June 28, 2026
The gospel points to life. And, for that reason, it says things that help us live with humanity.
We read in the text of this Sunday that Jesus IS SUBJECT TO THEM, to his parents in his village of Nazareth. It is another way of speaking about the incarnation of Jesus: he submits to the authority of his parents (in that era when such authority was not questioned). To obey the indisputable paternal authority was to accept the authority of God.
Those were different times. Today, parents and children employ an authority of equality, difficult, more valuable, without a doubt. Although it also has its questionable side: we frequently complain that the authority of parents and teachers has been lost. Many wonder how to recover that authority and what Christian faith can contribute to that matter.
· Authority that is given: whoever wants to recover authority must give himself to the cause of his children. Being a parent, as you well know, is a vocation that demands continuous self-giving. To abandon such self-giving degenerates into a dangerous “collegiality”.
· Authority that is offered: there are fathers/mothers who work hard so that their children lack nothing. But it costs them to give time, concern, interest, dedication. They give but do not give themselves. Thus it is difficult to draw near to the child’s heart.
· Authority that accompanies: for which it is necessary to accumulate a strong store of patience, flexibility and empathy.
It is good to ask oneself whether faith can contribute something to this task. Well, yes. Besides the burden of human values that it contains, spirituality can help to shape the heart of the person. Many children today do not follow the believing, religious path of their parents. Patience and coherence. Patience to respect their pace of life. Coherence so as not to contradict with our deeds what we affirm with our words.
Now that in summer there is more time for reading, we ought to return to read that old poem by Kahlil Gibran, profound and debatable, which is titled “Your Children Are Not Your Children”:
Your children are not your children,
they are sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
Fidel Aizpurúa Donazar