“Talitha Cum!” Role of the Clergy and Religious in Facilitating the Joy of Life and Love in Families

        

Today human being in the world is preoccupied with the rat race of power, prestige and possession. As a result the societies and FAMILIES are losing the sense of values, morality and God. Thus God has become a rare phenomenon in the modern world, thought of only at times of need, danger, ill health, favors, jobs and ceremonies. Otherwise God is kept in the back seat as if He is a stranger to life.     

Today technology, scientism, materialism, consumerism, individualism have crept into families crumbling down the edifices of values, relationships and specifically the dignity of the families. We can see this drastic change in the current families as people go away from Families to Restaurants, Class Rooms to Cafes and Priest to Celebrities. So much so that young people isolate themselves indulging in latest technologies and social networks. No wonder why relationships become suspicious and inauthentic. Thus traditional values are at stake in this fastrack times. Therefore, the words of Pope Francis are true in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium that ‘today humanity is experiencing a turning point in its history in matters of progress and development of various fields. Yet, he admits that the joy of living frequently fades and families are scattered like the sheep without the shepherd.’ Why then this kind of shallowness of the present age, doubt, insecurity and indifference?

Today the parents and elderly people are disrespected; the sick and the old people are ignored. Young and promising students become victims of media and pornography. At these critical times families are broken; love and understanding between wife and husband is subjected to doubt. Certainly there are children who day in and out witness such domestic violence at home. Thus values are at a flux both from below and from above, be it in small scale families or be it in large scale families.

Here I would like to bring to attention that, we only believe that God is powerful, majestic, mighty and splendid. Unfortunately we don’t think that God is also poor like the people in the slums, He is helpless like the people who lost their dear ones, He is oppressed like the people who are oppressed. Hence God is most humble, vulnerable, and fragile like the helpless baby wrapped in papers and thrown in the bins, like the babies who are aborted before they come into the world, God is like those simple people who are cheated by the powerful, the rich and mighty. God is like a helpless farmer whose lands are confiscated by the landlords. God is like a helpless young girl who is raped by a gang. God is like a wife whose husband comes home drunk and beats her and rapes her at home. And so my heart is strongly convinced to say that God is the poorest of the poor and God is present in abused, ill treated and misunderstood in the current nano cultured families. Hence, seeing these current trends of the neo families Pope Francis criticizes the growing gap between rich and poor which he sees as the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace, creating a new tyranny which in fact imposes its own laws and rules. Behind this new idolatry Pope sees ‘a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God.’ This certainly did affect families in and out. Therefore God’s mercy and grace is only the hope for such families to get back to him.   

The situation and the context of the families are marred by the evil forces of the times. And so, family a social institution is shattered into pieces. As a consequence, abortion, broken families, orphans, semi-orphans, contraceptives, suicides, child abuses, violence against women are a daily headlines in the news papers and news channels. These are challenges that families face day in and out in every nation; migration, alcoholism, drugs, polygamy, pornography, prostitution and domestic terrorism in the families are few examples.     

Today most of the families are subjected to side effects of false gods and so there is a rise in the individuals who indulge in comfort zones and cocoons of individualism and consumerism. Thus the family life in this new age is changed as if we are indifferent and abnormal to God. To put it simply we have reached even to the extent of living as if there is no God or as if God doesn’t exist. But if we turn the pages of history we see Mother Teresa the saint of the poor who suffered pain and endured patience says that everyone in the world is blessed with an element of divinity and spiritual element. It is only because of the ignorance of our minds that we somehow loose the sight of this spiritual element hidden deep within our hearts like the carnal of the fruit. On the other hand Pope Francis invites the clergy and the religious to take Jesus to heart since He is the way, the truth and the life. We can see how Jesus took the initiative to wash the feet of his apostles and taught them to love each other. We are individually and uniquely called by God (It is I who chose you. I knew you before you were born) and so it is our joy and obligation to do the rest keeping our faith in Him who strengthens us. Like the father in the parable of the Prodigal son it is our joy to find the lost son and it is our joy to look out for the lost sheep.     

Knowing the situation of the families today, Holy Father invites the clergy and the religious to take initiative to stand by the families and to make them know the values, morals and faith as they are the running streams of good family living. He sets Jesus as example, who lived in a healthy family as the ideal figure for the Christian Families. Jesus says Mt 11:28 “Come to me all ye burdened, for I will give your rest.” Thus, families must collectively drive strength in Jesus as he lived in the light of the Word. Jesus therefore, is a paradigm for the Church and for all clergy and religious who are part of the Church. We know that Jesus began his public ministry with the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana (Jn 2: 1-11). He grew in a very homely and family atmosphere where we see him having a deep bond with the family of Lazarus and his sister; and with the family of Peter; he sympathized with grieving parents and restored their children to life. (Mk: 5:41, Lk: 7:14-15). With the example of Jesus who grew holistically in the context of the family invites us all to grow in a family in which love is the binding force of all the members of the family as in the holy Trinity.

‘Love begets love...’ and ‘The fruit of hard work is to work more...’ St Paul beautifully manifests us how this binding force (love) is possible in a family setting in (1 Cor 13: 4-7).  Therefore, in family life there is continuity of love and thus the joy doubles in family as love is shared in welcoming the offspring into the new world of family love. ‘Every new born baby brings home a message that God still loves the world’ says Mother Theresa Kolkata, the saint of the poor. It is said that, above the heavens and below the skies family is the best; no wonder why God chose to incarnate in a family where love is extended in fraternity, parenthood, offspring, sharing and relationships. Regarding this we see how Pope Francis goes a step further and invites all the families to extend the joy of the love of the family through adoption and accommodation. He acknowledges that it is noble but not an easy task. Therefore, he invites the pastors of the Church to accompany and prepare the young people in faith and morals so that they comprehend that these difficult things are not merely meaningful but elevating and divine. By this noble teaching young people are made aware of the Christian values, faith and morals from an eschatological dimension. By this there will be less broken families, divorces, orphans and better family upbringing and responsibility since love is the key in every Christian effort and endeavor; for in love all things are made known and renewed in Christ Jesus who is the sum and substance of human love that is elevated to divine love in Him alone.  

Thank you...