HAPPY FAMILY DAY! (December 30,2007)

The theme of the mass celebration this Sunday is Family. For us Catholics, today is Family Day, the Holy Family as the focus for the eucharist. Father Ferdinand was the officiating priest this morning and I find his sermon very relevant. We always attend the Saturday 6 pm anticipated mass, but for this last Sunday of the year, we went to be part of the Sunday 9:30 am mass. Father Ferdinand is a young priest but he has a deep insight on the Catholic faith, and again, I find what he talked about this morning very worthy of sharing.

What he revealed this morning was a bit shocking to me. He said, according to the study made by the church, 9 out of 10 Catholic women getting married are already pregnant before receiving the sacrament of matrimony. This indicates that pre-marital sex is now prevalent among the Filipino women that virginity is no longer regarded as sacred. Father Ferdinand also mentioned drug addiction and other problems of our society. What he considered the root of these is the dysfunctional family. In this kind of family, he mentioned that there is no open communication among the members of the family. The father is so authoritative to the point of being a dictator, whatever he says must be followed and no one can question him. He might be also always on the go with a wife busy with other things concerning herself. There is no love in the home,fear is in the hearts of the children. Without love and guidance, children tend to go astray. With families living like this, society becomes disoriented for values are disregarded.

The family is the first church. To be like this, it must be a functional family. This kind of family respects each other. There is open communication, the children are given opportunities to speak their mind while maintaining the respect for their parents. There is love among the members. The symbol for love is the heart, and the family with a big HEART is what all of us must strive for. The letter H stands for HAPPINESS....Where there is love, there is happiness.....The letter E stand for EVANGELIZATION....Parents are the first people to start eveangelizing their children. They should be the first to teach their children love of God, respect for parents and elders...They should be the one to teach the first catechism. With this kind of upbringing, the children will also be evangelizing to their children...The next letter is A..This letter means ALIVE. If you are alive, you are aware of what is happening to your children and to the others. YOu are alive to share the teachings of the church, alive to share the goodness and love of God. The letter R stands for RESPONSIVENESS. Being responsive means being aware of the needs of the family. For the wife, she must see to the needs of her husband and children. To the husband, he must know the needs of his wife and the rest of the family. For the children, they must be aware of what their responsibilities are to their parents and to the community itself. The letter T stand for TRUST. Trust is something that all of us must have. Without it, there will be problems. We must all work out to establish trust within the family.

FAther Ferdinand is right.....A holy family is what we must strive to have. Let us focus on the LORD, let Him be the center in our families. If only all families in the world would have the noble HEART to seek always His guidance and Love, there will be no wars. Let us all try to make the coming 2008 a year with a big, big, big HEART....LET US WELCOME THE NEW YEAR WITH A HEART THAT WELCOMES JESUS...!!!!