Weekend Reflections for 6/3/16

Let your light shine before others,

that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Mt. 5,16)

Often parents and grandparents are anxious and are very much concerned for their adult children and grandchildren who no longer take part in the religious practices in which they were raised. They wonder how they are now responsible for them or what they should do or what they should say to them. This issue is addressed by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser in his excellent book, “The Holy Longing.” He suggests that they have an important role and function to fulfill for them. They are to serve as the lifeline and connection linking them to the people of God, to the body of Christ. And how do they do this?

They do this not so much by admonishing and correction. Rather by their own example of living out their faith, by the constant love and concern they show and give them, and, of course, through their incessant prayers.  Thus they demonstrate to their offspring that they respect and honor them now in their adulthood. They also acknowledge that they now are the ones responsible for their faith lives. But their example also reminds them what their values continue to be as well as how much they cherish and love them.

In most cases the children realize how much their parents desire that they practice the faith they were raised in. But at the same time they notice the tolerance and respect of their parents and how much they are loved and respected and allowed to live their own lives in their relationships to their Lord and God.

Jim Blumeyer, S.J.