Deputy Principal

Role Models – it is not always easy!

Sitting in mass and listening to the Gospel last week got me thinking of a conversation that I had recently with my daughter and what role we, as parents/carers, have in modelling behaviours to our children. My daughter recently had a falling out with one of her friends. Of course, she was in the right and her friend was in the wrong. Strong words were used by my daughter about their friendship being over. She was quick to judge and quick to say that the friendship was irreparable. 

As a parent, I tried to talk calmly with her and reason with her. This is not necessarily easy when you are talking to a teenager. I started to think about my own behaviours and what I model to my own children. Have there been times when I have been quick to judge and have written people off? Our children are sponges and they see us and hear us every day. They see us at our best and our worst. 

Listening to Matthew’s Gospel:

 Jesus said to his disciples ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Life gets busy and hectic. Sometimes we make rash decisions in our relationships with friends and family and cut people out. It can be hard to move past things that hurt us as we try to reconcile why people have acted in a certain way towards us or said things about us or our family. 

Listening to the Gospel, it got me thinking about what type of role model I need to be for my own children. If I cut someone out of my life completely because they have made a mistake, what message would I be sending to my own children? Jesus encourages us to bring those who may seem to be against us closer into the fold. Pray for those who may seem to be against us. If we can do this then we will truly have let Jesus into our life and by our actions say to our children, my daughter, that there is good in everyone and over time, Jesus’s love will prevail.

Adrian Byrne

Deputy Principal