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A Perfect Family


I came across a clip of Binibining Pilipinas 2008, where a candidate was asked to describe a perfect family. She answered, “There is no such thing as perfect family because there is no perfect thing in this world, only close to perfect. And for me, as long as your family stays together or apart, but you still manage to see each other, like my case, I have a broken family, but I still see my father and my mom. Although they are not together, we still manage to share love in a very different way and that’s a perfect family for me.”
 
Others may think that her family was imperfect because her parents got separated. For the candidate, however, as long as she managed to see parents - it’s a perfect family.
 
Today’s Gospel made me reflect on the importance of marriage in becoming parents for their children. The first part talks about a lifetime covenant of married couples. The second part is about the little children who were brought by the people to be close to Jesus.
 
On marriage, in Catholic belief, is a covenant; it is not a contract. Marriage is a covenant of sharing the manhood and the womanhood of the couple. It is a lifetime commitment to live together as one where they involve in a way of life to be faithful, to be caring, and to look after the needs of one another. They do not look for something in exchange from as husbands and wives. On the other hand, marriage is not a contract because it is not a division of responsibilities like the man should provide for the needs and the woman should take care of the house and bear children. Marriage becomes a contract when the couple only live on begetting love for love, loyalty for loyalty, and by being able to bear a child or being able to provide. Marriage is not something that is on paper that couples breach to get separated.  Marriage is a sacrament on the sharing of the personhood of the couple. It becomes a contract when it only settles on a piece of paper.
 
About the people bringing little children to Jesus, these people could be the parents or the guardians of the children. They wanted their children to be close to Jesus and perhaps they see that their children are the future of the Kingdom of God. However, many young people today are getting stressed on how they look outside because of what they see in social media where they interact most of the time. They see themselves as becoming a part of the new trend, but they do not see themselves as children of God. Therefore, if the children will see themselves as children of God, parents have a vital role to bringing them to Jesus, to be close to Him, and to interact with Him; if the children see themselves as children of God, parents must help their children that they look more than what they see from social media, from peer pressure, and the expectations beset before them.
 
To conclude, marriage must create a space for a family, that is not so perfect yet places God at the center. Marriage must be an avenue to show support and affirm their children how God looks at them. A perfect family should not stay as a contract on a piece of paper. A perfect family makes sure to bring themselves close to Jesus.
by Bro. Romar Gil Bastian, OMI

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