Caring for the family

I WAS happy to note that last Christmas, there were many

family pictures in the social media that carried their Christmas

greetings to their friends and their respective families. I hope and

pray that this warm family relations are kept and made to develop some

more.

            We can never exaggerate the importance of the family in

our life. And we should be most thankful to God that, at least, in our

country, we can still observe a strong sense of the family that, sad

to say, seems to be disappearing in other parts of the world.

            We should not be complacent, however, with what we are

enjoying at the moment with regard to family life in general. There

are many challenges to face nowadays in this department, and we should

just tackle them and continue to learn lessons and improve the quality

of our family life.

            Let us entrust this concern to the Holy Family of Nazareth

who will surely guide us and keep us properly grounded and rooted as

we flow with the dizzying developments of our times that have serious

implications insofar as family life is concerned.

            First of all, we have to understand that the family

environment can only be a reflection of the love between the parents.

That love between husband and wife, father and mother, should always

grow and develop, getting more and more purified as time goes on and

as more challenges appear.

            With that strong love, the proper attention and affection

to their own children, especially the young ones, would be effectively

nurtured. The parents should realize that the quality of their love

for themselves and for their children increases in proportion to their

self-surrender, their self-denial, their willingness to make

sacrifices.

            They have to be wary of the subtle damage that tiredness,

stress and self-absorption can cause. They need to always remember

that the way to happiness is to be generous, giving themselves without

counting the cost and without expecting any return.

            For all this, the parents should see to it that the life

of piety and a culture and tradition of Christian love are always

fostered in the family. Everyone should be encouraged to think of the

others, to serve and not to be served. The parents should think of how

to sustain a plan of Christian formation for the whole family.

            The parents should spend ample time with the children,

getting to know each one of them, and respecting and loving them the

way they are, encouraging them in their strengths and helping them in

their weaknesses.

            There should be established family traditions of being

together on certain parts of the day and on special days and

occasions. Family get-togethers, praying and going to Church together,

for example, can be developed. The parents should be the ones to

initiate family activities that help members get closer to each other

and imbibe good values.

            In particular, parents should give special attention to

the development of virtues like humility, order, hard work,

compassion, patience, good manners, respect for different opinions,

capacity to change and adapt to different persons and circumstances.

            Also, parents should instill a deep sense of

responsibility to their children, as well as strength of character

especially when faced with challenges. Affection should be the abiding

atmosphere in the family. Again the parents should take the initiative

in this department.

            All of this would require the parents to pause and pray,

and study things coming up always with some concrete plans and

strategies.