26 Dec Thursday

The cultural-political discourse today includes a conversation about values, as if somehow they had disappeared or are being called into question. One has to wonder why this is, of course, but it certainly is a very important conversation for our times. There’s a sense or feeling out there that either anything goes, or I just talk myself into justifying myself, or values are somehow old fashioned. They’re not.

Not everyone can agree to any one list, but what Paul offers us in Colossians this Sunday is as good as any to guide our behavior and commit ourselves to a vision and ideal. The lists in the reading could well be said of any religion that is worth the name. Learning, practicing, and living the lists creates a good life that leads to holiness — sainthood.

Teaching these to the children is esteemed, as the father Ben Sirach does in the first reading. One can only teach these by actually living them. Therefore, parents can never say, “Do what I say, not what I do”, but rather ought to be able to say, “Do what I do, because I do it.” These things create harmony, concord, and order in the family home.

Perhaps one remembers some particular person (parent, grandparent, any elder) and tell the story of their impact on you because they knew these values and actually lived them out. Encourage this sharing in their families, telling the story, and keeping alive the memory and life of the good and just among us.