IS THIS THE LITTLE GIRL I CARRIED?

… to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons. – Sirach 48:10

Our daughter Trina and her dad have a special bond. When she was growing up, Raul would drop anything he was doing to drive for his only daughter. She was the apple of his eyes, his precious jewel. Trina is all grown-up now, a beautiful young lawyer, and the role has reversed. She is now a doting daughter to her dad, constantly watching over his diet and gifting him with a new laptop and many other surprises.

       As she walked through the church doors looking like the most radiant bride in the world, I caught a glimpse of Raul holding back his tears as I was. Bringing her to the altar where her handsome groom, Jang, also a lawyer, stood waiting, our hearts were bursting with mixed emotions.

       “I don’t remember getting older” goes the song, and that’s exactly how every parent feels on the wedding day of their daughter. “And there is a time for every event under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:10). Hard as it was, the time has come for us to let go.

       We were beaming with pride and joy at what our only daughter has become. On that special day, our fervent prayer was for the Lord to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23) Mari Sison-Garcia (mari_sison_garcia@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Are you being asked to let go of someone or something that means a whole world to you? Let go and let God.

Lord, bless us with the spirit of detachment from all that You have given us, knowing that we are merely stewards of Your resources.

St. John of the Cross, priest and doctor of the Church, pray for us.

Elijah is a symbol for the resurrection in Jewish tradition, in that he is taken to heaven by a fiery chariot before he died. He is a symbol of hope — that there is something more after death. Jesus is the preeminent source of hope for a Christian. His resurrection is not just a sign of hope, but also the pattern for our lives. Jesus’ life is the example that we should follow.

1 In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace. 2 Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; 3 by the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. 4 How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? 9 You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses. 10 You were destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord, to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob. 11 Blessed is he who shall have seen you and who falls asleep in your friendship.

R: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

2 O shepherd of Israel, hearken, from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth. 3 Rouse your power. (R) 15 Once again, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine, 16 and protect what your right hand has planted, the son of man whom you yourself made strong. (R) 18 May your help be with the man of your right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong. 19 Then we will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your name. (R)

There were many who tried to kill Elijah, as with most, if not all, of the prophets. Jesus would have known that such a fate awaited Him as a result of His ministry of the Gospel. Maybe persecution and even death await our lives as Christians — who knows? What I do know is that if the Lord asks me to do something for Him, I am going to do my best to do it.

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God.

9 As they were coming down from the mountain, 10 the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

think:  Jesus’ resurrection is not just a sign of hope, but also the pattern for our lives.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Ecclesiastes 9-12

TURN BACK THE HEARTS OF FATHERS

TO THEIR SONS

David Blankenhorn saw it coming 19 years ago: America — and the world, for that matter — ran the risk of fostering “fatherless generations.” We saw its effects unfold. Repeatedly. From unprecedented riots of young men in London, burning buildings and wreaking havoc to life, limb and property of innocent people, to drug-crazed youth on the local scene, killing people for no apparent reason other than unalloyed, pure and reckless anger.

       Social psychologists and sociologists were tripping all over themselves trying to find a clue to this bizarre behavior. Last year, we just couldn’t make sense of several deaths of young women, raped and ravaged savagely by otherwise gentle-looking young men. We were shocked when a remote place like Bacolod in Negros also made it to national news on account of a doctor butchered by a gang, while the whole dastardly deed was being filmed for the whole world to see.

       We all can have our own theories about the phenomenon, but one of those that seem to stand out is precisely this: We have produced a spate of fatherless generations in the world. That was a common feature in these cases — absentee fathers, or fathers who were physically present but emotionally absent from the lives of their sons.

       Today is a good day to re-appropriate what is our birth right — the right to be born in a complete, physically and psychologically whole family. While some of us, through no fault of our own, could not and did not have a complete family, it is now ours to claim, by God’s own word and initiative.

       This is what Sirach indirectly tells us: He was sent “to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.” Jesus later built on this, and revealed His Father as our very own Father in heaven. To Him, we now turn in earnest prayer: “Lord, make us turn to You, let us see Your face and we shall be saved.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

REFLECTION QUESTION: Have you claimed your birth right as God’s own child? Do so now.

Father God, help me to be secure in the love You have for me — now and until the end of my days.