"Need a life"

Every once in a while we read of parents who neglect their children using the excuse “I needed a life.”

They do not recognize that they have a life: a life of a parent – a life infinitely more meaningful than anything else that parent might think is more “fun”.

(I write not in condemnation, for I too am a sinner.)

In today’s first reading (Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22), we hear the famous story of woman who puts family first: even her mother-in-law!

God comes first, of course, and true family obligations never require denying the Truth, committing evil, or directly cooperating with evil.

Also, for priests and religious, "family" includes the faith community to which they belong.

Moreover, all of us must be prudent (without rationalization): destroying ourselves does not help our families.

But family comes before self: before comfort, before a non-family “life”.