v 8 But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
Honouring others certainly encompasses the life of our own families. Sadly, we live at a time when breakup and separation of families is pretty common. This is not meant to be a judgemental matter but one for regret and action to bring about reconciliation and genuine caring. Jesus actually quotes an attitude which existed in his own day. ‘ For instance, God says, ‘Honour your father and mother, and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you say they don’t need to honour their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. ‘ (Matthew 15:4-6) In other words, people were getting round supporting their parents by claiming they were giving that money to God.
Care within the family is not only a moral obligation it is also a spiritual one. If you shrug off that responsibility and say it doesn’t really matter, then you are not behaving Christianly.
This can be a real dilemma in some families when a parent might need to go into some form of Care Home. ‘For goodness sake don’t put me away in a Care Home’ pleads an elderly mother. Then the children – no longer young themselves – struggle with a caring process or with the implied guilt of putting mother away in a home.
Pray for families wrestling with that kind of dilemma, and for Care Homes wanting to provide a genuine caring environment for the elderly. It can be a real struggle to know the best way to care for aging parents. Honouring them in their old age can be costly, tiring and emotionally draining.
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