|
 |
|
Homilies are posted no later than during the week
prior to the Sunday they are needed. |
| |
Holy
Family
|
A family was fleeing Afghanistan during the 2001
war. The husband andpregnant wife were carrying their two
children. Exhausted, they could carry them no longer. They kissed their
children and left them to die in the mountains. (The New York Times
11/16/01) Do you still feel the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt
was a walk in the park?
The ancient world was convinced that God faxed His
messagesto people in dreams. One author calls dreams God's other
language. Matthew tells us today that Joseph was advised in a dream by
an angel that an attack on the Child was imminent from King Herod.
"Flee to Egypt." Joseph did not have to be told twice. He and his wife
broke camp in a flash and were off into the land of the Pharaohs before
sunup as the most famous illegal aliens in history.
We don't put much stock in dreams nowadays. But do
remember that Dr Sigmund Freud, late of Vienna, did. And he was a
genius.
The hurried departure of the family may have been
about the same time that the three kings were urging their camels to
leave Bethlehem in a gallop. They were anxious to give Herod a wide
berth. He wanted their heads on golden plates. Recall their warning
came through a dream from an angel.
Joseph and his family were not the first Jews to
flee into Egypt. For centuries, whenever pogroms came on the Jews in
Palestine, they turned their eyes toward the safety of Cairo and
Alexandria. Unlike the Holy Family, many remained and became citizens
of Egypt.
The trip had to be a nightmare. The march from
Bethlehem to the Egyptian border took about five days. The Sinai desert
would bake the three of them in the day and deep-freeze them at night.
The record shows that armies from Alexander the Great to Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel approached the North African desert with apprehension.
The family hugged the Mediterranean coast as long as
possible. Though they could not drink its waters, they could enjoy its
breezes. Chances were better they would meet Bedouin caravans. From
them they might buy precious fresh water. So, already the gold brought
to them by the wise men was changing hands.
The family finally reached the Egyptian frontier.
Probably they were traveling without passports. Thus, they could expect
much hassle from border guards. More gold was probably lost to them
because of bribes. Or else they slipped across the border at night
unseen. If anyone should have sympathy for immigrants without papers,
it is Christians.
A tradition says they lived in Cairo. And, when I
visited
there, my guide took me to the Coptic quarter of Cairo and pointed out
the alleged house. The Coptic Christians insist they lived there for
four years. The Muslims say seven. One thing is certain. The area is a
slum and probably was then also. It was not a pretty picture. But where
else could immigrants live? Besides, they were Jews. Anti Semitism was
already alive and rampant.
Many Christian families ask, "How can we identify
with the Holy Family? Mary was a virgin, Joseph a celibate, the Boy
divine." Yet, is it really that difficult to identify with a family on
the run? With a husband and wife haggling over the price of water with
Bedouins who wanted top dollar and everything else you owned?
With a couple without papers who had to prove most resourceful to get
by frontier guards? With a Joseph, Mary, and Jesus who had to survive
living in a Cairo slum for four years? With a family that did not even
speak the country's language?
This is a family you can easily identify with. They
knew what it was to deal with poverty and an empty stomach. Their
closeness to God did not erase the terrible heat and freezing blasts of
the desert's various moods. All they could do was trust in God. They
believed firmly that someday they would understand the reasons for all
their deprivations. Meanwhile, they crossed their fingers, hoped, and
prayed.
In our times of pain, we ask, "Why do bad things
happen to good people?" In those periods, remember that Mary and Joseph
likewise suffered. God did not shield them from hardship. Rather, He
gave them the strength of character to bear pains.
Throughthem, was He not telling
us that He will not turn His back on us when we find ourselves between
the fire and Hell?
Babies still have King Herods to fear. The United
States aborts annually one million and a half innocents. What are we as
Christians doing about this Herodian slaughter of these new holy
innocents?
|
|
http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Holy Family
|
Welcoming Jesus into our Homes
One
Sunday, on the Feast of the Holy Family, a priest gave his homily
presenting Jesus, Mary and Joseph as the ideal family. As he was
talking he noticed a man muttering to himself.Like all priests,
he tried to ignore the man, but the man’s upset grew as the homily went
on.Finally, the exasperated priest asked, “What seems to be the
problem, Sir?”
