Dec. 28, 2008 Sunday: Feast of the Holy Family
My parents are now nearing their ripe old age of 70. Now that I live in Baton Rouge and they near Dallas, I get to see them only few times a year. When I go there, there are not that many things that we as a family can do together. Going to a movie theater is one of them. But you know there are not that many movies that I can take my parents to. For one thing they do not understand English that well. And these days, anything above PG rating is risqué or violent. How the roles have reversed! When I was a kid, they worried about what I watched. One movie that my parents really enjoyed was a movie called, "March of the Penguins" which came out few years ago. My mom, after the movie said, even the animals can teach us about marriage.
The film is about the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica. In autumn, all the penguins of breeding age leave the ocean, to walk inland to their ancestral breeding grounds. Can you imagine walking from Baton Rouge to New Orleans? Well, about 62 miles is the round trip walk that penguins have to take from the edge of the open sea to the breeding grounds in the heart of the winter. And how cold it is in the winter! -70 deg. F is what they have to endure with wind blowing sometimes above 100 miles per hour. I think what really touched my parents about the movie was what sacrifice momma and daddy penguins made to raise their single chick. Once the egg is laid, the momma penguin transfer the egg quickly to the feet of the daddy penguin. As she feeds in the open ocean 30 miles away, the daddy penguin will warm the egg on his feet for two months without eating anything. He typically loses half of his body weight when the momma penguin returns to take the turn warming the egg. They go back and forth in this way for four months! The survival of the chick depends on both mom and dad, equally. Sometimes, a predator like leopard seal claims the life of a parent as they feed in the open ocean; this means for certain, the death of the chick.
Like my mom said, can penguins teach us about marriage and family? Certainly. As we watch these momma and daddy penguins raise their fragile and vulnerable chick in that frozen Antarctica, we realize that a human child is also fragile and vulnerable. And to raise them require equal partnership of mom and dad. What does equal partnership between mom and dad look like in human parents? It’s not about a mechanical division of duties—you take care of the house and taking them to church, and I’ll take care of winning the bread and mowing the lawn. Instead, St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians offers us a different clue. I will adapt it for moms and dads present here. “Husbands and wives, put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” (Colossians 3:12-13) Us children, whether we are 5 years old or 35 like myself, we also have responsibilities toward our moms and dads. Let’s look at our First Reading from the Book of Sirach. It says, “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority God confirms over her sons and daughters. Whoever honors his father and mother atones for sins and stores up riches…My sons and daughters, take care of your parents when they are old; grieve them not as long as they live. Even if their minds fail, be considerate of them; kindness to a father and a mother will not be forgotten.” (Sirach 3:2-6)
Moms and dads, today’s Gospel adds one more responsibility in raising your children. In Luke we read, “Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord.” Our children come from the Lord as a gift and blessing for our marriage. Do you remember the promise that you took at your children’s baptism? Priest asks: “Mom and dad, you have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training them in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring them up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?” Unlike penguins, human children have more than hunger for bread. They have hunger for God. Do we as moms and dads, take equal responsibilities taking turns to feed spiritual food for our children? Do they see us praying? Do both mom and dad take them to church, teaching our children that mom and dad really believe that God takes first place in our life?
The film is about the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica. In autumn, all the penguins of breeding age leave the ocean, to walk inland to their ancestral breeding grounds. Can you imagine walking from Baton Rouge to New Orleans? Well, about 62 miles is the round trip walk that penguins have to take from the edge of the open sea to the breeding grounds in the heart of the winter. And how cold it is in the winter! -70 deg. F is what they have to endure with wind blowing sometimes above 100 miles per hour. I think what really touched my parents about the movie was what sacrifice momma and daddy penguins made to raise their single chick. Once the egg is laid, the momma penguin transfer the egg quickly to the feet of the daddy penguin. As she feeds in the open ocean 30 miles away, the daddy penguin will warm the egg on his feet for two months without eating anything. He typically loses half of his body weight when the momma penguin returns to take the turn warming the egg. They go back and forth in this way for four months! The survival of the chick depends on both mom and dad, equally. Sometimes, a predator like leopard seal claims the life of a parent as they feed in the open ocean; this means for certain, the death of the chick.
Like my mom said, can penguins teach us about marriage and family? Certainly. As we watch these momma and daddy penguins raise their fragile and vulnerable chick in that frozen Antarctica, we realize that a human child is also fragile and vulnerable. And to raise them require equal partnership of mom and dad. What does equal partnership between mom and dad look like in human parents? It’s not about a mechanical division of duties—you take care of the house and taking them to church, and I’ll take care of winning the bread and mowing the lawn. Instead, St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians offers us a different clue. I will adapt it for moms and dads present here. “Husbands and wives, put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” (Colossians 3:12-13) Us children, whether we are 5 years old or 35 like myself, we also have responsibilities toward our moms and dads. Let’s look at our First Reading from the Book of Sirach. It says, “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority God confirms over her sons and daughters. Whoever honors his father and mother atones for sins and stores up riches…My sons and daughters, take care of your parents when they are old; grieve them not as long as they live. Even if their minds fail, be considerate of them; kindness to a father and a mother will not be forgotten.” (Sirach 3:2-6)
Moms and dads, today’s Gospel adds one more responsibility in raising your children. In Luke we read, “Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord.” Our children come from the Lord as a gift and blessing for our marriage. Do you remember the promise that you took at your children’s baptism? Priest asks: “Mom and dad, you have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training them in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring them up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?” Unlike penguins, human children have more than hunger for bread. They have hunger for God. Do we as moms and dads, take equal responsibilities taking turns to feed spiritual food for our children? Do they see us praying? Do both mom and dad take them to church, teaching our children that mom and dad really believe that God takes first place in our life?
