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"SPIRITUAL AND DIVINE APPROACH TO ADDICTION" Lack of Love: Primary Cause For Addiction       Most addicts have one thing in common: they have never experienced the sincere and true love from people who are expected to give this kind of love longed by them for sometime. The addicts resort to drug use because most of them felt and assumed that they are being abandoned, neglected and unattended to by their parents. They are being discriminated and ill-treated by their parents. Their parents play favorites. They began to hate their brothers and sisters favored by their parents. They use drug to rebel and to catch attention of their parents, of their brothers and sisters. To them their parents are irresponsible neglectful of their duties and partial in their treatment. They not only find contentment in the use of their favorite drugs, they also find enjoyment in the company of their friend addicts during their socialization known as "pot sessions." They feel excited. They feel proud, smarter and wiser in their "hide and seek" with the narcotic enforcers.       They never thought they are heading to a wrong dreadful direction: the road to addictions and the inevitable consequences of facing the risky and unwanted lives of the addicts and for siding with the evil one. If they did it because of lack of love. Addiction can be prevented by giving much of it. Responsibility of the Parents       One Evangelist said: "The restoration and upliftment of humanity begins in the home." The work of parents underlies every other "for the heart of the community, of the Church and of the nation, is the household; that is, the "well-being of society, the success of the church, the prosperity of the nation depends upon home influences." The Holy Family in Nazareth shall serve as an example for every home, for every family. The behavior of the present youth and children depends the future of society and our nation. So parents may lay for their children the foundation for a healthy, happy life. They may send them forth from their homes with moral stamina to resist temptation, and courage and strength to wrestle successfully with life's problems. They may inspire in them the purpose and develop the power to make their lives an honor to God and a blessing to the world. "Youth need a hand stretched out to them in sympathy. Kind words, simply spoken, little attentions simply bestowed, will sweep away the clouds of temptation which gather over the soul." "Let parents surround their children with an atmosphere of cheerfulness, courtesy, and love. A home where love dwells, and where it is expressed in looks, in words, and in acts, is a place where angels delight to manifest their presence." The home should be to the children the most attractive place in the world, and the mother's presence should be its greatest attraction. By gentle discipline, in loving words and acts, mothers may bind their children to their hearts.[White, ibid]. The Children in the Home       Children are the precious gift of marriage. According to the plan of God, marriage is the foundation of the wider community of family, since the very foundation institution of marriage and conjugal love are ordained to the procreation and education of children, in whom they find their crowning.       In its most profound reality, love is essentially a gift; and conjugal love, while leading the spouses to the reciprocal knowledge which makes them "one flesh" does not end with the couple because it makes them capable of the greatest possible gift, the gift by which they become cooperators with God for living life to a new human person. Thus, the couple, while giving themselves to one another, give not just themselves but also the reality of children, who are a living reflection of their love, a permanent sign of conjugal unity and a living and inseparable synthesis of their being a father and a mother. When they become parents, spouses received from God the gift of a new responsibility. Their parental love is called to become for the children the visible sign of the very love of God, "from every family in heaven and on earth is named." It must not be forgotten , however, that even when procreation is no services to the life of the human person, for example, adoption, various forms of educational work, and assistance to other families and to poor or handicapped children. The Family, A Communion of Persons       In matrimony and in the family a complex of interpersonal relationships is set-up- married life, fatherhood and motherhood, filiation and fraternity- through which each human person is introduced into the "human family" and into the "family of God", which is the Church. Christian marriage and the Christian family build up the Church: for in the family the human person is not only brought into being and progressively introduced by means of education into the human community, but by means of the rebirth of baptism and education in the faith, the child is also introduced into God's family, which is the Church. The human family, disunited by sins, is reconstituted in its unity by the redemptive power of the death and resurrection of Christ. Christian marriage, by participating in the salvific efficacy of this event, constitutes the natural setting in which human person is introduced into the great family of the Church.       The commandment to grow and multiply given to man, human in the beginning, in this way reaches its whole truth and full realization. The Church thus find in the family, born from the sacrament, the cradle and the setting in which she can enter the human generation and where these in their turn can enter the Church.       Family has special provisions in our Constitution. Thus, "The state recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.[ Sec.12, Art. II 1987 Constitution]. "The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation." Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development [Sec. 1, Art. XV]. Marriage, as an inviolable social institution is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State. [Sec. 2, Art. XV]. The State shall defend       (1) The right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of responsible parenthood;       (2) The right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development.       (3) The right of the family to a family living wage and income; and       (4) The right of families or family associations to participate in the planning and implementation of policies and programs that affect them. [Sec. 3, Art. XI, 1987 Constitution].       