“This is all a waste of time,” the man said. “You talk about Jesus,
Mary and Joseph as being the ideal family, but Mary was the sinless
one, Joseph the faithful one and Jesus the Son of God.How can
any family consider realistically model themselves on the Holy Family?”
That’s a good question, and perhaps one that has come to your minds. I
think it would help if we consider what the word, “Holy” means.
To be holy means to be separate for the Lord. Our families can be
separate for the Lord, our families can be holy.How?
Here
are three suggestions for our families to be holy.Actually there
are just three words.
The
first word is JOY.Families need to play together, goof around,
laugh together and not take each member too seriously.Families
need to find ways to laugh together, whether it’s the beach, a board
game, a pillow fight, what have you.Joy is not a part time
business for a Holy Family.The famous author C. S. Lewis put it
this way: “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”We are called
to be joyful because the one who brought joy to the world is present in
our homes.
The
second word is TIME.If a little child could spell love, he or
she would spell it this way, t-i-m-e.Jesus only spent the last
three of his thirty-three years serving people.The first thirty
were focused entirely on his family.Based on their culture, Mary
and Joseph started sharing scripture with Jesus when he was five, the
Mishna or oral tradition at age ten, and the commandments and law at
age thirteen, Joseph would have taught Jesus his trade, that of a
carpenter.Jesus would have had to learn how to use an axe,
hammer, chissel and saw.Joseph also taught him the difference
between various woods, acacia, cedar, cypress, pine, and
sycamore.This all took time.Mary and Joseph would have
spent time with their child out of love for him.
Our
families need to do this to be holy families.We have to stop
crowding our day with tasks that take us outside of the home.We
have to limit the number of activities we let the kids be involved
in.The greatest need a child has is to spend time with his or
her parents.
The
third word is PRAYER.The ancient Jewish family would recite the
prayer of Eighteen Benedictions three times each day.The lesson
was that the family must always look to the God the Father, praising
Him.Our families need to be families of prayer.Grace
before meals and bed-time prayers are a minimum.Even better than
the bed-time prayers are prayers together as a family every evening.
None
of our families are ideal families, but all of our families can be Holy
Families.
The
readings for this Sunday present some aspects of a Christian home. The
first reading from Sirach says that children need to respect their
parents.At first it refers to young children as it notes that
mothers and fathers have their authority from God.Then it refers
to older children when it says that children should take care of their
parents when they age.Little children learn respect for their
parents from the respect they see their parents giving their
grandparents.I have always believed that the way you treat your
parents will be the way your children will treat you. If your relations
with your parents are motivated by respect and love, and are evident in
your kindness to them, your children will have learned this aspect of
Christianity and will treat you the same way as your years mount.
The
second reading deals with the interrelationships of the family.
Paul tells the Colossians and us to deal with each other out of
kindness, to be patient with each other, to forgive each other
continually, not to let out pride determine what we say and do to each
other. If we strive to live this way, than as a family we
can pray together not just in Church, but in every aspect of our
lives."Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in
the name of the Lord." Paul goes on to mention the roles of a family in
his epoch.At that time the equality of women was not
recognized.In the Roman empire women were seen as property that
needed to be protected by their fathers and their husbands.It
would be rare that a woman would be given the respect due to every
individual.That's why we have the phrase, wives be submissive to
your husbands.Closely followed by husbands love your
wives.In our society, with the recognition that most roles in a
family have nothing to do with gender, the real meaning of this part of
Colossians us that husbands and wives must respect each other.
This same line of thought continues with children being told to respect
their parents, and parents being told not to nag, to continually find
fault, with their children.
It
used to be fashionable for the American media to claim that the family
is no longer a viable unit.Now, it claims, their has been a
resurgence of family and family values.This is all
hogwash.The family has and will remain strong as long as there
are people of faith, people like you people here, who are doing their
best to make the love of God real in their homes.Today we pray
for all our families.
May
your home be a little church, displaying your reverence for the
presence of the Lord in the way you care for each other.May your
families be Holy Families.
|
|
|
http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
Holy Family
|
Bottom line: The person who honors father and mother will receive great
blessings. The Holy Family can help us fulfill that commandment.
