Hello everyone. I’ve been asked to share about how GOD fits into my family life. First, I have to tell you that how GOD fits into my family life was heavily influenced by my mother and grandmother (pillars of faith) as well as my years of experience teaching confirmation.
I always knew that I wanted to have a family and that entailed meeting the right person and then having children. So I prayed for GOD to send the right person my way and that’s what he did. I asked for a lady that I can openly share my faith with and was ready to date for the long haul (marriage).
Well here I am Married and with kids. I should also add that we are both exhausted AND blessed at the same time. Family life is not always picture perfect either. It has its challenges and its fun times. When we are having a good time or a challenging time we make sure that GOD is present in our lives. Here is how I make sure GOD is an active part of our family: As a family we make sure to go to mass every Sunday and every holy day of obligation. Before we eat at the table we say grace. Its pretty cool when your toddler knows how to form prayer hands and has his own variation of the sign of the cross. Just like in my child hood I mention frequently Jesus and GOD to my kids and wife. When Leon gets a fever or an ouchie I tell him “lets ask Jesus to help you feel better”. And he’ll repeat that in a toddler version. It’s really cute and heartwarming. We have also made time to bible study the scriptures of the day as well as pray the rosary at least once a week. Also, before mass we read the Sunday scriptures on the drive to church and discuss what the theme and message is for the day. That way we can compare our thoughts to that of the Homily given. We also try to be role models in front of our kids. Just the other day we were walking in old town Covina and came across a hungry old man sitting at the taco bell. We just had lunch and our bellies were filled. Damaris saw him and asked him what he wanted to eat. The guy was polite and you can see he was grateful. He introduced himself and gave us his story. He even gave us the “God bless you” greeting for our good deed. What was also cool is that some customers inside the taco bell that were walking out with us saw what a loving thing we did. Jesus has said in scripture this past Sunday (Sept. 23, 2018) that we should be looking out for his little ones. This may be an older man to us but to Jesus and GOD he’s still a little one!
GOD is love. and GOD wants us to love each other in our families. We should always remember the HOLY FAMILY (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) and ask ourselves: “How am I being an obedient child? How am I being a loving nurturing parent? How am I being an example of Christianity at work?”
The holy family is the best example of how to be a family that places GOD first. I’ve come to this conclusion based on my years of experience knowing how most families are with their kids and how important or unimportant the faith is to them. It’s this experience that tells me “OK Ron, if you’re going to have a family one day you know how it needs to be and how it shouldn’t be!”
Having placed a little more thought into it. We as a family are part of a bigger family. We are also part of the Roman Catholic family. And we’re a family of the global community. Hey if we’re going to re introduce GOD into the world let’s start by introducing him to our own family. Even if you haven’t started your own family you can start by just talking about GOD in your own families as a brother, sister, son, or daughter!
Until next time Glory be to the Holy Trinity and GOD BLESS.