Breaking from parental support is a matter of many factors more than age and civil status. Our laws recognize the age of majority as the beginning of emancipation. But such age is quite off from reality as it still is within the schooling age level. The empirical legislative determination of such age is very evident from such law. It does not coincide with related laws regarding school-going age and the minimum age for professionals. Children are required to be seven years of age to start schooling at grade one. If the child will pursue schooling continuously until college that would make the child a college graduate by about twenty-one on a four-year course or at twenty-two if one takes a five-year course.

The graduate has still to spend another year in review for licensure examinations and countless years more to find a gainful employment. In some cases where the person pursues education in accelerated mode and graduates from college years earlier, he would be halted to stagnation until the age of twenty-one when he can qualify to become a licensed professional. This brings us to the age of twenty-one as the mean age for a leap into professional life. But such age is not in any way equivalent to the real and actual age when the person finally practices his profession by employment for such is too remote and unrelated from any age level.

Quite surprisingly, the same law allows people to enter into marriage at the age of emancipation. As discussed above, that still is within the school-going age level when the person is too far from becoming a professional and still much farther having gainful employment. Although the age of emancipation and that of marriage are the same and way above the age of reproduction, the same does not afford emancipation in the real sense. In most cases, the person who enters into marriage by mere age qualification is still dependent from parental support.

But there are those who, even if married, still opt to stay with parents. The decision to stay is not much because of dependence on parents but to live with and give care to aging parents. While to some extent children still share in the graces for living with parents, such is just natural as both parties share in the obligation to support each other. Emancipated, grown up and financially independent children who choose to live with parents do so not much to benefit from parental graces but to provide support and intimate care only kin could offer.

Under our social setup, it is not uncommon for children and even down to grandchildren live with parents, often due to dependence caused by the late real emancipation discussed at the outset. But there are those who stay with parents for good, not out of dependence from parents but to give genuine love, support and care for aging parents who at times even ask their children to stay and live with them. This is a great sacrifice on the part of children who heed the plea of their aging parents instead of being free to find greener pasture and better fortune away from home. In such cases, emancipation could not be measured on a person’s choice to stay and live with parents for such decision may in reality be an act of love to serve as genuine caregivers to aging parents.
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WHEN Christ told his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit to them (cfr. Jn 15,16-16,4) after he shall have died, resurrected and ascended into heaven, he was reassuring them—and us—that despite whatever we experience in this world, we can have hope to reach our final destination, which is to be with God in heaven, fully transformed into his image and likeness as God wants us to be.

We should just learn how to strengthen our hope always, since that is a crucial virtue to have. Given our condition of pilgrim here on earth, exposed to all sorts of challenges, trials, difficulties and the like, we should make sure that we are always on the move toward our ultimate, spiritual and supernatural goal. That’s what hope does for us.

We should not get distracted or entangled by our earthly affairs, whether good or bad, for as the Letter to the Hebrews would put it: “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” (13,14) Thus, we have to strengthen our hope always. Our earthly affairs should only be a means and occasion to foster our hope to get us to our ultimate destination.

Hope is first of all not just a virtue that we produce, cultivate or keep to ourselves. It is first of all a gift of God, given to us in abundance. It is the gift of Christ himself who, by the Holy Spirit, is made present in us through his words, his sacraments, his Church. All we have to do is to correspond to this wonderful reality as faithfully and vigorously as possible.
That is why we need to be most mindful of the truths of our faith, giving time to meditate on them and to make them sink in our very consciousness. We have to be wary of our tendency to be carried away by our earthly concerns, no matter how legitimate they are. For again, as the gospel would say, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mk 8,36)

It’s important that just like in that management style called MBO (Management by Objective), we have to have a clear vision of our ultimate goal and make it the strongest desire of our life, so that we don’t get entangled with the ups and downs and the drama of life.

Christ has warned his disciples—and us—that because of him, we will encounter severe trials that would go to the extent of testing our very faith. We have to be ready for this eventuality by always developing a sharp sense of discernment of what the Holy Spirit would be prompting us to think, say, do and react.

We also need to be constantly reminded of what Christ himself assured us. “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33) We need to be ready when some fears, and worse, anxieties and depression, would come to us.

This, of course, will require some significant effort, because especially nowadays people are getting too hooked in their earthly, temporal affairs. Some of them who are considered more in the successful side, get too immersed in them that they forget their spiritual and supernatural goal. Others, who are more in the losing side, eventually fall into discouragement and despair. They end up finding no meaning in life.

We should do everything to sharpen our sense and virtue of hope!