God tells us, "honor your father and mother." For some people that
command is easy. For others it is very difficult. Still, God does not
say "honor your parents - unless you belong to a disfunctional family."
Nor does he say, "honor one parent, but not the other." No, he simply
tells us to honor our parents.
In today's first reading, Sirach gives some strong motives for honoring
one's father and mother. He says that if you honor your father, God
will hear your prayers and forgive your sins.* Now that is pretty good,
but there's more. Sirach - together many books in the Bible - says that
if we honor our parents, God will give us earthly blessings. He will
give us something all of us want: "riches" or at least a sufficiency so
one will not have to live with crushing debts or fall into poverty and
misery. Moreover, to the person who honors his parents, God will grant
a long life.
When I was young, I thought if I lived to sixty, that would be a pretty
long life. Now that I am sixty-one, I want to live longer. God says
that the way to a long life is to honor ones parents - whether they are
alive or deceased. I hope that the Masses I offer for my mom and dad
not only help them, but also help me. God, after all, has made some
pretty strong promises to those who honor their parents.
That desire to honor father and mother is something God has planted
deep in each of us.. Every culture evidences the instinct to reverence
ancestors, beginning with ones own parents.** That instinct has not
disappeared in the twenty-first century. The most popular story of our
time takes that urge as its underlying theme. Almost all of our
children have read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies about his
adventures. For sure, they attract children because they describe an
enchanted world where a boy gets back at those who bully him. But on a
more fundamental level, the stories receive their dynamism from Harry
Potter’s search for his father. He believes that his father is good –
and desires to honor him.
God put the desire in our hearts for a reason. It is not too strange
when you think about it. That instinct helps create an enduring family
- and family is the place where God teaches us love. Love, above all,
means embracing those who are different.
We chose our friends, but we find ourselves in a family. Friends come
together because of similar interests. What members of a family have in
common are each other. Older sister and little brother are practically
two distinct species. Like a pony and a kitten, they wouldn't naturally
associate with each other. Similarly an elderly father and his grown
son occupy very different worlds. It is family which brings the mix
together. Love that makes the mix work. The family exists so that
different beings might learn love. G.K. Chesterton expressed it this
way:
The men and women who, for good reasons and bad, revolt against the
family, are, for good reasons and bad, simply revolting against
mankind. Aunt Elizabeth is unreasonable, like mankind. Papa is
excitable, like mankind. Our youngest brother is mischievous, like
mankind. Grandpapa is foolish, like the world; he is old, like the
world.
The most wildly diverse family is the one we celebrate this Sunday. The
gap between Jesus and his Mother is greater than the distance between
an archangel and a worm. He is God, she is a creature. Likewise, the
difference between Mary and her husband is greater than that between
any two other human beings. She is sinless, conceived without original
sin. Joseph, though certainly among the best of men, was like you and
me, a sinner.
Compared to the Holy Family, the diversity within our own families is
small. But God wants to weld that diversity into a unity. It requires
sacrifice – which is another word for love. I know that it is not easy.
When you feel down, discouraged, I ask you to say to yourself, “Jesus,
Mary, Joseph.” The devil will flee – and you will again be able to face
the great challenge: to love, to become family.
It only makes sense when you think about. Jesus fulfilled all the
commandments. He honored his mother and St. Joseph, his guardian. As
his disciples, he wants us to honor the Virgen and her spouse. And they
will help us to honor our own mother and father.
**********
*Sirach says one should care for one's father "when he is old...even if
mind fail..." Some people imagine that Medicare and Social Security
have relieved children of this obligation. If you think that way, you
might want to take a closer look at our system. There is no Social
Security "lock box." Social Security and Medicare are not insurance
programs. What the Baby Boomers have been paying into the program has
gone to support the "Greatest Generation." The Social Security program
does currently have a "surplus" but it has been loaned to the
government, which of course has a debt much greater than the Social
Security surplus. The care Baby Boomers receive will ultimately come
from the earnings of Generation X - and Y. Even though we have spread
things out to a greater population, when all is said and done, we are
dependent upon our children for the care we receive in our old age.
**Those who believe that evolution explains everything would probably
say that, even though animals don't evidence the same instinct, it has
to have some survival value for humans. But one must ask: What is the
survival value in caring for people who are beyond their reproductive
years? Something more than replicating genes is at work here.
