What did Jesus say about the duties of Parents to children, and the duties of Adult Children to Parents

What did Jesus say about the duties of Parents to children, and the duties of Adult Children to Parents? 

Eileen Renders

Ephesians Chapter 6: 2-3 The First commandment that has a promise attached to it is: “Honor your father and your mother, and the promise is: so that you may have a long life and prosper in the land.

For Moses Chapter 6:10 said: “Honour your father and your mother, and anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death.”

This is very strong and threatening language, however, I believe it was said in that tone to make an impact on adult children who, after being nurtured and raised by loving parents, turn their backs on their aging parents, may understand God’s dissatisfaction with them.

Proverbs 23:22 In the Catholic Bible advises to listen to your father and not despise your mother when she is old. It emphasizes the importance of truth, wisdom, and understanding. A wise son brings joy to his father.

Exodus: 20:11-12 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day blessed the sabbath and hallowed it. “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

Why did God not tell parents to love and care for their children in the Bible? I could not find any word of God that tells parents to love and care for their children. However, this may be because couples marry out of love and become as one through the sacrament of Marriage. And, bearing children is part of the sacrament of Marriage, and a reason for marrying. Little children are held, nursed, and protected with love. Children, however, often grow up and simply feel that the parents' “duties” are fulfilled. They go their way and focus on their search for a partner for life, and to love and raise their own family, often forgetting what their parents sacrificed in raising them.

But, here lies the big question: When elderly parents do not have Insurance to cover a satisfactory Nursing Facility, or have much anxiety about going into a Nursing facility, what are their options? When adult children do not offer them a room in their home, where is the respect and empathy? Some elderly parents agree to a Facility, and then have no visitors for months! Today, there is much estrangement between adult children and senior parents, more than we would care to admit. Many times, a parent may offer advice, realizing an adult has no responsibility to adhere to that advice, but simply listen kindly. Any advice is many times not respected, but resented, which leads to estrangement. God, who has shown us that He made His mother Queen of Heaven and Earth, has shown and told us all we need to know about how to live and how to transition smoothly into heaven. We all must follow Him through love, mercy, and humility.     

 Note: Mindful of when Jesus was on the Cross, and said to John the Apostle as He gazed at His mother, "Behold thy mother." Then He said to His mother, "Woman, behold thy son." the Apostle John, it has been said, then took the Blessed Virgin Mary into his home to live."