In defence of the Family

August 6-10, 2011: we all read in the press shocking reports of intense rioting in London and suburbs.

August 15, 2011: the British Prime Minister R. D. Cameron addresses the Parliament about the issue. The speech is worth reading, and can be found at http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2011/08/15/cameron-fight-back-speech-in-full. What is most remarkable, however, are the considerations about the causes of the riots. After acknowledging that the main cause is the fall of moral standards among the younger generation, a solution is outlined as primary: the protections of the family. Here is the relevant section:

“The question people asked over and over again last week was ‘where are the parents? Why aren’t they keeping the rioting kids indoors?’ Tragically that’s been followed in some cases by judges rightly lamenting: “why don’t the parents even turn up when their children are in court?”

Well, join the dots and you have a clear idea about why some of these young people were behaving so terribly. Either there was no one at home, they didn’t much care or they’d lost control.

Families matter.

I don’t doubt that many of the rioters out last week have no father at home. Perhaps they come from one of the neighbourhoods where it’s standard for children to have a mum and not a dad… …where it’s normal for young men to grow up without a male role model, looking to the streets for their father figures, filled up with rage and anger.

So if we want to have any hope of mending our broken society, family and parenting is where we’ve got to start. I’ve been saying this for years, since before I was Prime Minister, since before I was leader of the Conservative Party.

So: from here on I want a family test applied to all domestic policy. If it hurts families, if it undermines commitment, if it tramples over the values that keeps people together, or stops families from being together, then we shouldn’t do it.

[…] We are working on ways to help improve parenting – well now I want that work accelerated, expanded and implemented as quickly as possible. This has got to be right at the top of our priority list."

What will be done remains to be seen; but still, we do not hear very often this kind of blunt talk from a politician, for it is not “politically correct.”

We remember that the Holy Father has repeatedly indicated the defence of the family as one of the three “non negotiable principles” of Catholic social action.

There's work to do, for all of us.

Disappointment

There are days when you wish you never got up. Obstacles keep popping up, things do now seem to work, and your performance is less than lousy. You run and work, and you do not seem to have moved an inch from where you started. You just dream to make it back to your bed. Days you perceive like a big waste of time.

Often enough, they turn to be the milestones of your life. Milestones seldom come with a bang.

One thousand generations

Little Z. gave me a gift: he dropped a small puppet on the van, a ladybug surmounted by a small bee. I found it too late to give it back. So now it sits on my desk, a reminder of his brief presence.

Z. and the other children who visited us are the incarnations of the demanding choices their parents made during the years of their youth. They had the courage of swimming against the current of contemporary trends and world patterns, whenever those trends and patterns clashed with their Catholic Faith. Hard and unpopular as that might have been at the time, their children are now there to show the astonishing results.

It reminds me of the word of the Scripture: the Lord blesses the children of the just man up to the thousandth generation.

As I pause and contemplate God's work in them, I wonder: I had the venture of accompanying a number of seminarians towards their religious vows and priesthood. I am not their Dad, of course. My personal choices had obviously had an impact on the course of their development. How positive or negative, I cannot judge properly.

Wondering about the past is only helpful to live the present. All I can do is to strive so that my present choices have a positive impact on the people who are entrusted to me now. And to entrust all others to the loving hands of the Father.

World Youth Day

A few days have already lapsed from the conclusion of the World Youth Day in Madrid; I was not present there and I had not even got involved in following its preparation. And yet, it keeps echoing in my mind, it pops up in the sermons and classes I give, and above all it cheers me up, it brings a brisker step to my journey.

Much as I appreciate the guidance of the Holy Father (to the dismay of some dear friends of mine, who may have some reservations about it), I did not expect what I received through the media. The Holy Father took several long strides forward in his journey to fight the prevailing relativistic mentality. He repeatedly told different categories of people, and above all the youth, not to be afraid to search for Truth, the Truth, the only One. He, therefore, gave a shot in the arm to the millions of Catholics worldwide who care for a less mimetic, more assertive presence of our Church in the many arenas of today's world.

I am the least of them all, but I place myself among them. The benign and moderate – but nonetheless clear and straightforward – teachings of the Pope have given me great consolation. They keep ringing in my ears as a loving word of encouragement, as a pat on my shoulder: go ahead, you are not on a wrong path, after all.

Among other websites, one which I follow from its inception offered remarkable timely updates and analyses. Should anybody be interested, to keep in touch with developments in the church, here it is: http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/. Besides English, Italian and Spanish readers will find it in their own languages, too.

Queenship of Mary

In your honour, Queen of Angels and Saints, our Mother.

K., whose presence here cheered us up a few days ago, gave the final blow to my reluctance to write and “publish” online.

His provocation, however, had an easy task. It's a while since I realised how much I received from several writers and friends who dare to publish the fruit of their search for truth, or the steps they took in their life journey. I realise how much I receive, on a daily basis, and how little I offer. I've been nudged a few times to give my contribution. I've never said no; I've never done it, either. With a pang of guilt feeling lingering deep in my stomach.

I have no idea how relevant or helpful my posts may be. I've never been good at self-esteem, and very little gracious or adept at welcoming encouragement, appreciation or sympathy.

But here we are.

Whatever will be found on these pages, from today onwards, is my way of saying “thank you” to people who matter a lot to me, and whose thoughts and spiritual quest have helped shaping mine.