Spanish Version
|
|
|
http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Holy Family
|
Background:
As was said last week, the Christmas stories might not be true in
all their details but they are True in the sense that they represent a
very special intervention of God in the human condition, a revolution
indeed because it revealed to us just how much God loves us, one that,
as G.K. Chesterton said, turned the world upside down and,
astonishingly, when viewed from that perspective the world made sense.
God, in the words of the Irish Dominican poet, Paul Murray, loves us so
much that if we should cease to exist, he would die of sadness. The
Christmas stories reveal to us that God loved Her human children so
much that He took on human form so that he could show us how to live
and how to die, even walking with us down to the valley of death
itself. The stories today tell us that even from the beginning it was
not easy to be the special light of the world. Jesus was under threat
all his life. The threats would finally catch up with Him as they catch
up with all of us. But from Christmas we learn that finally the
darkness can never put out the light.
Story:
Once upon a time there was this young man, Peter Patrick, who
could hardly wait to go off to college. Starting half way through his
junior year in high school, he decided that his family was ruining his
life, almost every day. His father was a tyrant who didn’t know what it
was like to be a teenager. His mother was a crab. His younger sister
was a spy. His younger brother like a total dork – and a nuisance too.
The summer before he want to college was sheer agony. He’d learned in
one of his classes that some guy – he thought it was probably a German
– said that Hell is other people. The guy was certainly right. Hell in
fact is your family especially when you’re young. So college began. It
wasn’t as much fun as Peter Patrick had expected. In fact, it wasn’t
any fun at all. He couldn’t find the way to his classes, his adviser
was never in, he didn’t know where the mail boxes were, he didn’t
figure out how to get his laundry done. The food was terrible. The
teachers were creeps. The other students were dorks. The women were
stuck-up. Some of his fellow freshmen were drunk every night of the
week. The dorm smelled of vomit all the time. There was never any quiet
to study, even if he wanted to.
College, he finally admitted to himself, was a big mistake.
Peter Patrick told his parents, when he called to ask for more money,
that he loved it. College was great, college was wonderful. He wasn’t
sure he could make it till Thanksgiving. He told all his friends that
he loved college. They replied that they did too. It was wonderful to
be on your own. He didn’t want to go back after Thanksgiving because
Christmas was probably a couple of years away. At Christmas he acted
like he was condemned man at death row. Finally a girl he knew named
Sheila said to him, Petey Pat, you hate college like we all do because
there’s no one there who loves us like our families did. Don’t try to
fool me. Well, said Peter Patrick, what should I do? E-mail, said
Sheila, who was very smart, that way you can talk to your parents and
your siblings (she actually said siblings) every day. It will be almost
like being home. So Peter Patrick got himself an e mail account and
talked to his family every day. He said to Sheila the next time he saw
her, the guy was wrong. Hell isn’t other people, Heaven is.
|
|
http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
Holy Family
|
The first Sunday after Christmas is always dedicated to the Holy
Family. This year it comes the very next day after Christmas Day and so
perhaps we see even more clearly the link between the two celebrations.
This Feast of the Holy Family is uniquely Catholic and is not kept by
the Protestant Churches. I wondered why this was and thought that it
might have been dropped at the time of the Reformation because it was
too sentimental.
But I was wrong, actually this feast is quite a latecomer on the
liturgical scene and, although it has its origins in the 17th Century
when devotion to the Holy Family was apparently quite strong, it wasn’t
formally established until 1893 and didn’t actually get into the
universal calendar till 1921.
I think you will agree that it is a lovely feast day and helps us to
keep the focus on family life which is so important, especially at this
time of the year.
The Gospel of Matthew today tells us of the journey made by the Holy
Family into Egypt and their eventual return to Nazareth where Jesus was
brought up. We aren’t given any details of the sojourn in Egypt except
to say that it lasted until Herod was dead. That probably meant four or
five years.
The important thing to understand is that there is a significant
theological motive for Matthew’s account. By going to Egypt and then
returning to Israel Jesus is presented as being the new Moses.
You can easily see the parallels: the infant Moses was rescued from the
evil Pharaoh and the infant Jesus is rescued from the wickedness of
King Herod. In the Exodus Moses leads the Chosen People out of slavery
in Egypt and the equivalent mission of Jesus he is that he also comes
out of Egypt to bring salvation to all.
