<\/p>\n
Guess what?\u00a0 You are called today to be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.\u00a0 Yes, you, not just the Apostles and the Church that followed after them, but you and I, too.\u00a0 That was Jesus parting shot to his followers as he ascended to heaven some 2000 years ago today.\u00a0 And in this day and age, I can think of no better way for us to give witness to Christianity than through our families.<\/p>\n
First, let me make an observation.\u00a0 Do you people out there realize how lucky most of you are?\u00a0 Most of you live or lived in a family with a Mom and a Dad.\u00a0 Did you know that 4 out of every 10 children born today are born to unwed mothers.\u00a0 But in our community and parish, most of you are lucky enough to have both a Mom and a Dad.\u00a0 And that makes a tremendous difference in how well children will do in today\u2019s world.\u00a0 For example, there are statistics that show that 4 of every 5 children that are either drop outs from school, run-aways from home, sent to jail, became pregnant as a teen, or commit suicide, came from single parent homes- 4 of every 5 in these categories.<\/p>\n
Today, we are celebrating Mother\u2019s Day.\u00a0 So thank God for these wonderful women who gave you life, nurtured and cared for you, and are providing you a strong Christian Home.\u00a0 Be especially thankful if you are living in a single parent home for the parent that you have who is protecting you from these awful trends.<\/p>\n
And parents, especially the Mom\u2019s today, you need to understand the tremendous influence you have over your children.\u00a0 It is a very sobering thought isn\u2019t it, that the absence of one of you in your children\u2019s lives can make such a difference as the statistics I quoted above indicated.<\/p>\n
But you see, it\u2019s because you Mom\u2019s and Dad\u2019s truly are witnesses.\u00a0 You are witnesses to a way of life.\u00a0 And as witnesses, your children will copy that way of life.\u00a0 From that early age where Moms especially are everything to their children, parents become sacred to their children.\u00a0 They provide love, security, safety, food, and shelter.\u00a0 And then, later on, they provide example, values and morals, and inspiration.\u00a0 All of that is an awesome responsibility.<\/p>\n
Now this morning, as we hear of Jesus Ascension, the scriptures raise a very important issue about being a Christian Witness because the scriptures point to the meaning of life.\u00a0 You see, Jesus was resurrected in the body and ascended to heaven.\u00a0 And, as Paul says to the Hebrews in the second reading, \u201cJesus removed the veil that separates us from the Father at death, that is, the flesh\u201d.\u00a0 And He stood before the Father on our behalf so that we could follow after Him when we die.\u00a0 Indeed, as Paul says, Christ \u201c\u2026will bring salvation to all who eagerly await him\u201d.\u00a0 So, you and I are called to be witnesses, especially to our children, of all of that- the real meaning of life.\u00a0 And that is that when we die we have membership forever in the Kingdom of God if we repent of our sins and follow the Gospel.<\/p>\n
But you know, it is very hard for us to understand that when we are young.\u00a0 When we are young and life is ahead of us, we are preoccupied with living out our talents, with doing something meaningful in the world; with finding a loving partner and soul mate; and with raising children of our own.\u00a0 But ultimately, every one of us will die to this world and so, we simply must understand that living life to the fullest requires the right perspective- one in which we live out our Christian faith.\u00a0 Children depend on their parents for that perspective.<\/p>\n
Yes, the good people in the Prep Program and the school have your children several hours a week.\u00a0 They try to focus the children on God and the meaning of life.\u00a0 But you Moms and Dads have your children 24-7.\u00a0 What you do and say about your faith speaks louder than anything the Prep and the School people can say.\u00a0 The question for you parents today is what kind of witnesses are you to your children?<\/p>\n
I think that communications is the key to being a Christian witness.\u00a0 And in today\u2019s world, communications is tough with all the distractions- like TV, cell phones, Facebook, iPOD music, sports and the commitments that all of the children have.\u00a0 So every family needs some prime time dedicated to communications.\u00a0 You need to know what\u2019s going on inside your children\u2019s heads; and they need to know that your life is driven by your Christian values.\u00a0 And then, you need to talk about it with each other- share it with each other.<\/p>\n
Let me suggest three things that can really help.\u00a0 First, try eating together as a family, preferably every evening but at least several times a week.\u00a0 And that means eating and sharing with each other- no TV, no ear-buds, no exceptions.\u00a0 Find out how your days went from each other and talk about things- be a witness to each other.\u00a0 Second, pray together as a family.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s more than just grace at meals- but other forms of prayer- like saying the rosary as a family or the Divine Mercy chaplet.\u00a0 And lastly, worship as a family each week just like you are doing today.\u00a0 Let the world know that you all believe- together.<\/p>\n
All of us want the best for our children and our families.\u00a0 As Jesus parted this world, he promised us the Spirit.\u00a0 And in a few days, we will celebrate the coming of the Spirit.\u00a0 The Spirit gives us the strength, vitality, energy, and fortitude to make a difference in our lives.\u00a0 Whether you are a Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, or Grandparent, make the time available, no matter what, and use that strength to be a witness for Christ to your family!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ascension Acts 1: 1-11; Heb 9: 24-28, 10: 19-23; Luke 24: 46-53 Dc. Larry Brockman Guess what?\u00a0 You are called today to be witnesses of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.\u00a0 Yes, you, not just the Apostles and the Church that followed after them, but you and I, too.\u00a0 That was Jesus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[225],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":374,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}