The first reading for today from Sirach aka The Wisdom of Ben Sira, talks about how Elijah would come again to announce God’s presence that the Messiah was here to save the world. And he mentions that God was going “To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons”, or in other versions of the Bible, “To turn back the hearts of parents towards their children.” Either one gets the point across that fathers and mothers have the duty to teach and be good moral examples for their children.
We as parents need to put our heart and soul into being the best role models, spiritual guides, and teachers for our kids. And we as Catholic parents have the added responsibility of raising our sons and daughters in our faith, and being their first teachers on what being Catholic means, and how fortunate we are and what a huge responsibility it is to be Catholic. It is a huge responsibility and challenge, raising our kids in today’s world with all the technology, instant gratification, and distractions that are out there.
But is the world really all that different from what it once was? The same problems, challenges and temptations have existed from the very beginning, and in reading the bible; people have struggled with resisting these same trials over the ages. Today, these problems are simply amplified due to the hi-tech world we live in. But the problems have always been there.
People have struggled in raising their kids from the dawn of humanity. But I would like to focus back on the first translation of the verse from Sirach – where it is mentioned that God will “…turn back the hearts of fathers towards their sons…”. Sure, mothers are equally responsible in parenting and daughters are equally in need of good parents. But each has their niche. And fathers are the spiritual leaders of the family, and sons strive to be like their dads. But there is a definite problem in today’s world and in our faith where too many sons are growing up without good spiritual guides in their fathers, or without fathers at all.
This problem isn’t new. We could do countless reflections and articles on this topic. Again, it’s been brewing for thousands of years, but in todays world, especially in Western culture, the lack of good, moral, and especially devoted Catholic male role models has went down significantly. Many men in our faith have stepped away from the Church, or just go to Mass every now and then, or if they do go to Mass, choose to whisk their family out the side door so as not to have to socialize with anyone after Mass.
Men are the spiritual leaders of the family – as Dad goes in the faith, so goes the family. Too many men today, even those who appear to be good Catholic men who are in the pews every Sunday feel that they don’t need all that touchy-feely stuff, the sacraments, or involvement in the parish community because they have it all under control. Praying as a family doesn’t happen. That stuff is not important. And guess what? Our sons and daughters (especially our sons) want to be just like us dads. And as Dad goes, so goes the kids. Do any bit of research online and the statistics will prove that.
In Western culture, Men have somewhat lost hope, because we feel that we don’t need to hope. And where there is no hope, God is not there. We feel we can do anything, that we make our own way. We’ve become spoiled with what we have been given, especially here in America, and we don’t realize how good we have it. Through our “instant everything” culture, we’ve lost the need to hope for anything, because we have access to everything. The very rights and freedoms we have we’ve exploited to the point where, it become more about doing anything we like, and less about the things we ought to be doing.
We’ve become so focused today on our careers, our possessions, and money, which has produced even more greed and selfishness. We as men tend to focus more on these things, things like climbing that corporate ladder, or providing stuff for the family, all at the expense of the family. And for too many of us, aside from an hour on Sunday, we spend no time with God. We don’t have time for Him. We don’t pray to Him. And we don’t ask for His forgiveness.
Our sons see this happen, and they follow in our footsteps. The apple does not fall far from the tree. Our families are failing because we, as men, are failing to lead our families. We’re failing to be the moral and spiritual guides that our sons, daughters and wives need. Our hearts are in the wrong place.
Jesus said in the Gospel reading:
“Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
So often, we fail to see the plan that is in progress, just like those in Jesus’ time. We fail to see what God has given us, and fail to spend the time necessary just talking with Him and being with Him and we simply do “whatever we please.” And unfortunately, this not only affects us, but our families.
We need to turn our hearts towards one another, to our families, and especially our children. We, as Catholic men, need to walk the walk, and be the faithful and spiritual guide and example for our families. We need to turn our hearts to our children, because only we, at this very moment in time, are the bridge between the past and the future. We can filter what traffic gets through and help point our kids on a path. We need to turn and love and teach our kids with open hearts so that they grow in life with open hearts. And men, it starts with us. Jesus is that example. We need to be that example.
God has a plan. John the Baptist announced it. Jesus fulfilled it and put it into action. It is our duty, as men and women, to follow it through.