There is also a parallel between Herod’s massacre of the infants and
Pharaoh’s slaughter of the male children of the Hebrews. Later on in
the Gospels you can notice other symbolic parallels such as the forty
days and nights Jesus spent in the desert which symbolically correspond
to the forty years Moses spent in the desert.
The final phrase of our Gospel text today is also most interesting. He
will be called a Nazarene. By going to live in Nazareth he naturally
becomes a Nazarene, but there is a play on words here because the word
Nazarene also means a select holy one set aside for God’s service like
Samson and Samuel.
This is confirmed in John’s Gospel where the sign above Jesus as he
dies on the Cross reads: Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. And
Jesus certainly merits this title since he truly is the Holy One of
God, the unique God-man who alone can bring salvation in all its
fullness.
So what we have here is not just a pious story about Jesus being taken
to safety and returned in due time to live in a nondescript village in
Palestine until he is ready to make his mission known. No, what we
actually have is an account of a series of events which are in fact a
revelation of the identity of Jesus.
As I said this is not so much a story as a theological exposition.
Matthew is making it absolutely clear to his Jewish readers just who
Jesus is and he underlines it heavily by means of scriptural parallels
so that there can be absolutely no mistake. Jesus is the New Moses, the
Holy One, the Son of God, the one who comes to save his people.
This theological analysis aside, what do we make of this feast of the
Holy Family? To all outside appearance they are a family that has got
of to a very unfortunate start: The wife pregnant before marriage with
its unfortunate connotations, then the journey to Bethlehem for
registration where they are forced to take refuge in a broken down
stable.
The child born in these adverse circumstances is suddenly dragged off
on an even more perilous journey into exile for some years in Egypt.
Stability is only found when they come to the rural town of Nazareth;
and they only end up there because Judea would have been too risky.
This is the story looked at with the eyes of an outsider. But we who
understand Jesus’ role in the world see clearly that it means that he
intentionally choose not to be born into the wealthy and powerful elite
but into a poor and marginalized family. This was a deliberate choice
since his message is first and foremost good news for the poor and
downtrodden.
What Jesus values is not wealth and position, intellect or culture.
Jesus values our humanness; that is just us without all the trappings.
He values our being and nothing else.
This has a reflection in our family life. We value each other, our
brothers and sisters, our parents and children, not for what they
achieve but for who they are. We accept our brothers and sisters, our
parents and children quite unconditionally. Their failures and mistakes
are forgiven without them even needing to ask for it.
This is because we know them deeply; it is because they are our own
flesh and blood, because we have grown up together in a bond of trust.
Now this is not always the case, not all are so fortunate as to have
grown up in a loving family. But it is still today the norm for most
people and certainly what everyone desires and works towards achieving.
We are not always very good at expressing our feelings towards the
members of our family. Perhaps it is because these bonds are so deep
that we cannot find the words to adequately express what we feel, and
too often perhaps take each other for granted. But sometimes we manage
to find other ways to affirm each other and to express our sincere
appreciation.
When these family relationships become damaged it is a very serious
matter for everyone concerned and we should do everything in our power
to prevent discord in our families. This might require great sacrifices
but they are worth making for the sake of preserving these important
bonds.
We ought to realise that the relationship that we have with God is on
the same sort of level, or if anything deeper. God is our creator and
therefore is in a very real sense a parent to us: Why else do we call
him Father?
But perhaps, as with our human family, it is sometimes difficult to
express in words what we feel and we need to find other ways of
acknowledging the importance of our relationship with God.
The family bonds that keep us close to God are unseen but very much
present. He values us, not our status or our successes or our material
possessions. But like a true parent he values us for who we are—his son
or daughter. And he loves us more than we can ever know.
We have our earthly family whom we love dearly, but we also have our
heavenly family which is, if anything, even closer and more important
to us.
I wish you a very happy feast day and pray that the bonds of love which
keep you close to God and to each other grow ever stronger and deeper.
|
|
http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
Holy Family
|
|
|
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Holy Family
|
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
MERRY CHRISTMASTIDE.
