Sunday Meditation: Of the Three Little Pigs, Parenthood, and Preparing for Death

When our children were young we had a car with no radio. So we entertained the kids by telling stories. Larry told fairy tales and I told Bible stories. A favorite from Daddy was The Three Little Pigs. Mom and Dad filled up their napsacks with all kinds of goodies and sent them off to make their way in the world,  build their own houses, and outsmart wolves.

Being so sick the past two weeks, I've been reflecting on the seasons and times of life. When children are young, your duties heavily correspond to meeting their needs the best you can - physical, emotional and spiritual. Then they grow up and your goal of building strong, independent, virtuous adults and educating them as well as you can is mostly completed. Of course you still pray and sacrifice for them and for their salvation, but your involvement in their day to day lives and decision-making has shifted to their own responsibility. Sometimes they still want you to be an active part of their lives; sometimes they are too busy to think about it. I remember my own busy days when my parents were in the background, always there, but often on the back burner of life. They were far enough away to require planning for visits. 

Of course you're still there for your children if they need you, but the best thing you can do is to let them fly with the Holy Spirit as the wind beneath their wings.

Not only that, but as the finish line in your own race draws nearer, you have obligations to yourself that take precedence. Peace of soul, focus on God, reparation for sin, and preparation for a good death are heavily weighted in the balance. Other things can become distractions and even, like the threads of the Lilliputians anchoring Gulliver to the earth, be an obstacle. The final years need to be a time of shedding attachments to creatures all of whom will be left behind, even the most beloved. Focusing on the Face of God needs to come first. Focusing on the faces of our earthbound loved ones can hold us back from running toward our true home.

Death of St. Joseph by Paolo de Matteis 1662-1728

Pentecost Sunday is a good day to reflect on the Holy Spirit Who is, indeed, the wind beneath our wings. If we can fly it's because we let the Holy Spirit reign in our lives and lift us up. As the prophet Isaiah tells us:

But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.                                                                                                                     Isaiah 40:31

May we persevere to the very end of the race when we break the tape at the finish line and pray to hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant.... Enter into my joy." Matthew 25:23