The Next Generation

Thanking the Supreme Court

Genesis 28:10-19

Jacob departed from Beer-sheba and proceeded toward Haran. When he came upon a certain shrine, as the sun had already set, he stopped there for the night. Taking one of the stones at the shrine, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep at that spot. Then he had a dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God’s messengers were going up and down on it. And there was the LORD standing beside him and saying: “I, the LORD, am the God of your forefather Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants. These shall be as plentiful as the dust of the earth, and through them you shall spread out east and west, north and south. In you and your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing. Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he exclaimed, “Truly, the LORD is in this spot, although I did not know it!” In solemn wonder he cried out: “How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!” Early the next morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on top of it. He called the site Bethel, whereas the former name of the town had been Luz.

            Parents always want to leave their children the best they can: the finest food, the best clothing, the highest education.  But what do parents leave to their grandkids?  I saw one elderly couple driving a very expensive car with a bumpersticker that read: “We’re spending our grandkids inheritance.”  I saw that in the church parking lot before Mass.  (Just kidding.)  It was meant as a joke, of course, but I wonder how many grandparents are doing exactly that.  My father made the observation recently that the best inheritance parents can leave their children is a Catholic school education.  He said, “Then, when the parents die, the children won’t fight over who gets what!  Each child will have received something priceless that they will never lose.”  We should ask ourselves today: what are we leaving the next generation?

            Jacob is asking that same question in the first reading today from Genesis 28.  Jacob has a dream in Bethel where he sees angels ascending and descending on a ladder to heaven.  And what does he do when he wakes up?  He decides to build a shrine there as an inheritance for his children and grandchildren.  In fact, the name “Beth-el” literally means “House of God.”  Jacob did not spend his grandchildren’s inheritance, rather, like my father he built a church, a school, where his children would learn how to climb to heaven.

            With the recent Supreme Court ruling, do you know who I worry about the most?  It’s your children and grandchildren.  Why?  Because they will now grow-up in a world in which they will be confused about what a normal family consists of.  You see, that bumpersticker was right: we have indeed spent our grandkids’ inheritance; we will not leave them a moral society based on Christian principles.  That, we have spent.  So, what can we leave them?  Well, the same thing that Jacob did and my father did: build a church, a school, where our children can learn about God, and find a ladder to climb to heaven.  Ironically, I believe the Supreme Court decision may have done a huge favor for Catholic schools: as parents see what is taught in public schools as “the new normal,” they may want to give their children something else.

            My father was right: give your children a Catholic school education, an inheritance that they won’t fight over, and that no one can take from them, not even the Supreme Court.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!