Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
My parents loved to listen to Crosby, Stills and Nash. When I think back to my childhood many of their songs fill the soundtrack of my memories. Today’s readings made me think of one their most popular songs – “Teach your children well.” Even as a child I remember liking this song. I loved that it spoke to parents and children to both teach each other. Now as a parent I see the truth of that sentiment even more so. For as much as I am teaching and forming my children they are teaching and forming me as well. The parent/child relationship is one of the most important relationships in the world and as parents teaching our children well is one of the biggest responsibilities we will ever have.
Believing it is my job to love my children and teach them well, the psalm line, “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons” kept catching my attention. I was unable to understand how anyone could do this to their child. But then I started to understand more clearly how this can apply to our modern lives.
In the first reading the Lord wants to punish Solomon for worshipping false gods. He will not do this while his father is still alive, not to spare Solomon but because of the pain it would cause David. In a similar way, the Lord will not deprive Solomon but rather his son, because to see your child suffer is far more painful than to suffer yourself. And even more so, by modeling this behavior to his son, Solomon has now taught his son to worship false gods and idols. The way we live and the idols we worship will influence our children.
Both the first reading and the psalm speak of worshipping other idols and having other gods. I think this is a trap we so often fall into. It is easy to say that I only worship God the Father but to unknowingly fall into the worship of other idols – sports, money, success, celebrities, television, technology, popularity and much more. There are so many distractions from the Lord that can quickly take His place in our lives. As a parent this is even more dangerous because we are called to teach and guide our children, helping them to know God and know His love. When we are worshipping other gods and idols it is not only ourselves we separate from God, but our children. We lay an unsteady and unclear foundation for them.
Even wanting your child to be successful in school or sports or to be the “best” at all he or she does can start to be a false idol. When we feel this starting to happen I think we need to ask ourselves one question – what would Jesus call success? How does Jesus want us to teach our children well? Jesus wants us to strive to teach our children to love God, to be a good person and to love others, no matter their profession or place in life. When we model this to our children and they can see that God is the one true God, we have taught them well. When we lose sight of this, we “sacrifice our sons and daughters to demons,” the demons of our false idols.
Think of someone who looks up to you: a child, a friend, perhaps a sibling. If they were asked what it is you worship, and Who you serve, what would they say?
And Mom and Dad – thanks for teaching me well.
- Amanda Grimm