Theme: Gospel at Home; family
Gospel at Home
Simone was married to Alberto and they had two children.
Everyday family routine was always full of appointments.
They woke up early, got ready, and left. The children
went to school and the parents to work.
After school, the children still had
their homework and other sports and cultural activities
in which they were signed up.
Alberto worked hard at his job.
Simone too, because she worked outside in the morning
and then devoted herself to housekeeping and childcare.
Everyone liked what they did because
they had friends and good opportunities for learning and
achievement. But the routine of many commitments and
responsibilities required discipline and balance. They
needed to have attention to schedules, not to leave
duties for later, to be organized with their things, not
to lose them around the house and so on.
It turns out that this didn't always
happen. The mother had been noticing that there were
often fights between siblings and disrespect for rules
and family members. And even she and her husband, for
many days, were tired and irritated by the small
situations that occurred.
One afternoon at lunchtime Simone
entered in the kitchen and heard her daughter Carla
shouting at her brother.
- Why did you eat everything, Daniel?
Of course I would want it too! You know very well that
chocolate cake is my favorite! There still was a very
large piece, it was enough to share.
- I arrived first! If you wanted to,
you should be smarter! - He replied nervously, with no
desire to admit that he had done wrong.
- Oh yeh!? But I'm pretty smart to
teach you a lesson. Don't be so selfish anymore! Shouted
the angry girl as she tugged at her brother's hair.
Daniel reacted and an ugly fight was
about to start if it wasn't for Simone to intervene and
separate them.
The quarrel was avoided but the
discomfort was not. For the rest of the afternoon the
siblings didn't talk anymore and Simone felt upset and
thoughtful.
Home should not only be the place of
physical and mental rest, but also moral formation and
learning of ethical values so that, in addition to
live well with each other, everyone can have good
attitudes outside home. If family members are the most
important people, we should take better care of living
with them.
Thinking about it, Simone remembered
then the Gospel at Home, which she had heard about in
the spirit center they attended. When Albert came home,
she talked to him, explaining properly the situation and
how much they could benefit from doing the Gospel at
Home.
Alberto agreed saying:
- Let's do it! We have many other
commitments, but surely the most important is with
Jesus!
So, the couple communicated to their
children that every day at 8 o'clock at night, they
would do it at home.
That same day they started. A few
minutes before the scheduled time Simone put on a
beautiful song, setting the mood.
Children were called but did not like
the news. Daniel had to get off the internet. Carla had
to interrupt the call with her friend.
Simone began the meeting with a
prayer, thanking God for the day and asking Jesus for
inspiration for a productive time with the family.
Simone then asked Daniel to open the
book The Gospel According to Spiritism by Allan
Kardec, which contains Jesus and the Spirit Doctrine´s
teachings.
Daniel opened and read the lesson
that says, "Do not do to others what you would not want
them to do to you." At the end of the reading he
laughed, embarrassed, realizing that this teaching was
good for the afternoon.
The parents completed the study with
brief comments, and Carla then read a page from a book
of messages, psychographed by Chico Xavier. Alberto did
the closing prayer and they all prayed the "The Lord’s
Prayer" together. In the end they drank the water from
the jar that Simone had placed in the center of the
table.
The soft music, the prayers and the
comments around the good contributed to the mood of
harmony that formed. For about half an hour the family
was reunited and received many benefits.
On the following days they needed
discipline to fulfill their commitment. The same
discipline they used to perform their other activities.
Some failures occurred at first, but after a few months
the new family practice was well incorporated into the
family routine. The children came without complaint, and
often they called their parents when it was time.
The teachings of the Gospel were
always present in the minds of all, helping them to
overcome the difficulties of living together, to be in
tune with the good spirits who visited them daily and to
always remember the reality and spiritual values, which
are much more important than the materials.
Thus, the practice of Gospel at Home
made Simone and Alberto's family harmonized and happy.
Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com
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