Friday, August 15, 2014

19th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 16-08-14

Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13, 30-32 / Matthew 19:13-15

Modern psychology has discovered that the formation of person's personality and character can be traced back to the childhood years, and even right before birth, when the baby is still in the mother's womb.

Depending on what the child had been exposed to, the child can either gain or suffer from it.

That is why in the Church's "Book of Blessings", there is a prayer for expecting mothers and for the baby in the womb.

All this shows that the early years of a child are the most important years, because that's when the character is formed and the faith built.

So for us adults, the greatest thing we could do for a child is to give them tender love and an assuring word.

And as Catholics, it is even more important to share our faith with our children.

We must, and this is imperative for parents, to pray with our children as well as to pray for them, by blessing them with the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

We can do this whenever they go off to school, and when they come back home, before they go to sleep and whenever they are sick.

Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the little children.

So whenever we bless our children, we ourselves will also receive a blessing.