PARAÑAQUE City, Dec. 26, 2014 — Even more than teachers in school or friends, parents remain the biggest influence on a child. This is probably why a priest recently reminded parents to bring up children with a “holy fear of the Lord.”
“As parents you are tasked by God to form your children into becoming responsible Christians and citizens,” said Fr. Rolando O. Agustín, rector of the Diocese of Parañaque’s St. Andrew’s Cathedral Parish, during his Christmas day homily.
Fr. Rolando O. Agustín, rector of the Diocese of Parañaque’s St. Andrew’s Cathedral Parish recently stressed the importance of parents' influence on their children. (Photo: CBCP News)
The priest connected what appeared to be a crash course on basic theology to the foundation and ultimate goal of parenting.
“If God is the Light of the world, it follows that we His children should live in that Light,” he shared.
Agustin earlier pointed out that John the Evangelist called Christ the light, not only because He dispelled darkness from the world, but also because He gave it warmth, transforming believers into children of God.
He also explained why the verses regarding The Word which became flesh, taken from the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel form the cornerstone of what Christians believe.
“In his opening lines, John the Evangelist affirms that God, in spite of His majesty, has condescended to become one of us … Jesus, therefore, is truly God and truly man,” he said.
These passages from John read:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
(Raymond A. Sebastián/CBCP News)
