Feast of the Ascension

Good morning. Wow! What a task He set before us. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." Jesus just prior to ascending to our Heavenly Father instructed us to preach the Good News. This message which we read today in the Gospel is clearly spelled out for us, it clearly defines our purpose in life, and as parents it means we are responsible for doing all that we can to raise our children well. It means we have a responsibility for steering our children toward heaven. In Familiaris Consortio, Pope John Paul II calls families to raise their children well: 

 “In a society shaken and split by tensions and conflicts caused by the violent clash of various kinds of individualism and selfishness, children must be enriched not only with a sense of true justice, which alone leads to respect for the personal dignity of each individual, but also and more powerfully by a sense of true love, understood as sincere solicitude and disinterested service with regard to others, especially the poorest and those in most need. The family is the first and fundamental school of social living: as a community of love, it finds in self-giving the law that guides it and makes it grow. . . And the communion and sharing that are part of everyday life in the home at times of joy and at times of difficulty are the most concrete and effective pedagogy for the active, responsible and fruitful inclusion of the children in the wider horizon of society.” 

Yes, parenting in this day and age is a tall order. There is much out there waiting for the opportunity to steal away the souls of our children. Helping our children grow into virtuous and responsible adults involves thousands of choices made by us as parents, some of which involve the choices we make concerning our own relationship. Choices concerning how we share those parenting duties may well make all the difference. This mission of parenting is a crucial responsibility and one which may well impact the eternal well-being of our children. Ultimately our mission is not of this world; if we engage successfully in the mission Jesus gives us, our children will reap the benefits eternally, if we are not successful in this mission, the world wins. The most daunting and important thing we do is to parent our children and hopefully we will prepare them sufficiently to carry with them a sense of family being about love and about a God Who gives us love. 

As we find ourselves amidst a culture in which the family finds itself under attack from all directions, even from our own government, the mission Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel is even more crucial than ever. Aware of this danger we must awaken each day with the resolve to work for the Truth, teach our children well, and do all we can as parents to be a visible sign of God’s love so our children will know His Goodness. Make a great day! 

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.