the world, the larger family of God, to help our people rediscover the beauty and splendour of the vocation to love and be at the service of life and humanity.
Although the world does not feel threatened by the promotion of same-sex union, ironically it feels the threat of depopulation and an aging population. This is particularly true of developed countries, where both husbands and wives are working. It is not just work that inhibits husbands and wives from having children because of the responsibility and sacrifices needed to look after them, but they also have their own social life and personal ambition and needs. But with marriage being redefined, and children lacking model parents that are life-giving, not only are fewer people wanting to marry, but fewer still, want to have children. In a culture where the emphasis is on “me” – my needs, my wants, my enjoyment, my happiness, my freedom, my pleasure, my pursuits – having children is not a priority of many married couples.
So what does the world do? They offer incentives – mostly monetary, more paternity and maternity leave, subsidised child-care centres – to help our parents to care for their children. Certainly, these measures can help, but these are not the main motivations for married couples to have children. If their rationale for not having children is because they see them as obstacles to their personal freedoms and pursuits in life, no amount of incentives will change their mind. Those incentives are helpful only to those who have already decided to have children, and love children.
If marriage and family are not attractive, it is because the world overly promotes individualism, a false freedom and materialism. This is one of the causes of the loss of hope in the goodness of the world. Today, we are called to live for ourselves and not for others. Why should we live for others? This life is short and therefore we should live for ourselves. Children are no longer an ‘investment’, but a lifelong liability because we have to care for them until the day we leave this world. We have to share our resources with them and help them out when we could have just spent on ourselves. When we are old, we just have to make sure we have enough money for our retirement so we do not have to depend on our children to look after us, because they are often too busy to be available for their elderly parents.
How do we offer our people a greater hope in life? How do we ensure that our elderly will not one day have to look after themselves, devoid of the human touch and assisted only by AI? How do we ensure that family values, filial piety and compassion for the poor and underprivileged, living for others and not for oneself prevail in today’s world, as we as depend more and more on technology, and our young people are too busy with their lives and pursuits to care for the elderly or even to have a family?
What should we do to help our young people and married couples rediscover their role or vocation in life in the world? The call to marriage and family is a call to be life-giving and sharing in the love of God. This is our ultimate and eternal hope, now and in the life to come. A person who lives for himself alone cannot find happiness. When it is shared with a larger group of people, the greater will be our happiness, joy, and love. So having children is not for pragmatic reasons, unlike what the world thinks. This is because the world promotes family and procreation to boost manpower and resources to continue to build society, to increase trade and economy, to defend the country even as they seek to replace them with Artificial Intelligence.
Happiness is to share in the Trinitarian life. God is not a monad but a trinity of persons. Created in God’s image, we are called to share in the Trinitarian life, which is one of constant sharing, giving, receiving, empowering and loving. It is within the family that an individual learns how to share and give, how to live with others, be patient, forgiving and tolerant. In this way, we give hope to each other. Those couples who avoid having children because of selfish reasons will live to regret in their old age because they will be alone and without a family unless they use their lives to give hope to others through service.
Secondly, our greatest hope is to be a child of God. St John wrote, “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are.” Our hope is founded on God’s love. When we are loved, we have hope. If we know that God is love, then we will not be afraid when trials come our way and we have the courage also to love. Love gives us hope in the impossible.
Our task as parents is to help our children to become God’s children. We are called to help them realize their identity as God’s children and their calling. This is why, the greatest gift that any parent can give to their children is not education, a good life, luxuries. but to help them discover their noble calling as God’s children. Indeed, the greatest gift we can give to our children is faith in God. Unless they have a deep faith in God as their father, they will not know their true identity. St John remarked, “Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
Consequently, like Hannah, we must remember that our children do not belong to us. They belong to God. We are called to be God’s guardians in looking after His children. Our task as parents is to help them realize their vocation in life. Every vocation is a call to render hope to humanity through our service. We are not to impose our wishes or our unfulfilled ambitions in life on them. Rather, we must help them to search for their vocation in life. If they respond to God’s call, whatever work or career they undertake, they will find happiness because they will not simply be working for money or glory but they will be expressing their passion in life. By so doing, they will give themselves wholeheartedly and find fulfilment and happiness. As they give themselves in service to humanity and to God, they will find great joy in their life because their joy and happiness and love will grow from strength to strength.
Hannah did not keep Samuel for herself. She knew that the child was given by God for a purpose. And so when the child was weaned, she brought him and presented him to the Lord. She told Eli the priest at the temple, “This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.” The child belonged to God.
So, too, in the gospel, we have Mary and Joseph who went up to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. As they returned home, they discovered Jesus was not with them. Soon, they found Him at the Temple where He found His passion in life, talking and discussing about God, “sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies.” When they said to Jesus, “My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant.” Indeed, at that point in time, Mary and Joseph did not yet fully understand the work and role of Jesus. The evangelist noted, “His mother stored up all these things in her heart.” They did not impose their own plans on Him. Instead, they allowed Him to discover His true identity and calling. They knew that their Son was called to be the Hope of humanity. But they must be patient in hope.
On the part of Jesus, young people must also imitate Him if they want to find their identity and vocation in life. The gospel noted that “He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.” Jesus submitted Himself to His parents and elders in His childhood and early years of His life, working as a carpenter under the tutelage of Joseph until the day the Lord called Him into public ministry. He was patient in bidding His time. He was humble to learn from His parents and elders, growing in wisdom stature. Young people too, must learn to play their part in the family and cooperate with their elders to find themselves; and to contribute to the community. Let us, whilst waiting, dream of a world that is a better place than what it is today, a world that is connected, where all of us prosper together, work together for the peace and development of all peoples, and the protection of our planet.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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