Jesus Christ born at Christmas is the light born into a world of
darkness. The powers of darkness rise up in opposition to his truth and
goodness and seek to overthrow him. Joseph is warned in a dream several
times in the infancy of our Lord to rise up, take the child and his
mother and flee from those who seek to take his life. Today, also, the
goodness and holiness of Christ arouses the rage and fury of the devil
and his angels. Anyone who bears the name Christian must realize their
own share in the battle against sin and darkness. But the breastplate
and armor of Christ are sufficient protection against any assaults the
devil might mount. The devil must work through human beings who choose
to cooperate with him in his works of darkness, as he has no power of
his own against God. Prayers of exorcism are as relevant today as they
have ever been in the lives of Christians. The Catechism speaks of the
events in the life of the infant Christ as part of the cosmic struggle
between the devil and God.
The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents (Mt 2:13-18)
make manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: 'He came to his
own home, and his own people received him not.' (Jn 1:11) Christ's
whole life was lived under the sign of persecution. His own share it
with him. (Jn 15:20) Jesus' departure from Egypt recalls the exodus and
presents him as the definitive liberator of God's people. (Mt 2:15).
(CCC 530)
We are members of the family of God, the people of light, who are
conformed by baptism to Christ. We share his grace so that, conformed
to his suffering and death, we may rise with him to "newness of life."
We have joined the cosmic struggle between darkness and light, but go
forward to battle confident that his "yoke is easy" and his "burden is
light." He is victorious over sin and death, and we too share in that
victory through faithfulness and perseverance on the day of battle.
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
(Publish with permission.) http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
|
|
Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com; information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
Holy Family |
Our Family, Where We Daily Encounter God
Introduction
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. A few days ago, we
celebrated the birth of Jesus. Herod is the king, and when the magi ask
where is the "King of the Jews," Herod feels threatened. To make
certain no one takes his throne away from him, Herod sends his troops
to find and to kill this other "King of the Jews."
To save their son, the Holy Family become refugees. The angel told
Joseph: Pack up Mary and the baby Jesus and head for Egypt.
It's no easy task being a refugee. Going to live in a foreign country,
Mary and Joseph had to speak a new language, to learn the language of
the Egypt. Joseph had to find work. To start life anew in a strange
land, he relied on his skills as a carpenter.
Faith Eases the Burden of Family Difficulties
As we retell this story, we notice, God did not shield the Holy Family
from hardship. Rather, with total trust in God, Mary and Joseph could
bear any hardship which came their way.
Such is also our experience. At one time or another, nearly every
family has to come to grips with some major problem. With firm faith,
we handle these difficulties.
I remember Jonathan. First time I met Jonathan, he was fourteen and on
crutches. He told me he had fallen going down some stairs. To tease
him, I said, "That's pretty dumb." He smiled, and said, "Yea." Only
later did I learn Jonathan had leukemia. His bones so brittle they
broke with the least twist.
Always Jonathan and his mother came to Mass. And, how Jonathan looked
forward to his Confirmation. Shortly after, he died. At Jonathan's
funeral, fully confident of God's love, his mother talked of her son,
running in heaven, crutches no longer needed.
In quite a different way, deep faith helps "blended families." These
days one in six children live with a stepparent and perhaps
stepbrothers or stepsisters. Everybody has to adjust.
Twelve year old Timmy had a hard time calling his stepfather "dad" even
though his mother insisted. In another blended family, Jeff liked his
stepsister, and enjoyed calling her "Sis."
God's commandment tells us, "Honor your father and your mother."
Parents also honor their children. Worries and conflicts are talked
out, feelings taken into account. Even anger at being a step-something
listened to with love. Deep faith helps blended families.
Another big family problem is loss of a job. Roger had been the manager
of a family owned business. When the heirs sold the business, Roger was
out of work.
His wife went back to substitute teaching, his teenage children took
more baby-sitting jobs to earn their own spending money. After a long
search, Roger found a job, but at less pay.
Their faith reminded them, Christ told us not to worry about what we
eat or what we wear (Matthew 6:25-33). The family discovered, as the
family budget tightened, the family drew closer together. Wants became
more modest, everyone seemed happier.
In our families, we do face difficulties: perhaps health problems,
perhaps adjusting to a step family, perhaps unemployment or a salary
reduction. Our faith experience tells us, God will see our families
through bad times and sorrows and times of need.