Likewise, John Paul II in his "Familiaris Consortio" openly and strongly defended the rights of the family against the intolerable usurpation of society and the State. Accordingly, the Church has established the Charter of Family Rights. Thus,       "The rights of every family are: (1) The right to exist and progress as a family, that is to say the right of every human being, even if he or she is poor, to found a family and to have adequate means to support it. (2) The right to exercise its responsibility regarding the transmission of life and to educate children; (3) The right to the intimacy of conjugal and family life; (4) The right to the stability of the bond and of the institution of marriage; (5) The right to believe in and profess one's faith and to propagate it; (6) The right to bring up children in accordance with the family's own traditions and religious and cultural values, with the necessary instruments, means and institutional ;(7) The right especially of the poor and the sick, to obtain physical, social, political and economic security; (8) The right to housing suitable or living family life in a proper way; (9) The right to expression and to representation, either directly or through associations with other families and institutions, in order to fulfill the family's roles suitably and expeditiously; (10) The right to protect minors by adequate institutions and legislation from harmful drugs, pornography, alcoholism, etc; (11) The right to wholesome recreation of a kind that also fosters family values; (12) The right of the elderly to worthy life and worthy death; and (13) The right to emigrate as a family in search of a better life " [John Paul II, Familaris Consortio]. Begin Early,       -"Suffer the little children to come unto Me." "Whoever shall receive one such child as this in My name, receiveth Me." "What greater work is there than training the mind and forming the habits of the young?..."[Laity, 30] The training for the apostolate should start with the children's earliest education. In a special way, however, adolescents and young persons should be initiated into the apostolate and imbued with its spirit. This formation must be perfected throughout their whole life in keeping with the demands of new responsibilities. By reason of their dignity and mission, Christian parents have the specific responsibility of educating their children in prayer, introducing them to gradual discovery of the mystery of God and to personal dialogue with him: it is particularly the Christian family, enriched by the grace and the office of the sacraments of Matrimony, that from the earliest years children should be taught, according to the faith received in Baptism, to have knowledge of. God, to worship him and to love their neighbor. The concrete example and living witness of parents is fundamental and irreplaceable in educating their children to pray. Only by praying together with their children can a father and mother- exercising their royal priesthood- penetrate the innermost depths of their children's heart and leave and impression that the future events in their lives will not be able to effect. Let us again listen to the appeal made by Pope Paul VI to parents:       "Mothers, do you teach your children the Christian prayers? Do you prepare them in conjunction with the priests, for the sacraments that they receive when they are young: Confession, Communion and Confirmation? Do you encourage them when they are sick to think of Christ suffering, to invoke the aid of the Blessed Virgin and the saints? Do you say the family Rosary together? And you, fathers, do you pray with your children, with the whole domestic community, at least sometimes? Your example of honesty in thought and action, joined to some common prayer, is a lesson for life, an act of worship of singular value. In this may you bring peace to your homes: Pax huic domui. Remember it is thus that you build up the Church."       Finally, and as further noted, the Book of Sirach not only writes about the training of children by their parents but also enumerates the duties of children towards their parents. Thus, "He who loves is son chastises him often, that he may be his joy when he grows up. He who disciplines his son will benefit from him, and boast of him among his intimates. He who educates his son makes his enemies jealous, and shows his delight in him among his friends. At the father's death, he will seem not dead, since he leaves after him one like himself. Whom he looks upon through life with joy, and even death, without regrets; the avenger he leaves against his foes, and the one to repay his friends with kindness. He who spoils his son will have wounds to bondage, and will quake inwardly at every outcry. A colt untamed turns out stubborn; a son left to himself grows up unruly. Pamper your child and he will be a terror for you, indulge him and he will bring you grief. Share not in his frivolity lest you share in his sorrow, when finally our teeth are clenched in remorse. Give him not his own way in his youth, and close not your eyes to his follies. Bend him to yoke when he is young, thrash his sides while he still small, Lest he become stubborn, disobey you, and leave your disconsolate. Discipline your son, make heavy his yoke, lest his follow humiliate you. [Sirach, 30:1-3]. On the part of the children in relation to their parents:       "Children, pay heed to a father's right; do so that you may live. For the Lord sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons. He who honors his father atones for sins; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. He who honors his father a gladdened by children, and when he prays he is heard. He who reveres his father will live a long life; he obeys the Lord who brings comfort to his mother. He who fears the Lord honors his father, and serves his parents as rulers. In word and deed, honor your father that this blessings gives a family firm roots, but a mother's curse uproots the growing plant.       Glory not in your father's share, for his shame is no glory to you! His father's honor is man's glory; disgrace for her children, a mother's shame. My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate with him; revile him not in the fullness of your strength. For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, it will serve as a sin offering it will take lasting root. In time of tabulation it will be recalled to your advantage, like warmth upon forest it will melt away your sins. A blasphemer is he who despises his father; accursed of his Creator, he who angers his mother [Sirach 4:1-16].       God is Great! Back | Home | Next

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