Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth)

Caritas in Veritate ("Love in Truth") is the latest encyclical from Pope Benedect XVI. In the first paragraph of the encyclical, it says (emphasis in bold mine)

"Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth."

I won't go into an in-depth theological discussion. There are sites for that. What I seek to write about is its implication on parenting in a family setting, the basic social unit of every society (of course you already know that, don't you?).

Photo extracted from Gilbert Rondilla at Flickr.com (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilbertrondilla/3642637241/)

But let me point out two things that perhaps parents can digest well today:

1. Love is a FORCE - Love is not a wimpy thing. Lakas ito. Hindi ito para sa mga mahihina. Ito ay para sa mga matapang. Love is for the Brave, who can handle well the force. Wimps run away from it.
2. LOVE-FORCE takes its energy from TRUTH - In Cebuano, we say, Wala'y aso nga makumkom. You can't hide smoke between your palms. If you truly love, it shows, whether you like it or not. Conversely, if there's no love, it also shows. You can suppress it for a time, but it will show itself somehow.

What I seek to say here is that, in the context of parenting, I believe we can sum up the encyclical into two Tagalog words, "Magpakatotoo ka!" If you love your family, then, "magpakatotoo ka!" If you love your kids, "magpakatotoo ka!"

If so, why let them wait til your last breath before you let your loved ones feel it?

I was struck by the testimony of Bo Sanchez last weekend. At a time when his father seemed to be dying (his father survived, of course), his father all of a sudden hugged him. Bo said he felt three things: happiness, anger and regret.

Happiness because his father finally hugged him. Anger, because, why only then, after so long? Regret because, Bo thought his father was going to die and he may be experiencing such embrace for the first and last time.

That sucks, don't you think?

Good for Bo, his father survived, and God gave him the chance to experience fatherly love in a more intimate and manly way.

Men don't talk about this thing over bottles of beer. We talk about other things, like golf, or basketball or cars. But that does not take away our need for love deep inside, especially that which comes from our own father.

I may be a voice in the wilderness when I say this, but let me say it just the same.

Magpakatotoo ka!

Be true to yourself. Not for your own macho sake, but for your kid.

May your son model on you rightly.