THE DIGNITY OF CHILDREN.
16 January 2022
FEAST OF THE STO. NIÑO - Year C.
“Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have
been looking for you with great anxiety.” (Luke 2:48)
A Swedish proverb says: “Children act in the village as they
have learned at home.” And a Romanian proverb adds: “The blessing of having
many children has never broken a man's roof.”
From today's Entrance Antiphon, we read, "All the earth
shall bow down before you, O God, and shall sing to you, shall sing to your
name, O Most High!" (Ps 65: 4) We are called to come and bow down before
God under the image of a holy and innocent child.
The Feast of Santo Niño raises a beautiful concern about the
children and their dignity and education. Not only are children an academy of
humility for us, but they also have rights, dignities, and words to say in our
societies. The world will not be better without our children being well educated and given values, not gadgets.
In his General Audience of last January 5, 2022, Pope
Francis raised a very great concern on what is taking place in many families
and couples, and our societies today. It was in a sermon on fatherhood. The
Holy Father said, “We have so many children without fathers and the challenges
of this in society today, we notice... Fathers are not born but made. A man
does not become a father by bringing a child into the world, but by taking up
the responsibility to care for that child.” The Pope used the example of
Joseph, who brought up Jesus, and parents who choose to adopt children. So, he
said “many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they
only have one and not more. But they have domestic animals – two dogs, two
cats.” He called the decision not to have children a form of
"selfishness." For, children are not a charge, but the future of our
societies and humanity.
Children, in many of our cultures, are a blessing. For sure,
it is not about having thousands and thousands of children, because it is a
responsibility for fathers and mothers to care for them. But refusing to have
them when nature has granted you the possibility is a sin of selfishness.
Because, Children deserve to be born, to live, to be raised in a serene
environment, to be cared for, to be educated, and most particularly, and above
all to be loved. To be good and responsible parents ask not to be a millionaire
or billionaire. It is all about sizing our responsibility and being faithful to
it. Many couples speak of family planning, recourse to abortion, and many other
techniques of natality’s control, but at home, numberless are their pets and
materials. For some, having children is heavy-duty.
In the first reading, through the Prophet Isaiah, we are
told that a Son is given to us, a light of solace and consolation for the
suffering humanity. He will take away from us the yoke and the rod of our
oppressors. For us, he will be a “Wonder-counsellor, Mighty-God,
Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.” This prophecy found its completion at the
Nativity of the Lord at Bethlehem.
In the Gospel, through the finding of the lost child Jesus in
the Temple of Jerusalem, we are not only reminded of the rights of children but
also, and mostly, of the responsibility of parents to care for them. Children
have rights to be educated, and that, in a very holistic way: human, spiritual,
social, intellectual... When parents fail to do so, they are guilty of abusing
their children's rights, and their dignity. Educating children means watching
over them, guiding their steps, and even controlling their actions.
Today, regrettably, this education and parental guidance are
left under the care of social media and gadgets, and technology. Parents are
busy either at work or caring for pets, or on social media. So, the children
are provided with gadgets to keep them busy as well. We live in a busy world
where everyone is busy doing nothing.
I once went to the Cyberspace in a certain Mall to repair my
phone which was broken. There, in the store, entered a man and his two
children, aged probably 5 and 7 years old. He went to inquire about two latest
Apple iPad Pro. And without thinking twice withdrew his credit card and bought
them. The children were so excited about their new gadgets. Deep inside, I
asked myself: is this necessary for them at this age? Education, not gadgets.
Let's care for our children, but not condition them as robots providing them
the latest technology.
Joseph and Mary understood their responsibility of caring
for the child and so searched for him when he was lost. They did not give him
things that could help get him to lose more of his humanity. Because of gadgets
and technology, there is no more social life and interhuman communication today
in many families. Everything is done online. Parents get news about their
children online. These latter ones get their education and transformation
online. And sad enough, the online life spoils them.
St. Paul, in his exhortation to the Ephesians, reminds us so
the truths on our faith in Jesus Christ: in Christ, we are blessed, elected,
adopted. As such, we should grow in the knowledge of God, and understand the
wonderful future he has in store for us.
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