Recently, I
was blessed by both the supportive Mom and her son whose nervousness made it to
be an instant Darling of the Crowd (you may watch the video above). You
could witness how his hands shudder but his rendition of his soulful music penetrates
the audience’s and judges’ heart.
Ultimately, he’s a model of diffidence that is conquered in the name of
a dream.
While doing
his performance, his mother is in high spirits, her heart cheers up to the
cloud 9.
It's good to witness such a wonderful teamwork of a parent-sibling relationship, a very-supportive Mom
and an ambitious son.
In parenting, a child is not
something owed to one, but is a gift. The "supreme gift of marriage"
is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea
to which an alleged "right to a child" would lead. In this area, only
the child possesses genuine rights: the right "to be the fruit of the
specific act of the conjugal love of his parents," and "the right to
be respected as a person from the moment of his conception."[1]
"By its very nature the
institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and
education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory."
Children are the supreme
gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves.
God himself said: "It is not good that man should be alone," and
"from the beginning he made them male and female"; wishing to
associate them in a special way in his own creative work, God blessed man and
woman with the words: "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence, true married
love and the whole structure of family life which results from it, without
diminishment of the other ends of marriage, are directed to disposing the
spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the Creator and Savior, who
through them will increase and enrich his family from day to day.[2]
Sacred Scripture and the
Church's traditional practice see in large families a sign of God's blessing
and the parents' generosity.[3]
When they become adults,
children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life.
They should assume their new responsibilities within a trusting relationship
with their parents, willingly asking and receiving their advice and counsel.
Parents should be careful not to exert pressure on their children either in the
choice of a profession or in that of a spouse. This necessary restraint does
not prevent them - quite the contrary from giving their children judicious
advice, particularly when they are planning to start a family.[4]
In our own time, in a world
often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary
importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second
Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia
domestica. It is in the bosom of the family that parents are "by word and
example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children.
They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child,
fostering with special care any religious vocation."[5]
The relationships within the
family bring an affinity of feelings, affections and interests, arising above
all from the members' respect for one another. The family is a privileged
community called to achieve a "sharing of thought and common deliberation
by the spouses as well as their eager cooperation as parents in the children's
upbringing."[6]
Parents must regard their
children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing
themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children
to fulfill God's law.
Through the grace of the
sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of
evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early
age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first
heralds" for their children. They should associate them from their
tenderest years with the life of the Church. A wholesome family life can foster
interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain
a support for it throughout one's life.[7]
Education in the faith by
the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens
when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a
Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes,
accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have
the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation
as children of God. The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of
the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the
catechesis of children and parents.[8]
As those first responsible
for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school
for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental.
As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best
help them in their task as Christian educators. Public authorities have the
duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete
conditions for its exercise.[9]
The fecundity of conjugal
love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend
to their moral education and their spiritual formation. "The role of
parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide
an adequate substitute." The right and the duty of parents to educate
their children are primordial and inalienable.[10]
Parents must regard their
children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing
themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their
children to fulfill God's law.
Parents have the first
responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this
responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect,
fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule.
The home is well suited for
education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound
judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents
should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual
dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." Parents have a grave
responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to
acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able
to guide and correct them:
Proverbs 13:24 He who loves
his son will not spare the rod. . . . He who disciplines his son will profit by
him.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do
not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord.
The home is the natural
environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and communal
responsibilities. Parents should teach children to avoid the compromising and
degrading influences which threaten human societies.
Through the grace of the
sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of
evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early
age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first
heralds" for their children. They should associate them from their
tenderest years with the life of the Church. A wholesome family life can
foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith
and remain a support for it throughout one's life.
Education in the faith by
the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens
when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a
Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes,
accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have
the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation
as children of God. The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of
the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the
catechesis of children and parents.
Children in turn contribute
to the growth in holiness of their parents. Each and everyone should be
generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels,
injustices, and neglect. Mutual affection suggests this. The charity of Christ
demands it.
Parents' respect and
affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up
their young children and providing for their physical and spiritual needs. As
the children grow up, the same respect and devotion lead parents to educate
them in the right use of their reason and freedom.
As those first responsible
for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school
for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental.
As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best
help them in their task as Christian educators.38 Public authorities have the
duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete
conditions for its exercise.
When they become adults,
children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life.
They should assume their new responsibilities within a trusting relationship
with their parents, willingly asking and receiving their advice and counsel.
Parents should be careful not to exert pressure on their children either in the
choice of a profession or in that of a spouse. This necessary restraint does
not prevent them - quite the contrary from giving their children judicious
advice, particularly when they are planning to start a family.
Some forgo marriage in order
to care for their parents or brothers and sisters, to give themselves more
completely to a profession, or to serve other honorable ends. They can
contribute greatly to the good of the human family.
In a very special way,
parents share in the office of sanctifying "by leading a conjugal life in
the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian education of their
children." - Catechism of the Catholic Church
This is dedicated to my mother, Julia E. Ecleo, who's celebrating her birthday today, June 13, 2014. I'm sad because I could not buy a gift for her because I'm jobless. What matters is we're together. I wish her long life, joy and an enjoyed existence. In Jesus name, I pray, AMEN!
[1]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm#2378
[2]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c3a7.htm#1652
[3]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm#2373
[4]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#2230
[5]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c3a7.htm#1656
[6]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#2206
[7]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#2222
[8]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#2225
[9]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#2229
[10]
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a4.htm#2221
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