A Family Close To God
Of course, to have deep faith, families must be close to God. Parents
teach their children how to relate to God, and we come close to God in
prayer.
An old saying tells us, "Families that pray together stay together."
Most Christian families pray when they sit down for a meal together.
Some families light a candle, to remind each and all of the light of
Christ present with them.
After dinner, one family I know always gathers for a Rosary. As luck
would have it, there are three children. With mother and father, that
makes five, for the five decades of the Rosary. Each member, taking
turns, names the mystery and leads a decade.
Often at bedtime, parents kneel with their children to pray. As a
blessing, they trace a cross on their son's and daughter's foreheads.
When gifts are given, a blessing accompanies each gift. New bikes might
bring a blessing for riding on wheels, words like: "May God keep you
happy and safe and full of fun on this bike."
Praying at home and in church puts us in a one-to-one contact with God.
We also need to know something about God. About our faith, about
Christianity, about being Catholic. Here's where teaching becomes
important.
The Rite of Baptism calls the mother and father the first teachers of
their child. Parents can teach lessons that go well beyond formal
religious education classes.
One father taught his daughter about the Sacrament of Reconciliation by
bringing his daughter into the confessional with him. After he blessed
himself, he made his confession. His sins were no surprise to his
daughter. When dad confessed losing his temper, his daughter popped in,
"He really gets mad sometimes." Then, his daughter heard the priest
speaks the words of absolution: "through the ministry of the Church may
God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins."
A daughter learned not to fear confession, that naming our sins is a
great help for spiritual growth, and not that embarrassing.
Parents bring their family close to God by their routine of prayer and
by how they practice their faith. Close to God, the family has the
strength of character to endure any hardship.
Not Just When Times Are Difficult
God guides our families not just when times are difficult. God is
always guiding our lives. When faith is deep, families find God helping
them in everyday life to be loving and kind and compassionate.
Children first experience love in their families. It comes natural.
Because, "God is love" (1 John 4:16) and because we are made in God's
image (Genesis 1:26). Even so, sometimes the love surprises a parent.
One new dad said, "Until I held her in my arms, I never imagined how
much I would love my daughter." "Daddy's girl," cuddled with obvious
joy.
In the God-centered family, it's easy for the children to learn to
love. When the family asks God to bless their food, when they enjoy the
light banter of family conversation, helping to wash the dishes follows
in course. It's not a chore, just a way to continue being with the
people you love!
Family members give unconditional love to each other. Acts of kindness
come almost automatic. Madeline was a registered nurse. When growing up
she always thought she'd help her younger brother pay for college. When
his college time came, Madeline added her brother's name to her
checking account and told him, "I know what the tuition is, just write
the check on my account when you register."
Everyday examples of kindness pop up in God-centered families. When his
sister's date got sick the day of the prom, Ted became his sister's
escort to the prom. When Tom wanted to stay overnight with their
grandparents, his sister took his place as altar server for Sunday
morning Mass. Acts of kindness for each other, they're part of being
family.
Also being part of Christian family life is for the family as family to
reach out with compassion to serve others. The love within a family
needs to be an outreaching love. One family adopted a nursing home.
Each Sunday, after Mass, the whole family visits the nursing home. The
mother and father bring Communion, the children visit with the
residents. As each gets to know the other, the family and the nursing
home residents become extended family to each. Cared for and loved like
family.
In another family it's not unusual to see each family member serve at
the same Mass. The father, a Minister of Hospitality, the mother a
Eucharistic Minister, one son an altar server, a daughter as lector. A
family statement of unity, a family way to serve the parish.
When faith is deep, families find God helping them day in and day out.
God-centered families live their faith.
Conclusion
Our Church calls the family the "Domestic Church." Because our family
is the primary place where we encounter God on a daily basis.
As the Holy Family became refugees to protect the life of the baby
Jesus, God accompanied them. With our families, God accompanies us in
our good times and bad, in our joys and sorrows, in times of plenty and
times of need.
Our response: to live the God-centered life with deep faith, filled
with love and kindness and compassion, to our families and to everyone.
|
|
|
These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use; however, they may
not be
commercially published without permission of the author.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
