Contract review

Christmas is usually the time when moms, dads, ninongs and ninangs, uncles and aunties shower children with presents. It seems that most of us have forgotten about the agreements we made, the contract we signed. I mean the demands and duties ninongs, ninangs and parents agreed to bear when they presented the child for baptism. You, parents and godparents bound yourselves to actively rear the child to live the Christian life.

I remember an old priest telling me about his old parish priest. How his parish priest ascended the pulpit every Sunday and how he would never fail to mention these sobering words: “Parents, parents, your children will be riding your backs as though horseback riding on the way to hell if you do not raise them well (this sounds better in Cebuano).” The values behind them remain valid.

Parents and godparents need to actively raise their children well, not only to be successful and rich people but more importantly to be good Christian men and women, to be holy men and women, to be saints.

We have so great a saint as St. Therese of the Child Jesus because she had such holy parents –St. Louis and St. Zelie. We have so great a saint as St. Augustine because of his mother, St. Monica.

You too, the one reading this, could have sons and daughters and godchildren who would one day merit canonization because they had such holy mamas, papas, mommies, daddies, etc.

There is this tradition in the church in which the towel--the maniturgium-- that is used to bind the hands of a new priest so as to catch the holy oils would be given to his mother. And some would even extend this as to give the stole used by the new priest in the first confession he will hear to his father. The parents would then have these items in their hands when their souls would depart from their bodies in death.

Popular piety would imagine that when the parent would meet our Lord he or she would tell our Lord: “Look, Lord, I have given my son to be your priest.”

Not all of us have the fortune of having our children become priests or religious but all of us would have the opportunity to have our children--biological, spiritual, etc.--become saints.

And with heads lifted high, we shall tell our Lord: “Lord I have given you my child, my godchild, my nephew, my friend. I have done what I can to make him a Holy Person.” I would like to imagine that our Lord would respond: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the Joy of your master.”

That expensive gadget you gave them for Christmas, that expensive toy, that costly holiday trip means nothing to our Lord who will one day demand an account from you, from us, if you have not actively done anything to ensure that your son or daughter, or your godchild, will be living Christian lives, holy lives, and will merit eternal salvation, will become saints.

You are in no way bound to give them presents but you are bound to raise them as holy men and women. Well and good if you could be very generous to your children but do not forget and make it of utmost importance the one thing necessary: eternal salvation, to raise your children to be citizens of heaven, to become saints.