Mom versus Dad

Learning to see ourselves as children of God  

Luke 15:1-10  Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.   

          One day a little girl asked her mom, “Where do humans come from?” Her mom smiled and answered, “Well, honey, God made Adam and Eve and they had children, and that’s who we all descended from.” A few days later, the girl asked her dad the same question. Her dad answered, “Well, dear, many years ago there were monkeys, and from them all the people on earth evolved.” Now, this obviously confused the little girl, so she returned to her mother and said: “Mom, how is it possible that you told me that people were created by God, but dad said that people evolved from monkeys?” The mom smiled again, and wrapped her arms around her daughter’s shoulder, and answered, “Well, dear, it’s very simple: I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his side.”   

          It is fascinating, though, how every child is a composite picture of mom and dad – 50% mom and 50% dad. We all notice how a young boy has his mother’s smile but his father’s eyes. A little girl may be savvy in math like her mom but a born salesman like her dad. Athletic abilities come from one side of the family while compassion and tenderness from the other. Both mom and dad put a particular ingredient into that melting pot as part of the recipe of a human person.

          But does that exhaust the whole mystery that is man? Is that all we are: just a reshuffled deck of mom and dad’s genes? I don’t think so. Why? Well, because besides 23 chromosomes from dad and 23 chromosomes from mom, there is still another ingredient needed to be a human person, namely, a spiritual soul. And who gave you that? Was it your mom? No. Maybe it was your dad? Nope. Your soul comes straight from God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states in no. 366, “The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God – it is not ‘produced by the parents’.” In other words, your soul does not come from your “mom’s side” of the family and it does not come from your “dad’s side” either (even if he did descend from monkeys). Every soul comes from “God’s side” of the family. That’s why Genesis teaches that God made man “in his image and likeness” (Gen. 1:27). You know, it is both a tremendous and terrifying thing, but nonetheless true that each of us is a child of God.   

          Now, most of the time, parents are proud of their progeny (their children). But when the children misbehave, what to lots of parents do? They begin to blame each other, saying, “Your son wrecked the car,” or “Your daughter is dating that deadbeat boy.” In the first reading today, God and Moses are arguing over the rebellious Israelites, almost like a mom and dad argue over disobedient children. God says to Moses: “Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt.” And Moses fires back, “Why, O Lord should your wrath blaze up against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt.” Sound familiar?  

          But in the gospel, Jesus shows how God really reacts to rebellious children. The gospel reads: “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’.” In other words, Jesus wanted the Israelites to realize they are not just a composite of their mom and dad, not just a reshuffled deck of Jewish genes, but also children of God. And Jesus would always welcome them warmly and love them unconditionally, especially when they sin.  

          Folks, I’m here this weekend to promote Trinity Junior High School. And there are so many great things I could say about our school – like how we won our first football game in two years this season, or how we’ve lowered tuition by $700 per student, or how we’ve increased enrollment by 26 students this year. Instead, I just want to underscore one point about Trinity, and the same is true of all Catholic schools: we remind every student that they are not just a composite of mom and dad; they are also a child of God. Because you see, at Trinity we don’t just teach biology and science and chemistry, where students learn that the human person is made up of 23 chromosomes from mom and 23 chromosomes from dad. We also teach religion, and we go to Mass, and we pray together, so our students learn that they are also given a spiritual soul immediately infused by God at their conception. Every Catholic school teaches its students what they get from “God’s side” of the family: the unspeakable privilege of being a child of God.  

          My friends, the sad fact is we live in a confusing and crazy culture, which is especially perplexing to our young people. We live in a society where parents don’t just fight and argue, but they separate and get divorce, which devastates young people. But at Trinity we teach students they are not only children of their parents, but also children of God, and they may find some peace in the midst of pain. We live in a society that judges people by their beautiful bodies and their bulging bank accounts, their fashionable clothes and their fast cars. But at Trinity everyone wears a uniform and looks the same, so that each student is only judged as a child of God. We live in the South where cotton used to be king, but now football is king, and the only thing that matters is winning football games. But not at Trinity!  We have lots of opportunities to teach good sportsmanship, and to see our opponents as children of God. At Trinity we teach that every baby is more than biology; we teach that each person has an immortal soul created in the image of God.  

          As you leave Mass today, take a flier with the picture of the good-looking priest, and a bumper-sticker for your car. Please support us in the second collection and pray for our junior high school, your junior high school. But more importantly, remember where you came from: you did not descend just from Adam and Eve, nor did you descend from monkeys; you are a child of God. Your chromosomes may be 50% from mom and 50% from dad, but your soul is 100% from God.  

          Praised be Jesus Christ!