By REY FLORES
As Catholic men, we are constantly reminded that St. Joseph is the greatest example of what it means to be both a husband and a father. Well, if any of us men lived under the same roof with both Jesus and the Blessed Mother, which one of us wouldn’t also be on our absolute best behavior?
Of course, St. Joseph was a great man and I don’t mean to reduce him to the average man today — after all, he’s not only a saint, he’s the patron of the universal Church.
What I am pointing out is that despite the example of this great saint and even though we are taught that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved His Bride the Church, we are still mere mortal men who will never be perfect and we were born with a fallen nature.
As much as I have wanted to be the proverbial knight in shining armor to my wife and my daughters, I have fallen short of that frequently. As much as I would like to be a hero to my sons, I too have failed to be that hero on more than one occasion.
Why is it that we fail like this sometimes? We can easily blame original sin, man’s fallen nature, and anything else under the sun including the wickedness and snares of the Devil. Or could it be that I’m just plain lazy?
Don’t you doubt for a single second that Satan especially likes attacking the head of the household because if he can take out the protector of that household, the entire family then becomes much easier prey for him.
Satan also attacks wives and children and seeks to break families apart. Wives lose patience with their husbands and their children and sometimes become constant critics rather than the nurturing beings whom we have come to count on for comfort, solace and making our homes a place where we want to be.
Married couples are a favorite target of Satan because of our role as bearers of traditional Christian values and family life. We are called upon to be “fruitful and multiply,” not to contracept and verbally abuse each other.
Satan also preys upon our children through popular culture or through their peers. Given the ideas and entertainment that our children are assaulted with in the modern world, it is no wonder that they may start to rebel against their parents, particularly when they enter their prepubescent years, and even more so when they enter puberty itself.
When parents fall prey to Satan’s snares and give in to the negativity, the fighting, and the constant bickering, that is exactly all he needs to steer our children away from us, from our Catholic faith and altogether from God.
Husbands, love your wives, but wives, you must also love your husbands, and by that I mean do not use harsh words against each other. Do not deliberately try to hurt each other, especially not in front of your children. When we hurt each other in front of them, we are hurting them twice as much, because they love both mom and dad. There is nothing sadder for a child than watching his or her parents go at each other like a pair of wild animals.
A friend of mine recently told me about a priest telling a woman to keep holy water near her at all times and to drink a little of it before she spoke to her husband. She did it, said my friend, and in short order, her relationship with her husband improved and she grew spiritually!
Being the head of the household is a great blessing, but with it comes a great deal of sacrifice, work, and suffering. While it is our obligation, it isn’t enough to provide for your family financially. Having stated that, imagine those of us who have had spells in our lives when we couldn’t even be a “paycheck” because we were unemployed. Let me tell you, brother, if you haven’t been there, I assure you that it isn’t pretty.
There is absolutely no doubt that we have financial obligations to our families, unless of course there is a serious illness that may prevent us from doing so or circumstances beyond our control. However, I must stress again that especially in today’s radical secular and evil social climate, we must lead our families and provide them with Jesus Christ Himself in the Mass, in the Eucharist, and in all of the sacraments and prayer.
While many “preppers” are stocking up on food and ammunition in case of civil unrest and a Nazi-like takeover by our government, focus instead on stocking up on Hail Marys and Our Fathers and sacramentals like blessed salt, blessed candles, and holy water.
Weapons can only protect your physical body — it is prayer, fasting, and being in a state of grace that will protect the eternal souls of all your family.
As we start a whole new year, let’s look at our “Domestic Church” and let’s all work toward making it a place of happiness, a place of refuge from a cold and secular world, and a place where Jesus would love to come visit us every day.
Every single member of the family has a role to play and we cannot blame one another for our own poor behavior. We must all take responsibility to love and care for our families because that is God’s plan for our lives. Otherwise, we are proposing that we are smarter than God Himself.
I pray that you all have a blessed and happy new year.
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(Rey Flores is a Catholic writer and speaker. You can contact him at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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