Rev. John Tran Kha

RUNNING AWAY

The little boy of the Family Circus on December 4^th, 2007 was mad at his mother. He walked away threatening his mother, “I am running away from home!”

As he crossed the door, he looked back and asked, “Where do you think I should go, Mommy?”

He wants to run away, but he also knows that it is a dangerous world out there.

Dangerous World

The news about the assassination of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was a big shock!

We are living in a dangerous world.

There are political danger, social danger, physical danger, moral danger and spiritual danger. Many parents are trying to protect their families and children from these dangers.

In Boston, Massachusetts, the Parkers and the Worthlins pressed forward with their federal civil rights lawsuit, which will determine whether parents have a say in how human sexuality is portrayed to public schoolchildren as young as kindergarten.

David and Tonia Parker have spent their life savings and are ready to appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court to defend their rights as Christian parents.

David was arrested for trespassing in a dispute over his kindergarten son being given a book about families with homosexual and “transgender” parents.

In the Joseph and Robin Worthlin’s case, the book King and King, about a royal same-sex “marriage,” was read to their second-grader.

Their lawsuit contends that the schools violated their constitutional rights by trying to indoctrinate their youngsters with the idea that homosexuality is morally neutral.

It is also a great concern that more than half of the presidential candidates of our nation do not oppose the ideological fairy tale being read to 7-year-olds (National Catholic Register, Dec. 16, 2007).

The Cyber Media technology is another danger. Many immoral literatures are available just a click away. Many adults are being addicted to porn sites. Many parents worry that their children are being exposed to uncontrollable chat-rooms and other immoral information through the internet.

A lot of Parental Control softwares are being developed to protect children from dangerous internet content. Many parents are also afraid of the danger in public schools; they have chosen to home school their children. 

The Flight into Egypt

Mary, Joseph and Jesus were also facing danger and threat to the life of their baby and their family. It was intolerable for Herod to think that Jesus would become a competitor for his own crown. Since he could not be absolutely sure which baby boy was Jesus, he ordered to kill all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two-years old or under. God sent an angel to direct Joseph to take Jesus and Mary and to “flee to Egypt.”

Can you imagine it? God is on the run! Jesus, the Emmanuel, is fleeing for his life! It is shocking for many of us that the Son of God has to run away from danger in the world.

We can imagine Joseph escaping into Egypt with the baby Jesus. But, we think, if Jesus were only a full-grown man, he would not have to run from Herod. As a matter of fact, there were times, even as an adult, when Jesus ran away. During the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, some people wanted Jesus to tell them “plainly” if he was, indeed, the Christ. When Jesus answered, “I and the Father are one,” they took up rocks to throw at him with the intention to kill him. They wanted to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.” (John 10:39). Apparently, as an adult, Jesus had to run away from them.

The story of the Holy Family’s Flight to Egypt tells us that God chose to make himself vulnerable when he revealed himself in a person who, sometimes, at least, had to run away from people like Herod and the stone-throwers. The vulnerability of Christ is a lesson for us. We may like to think that we are super men and women, but we are not. There are powers and people who can hurt us and destroy us. There are times when we need to run away from dangers to our life and to our souls! Running away is not always cowardice as many of us have been taught to believe. Running away, at times, may be part of a very wise strategy.

Called to Be Holy Family

As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, it is not just for us to admire the family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. It is also a celebration of your family’s holiness. You are called to lead your family to holiness. You are called to be a holy family. You should have a sense of direction for your family.

Where do you want to lead your family?

What are the things that you do to lead your family to holiness?

There are things that you do may empower the holiness of your family. There are also other things that you do may undermine the strength and the holiness of our family.

Bringing your family to Mass every Sunday is a sign of holiness.

Taking your children to CCE classes is something that is holy.

Praying as a family is a holy thing to do.

Being charitable to one another is a holy thing to do.

Supporting the missions of the Church is a holy thing to do.

Forgiving members of family that hurt you is a holy thing to do.

Obeying your parents and respecting them are holy things to do.

I want to share with you some sample questions from the Legal Questions and Answers concerning family and marriage issues that seem to undermine the strength of family:

1. My elderly mother owns a lake property that has significantly appreciated in value in the last few years. Upon her death, the property is to be divided between her three children, one who uses the property all the time, and two who live far away and only occasionally visit. The sibling using the property intends to make and pay for substantial improvements to the property as a way to obtain a greater than 1/3 ownership right to the property upon the Mother’s death. Is this something that is possible?

2. When the parents are divorced, how old does a child have to be before they can choose which parent to live with and how often they see the other parent visitation?  

I have been paying child support for a while and the mother will not let me see my child, what do I do?  

If you were in these situations what would be your holy way to respond?

Family is the basic foundation of our life. It is in the family that we learn to love, to forgive, to accept, to care, to share, and to support one another.

The Second reading from St. Paul reminds us, “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another . . . And over all these put on LOVE!”