Daily Thoughts: As we celebrate
this Sunday between Christmas and the New Year we do so honoring the family,
specifically the Holy Family, but in honoring the Holy Family we remember all
families. In my homily last year on the Feast of the Holy Family I mention one
of my favorite fictional characters from TV, Special Agent, Leroy Jethro Gibbs,
from the show NCIS. During an episode a few years ago part of the story line
was Abby’s struggle with family. She finds out that she was adopted. In a very
touching scene she goes to Gibbs and says that she doesn't know who she is now
and Gibbs' reply goes something like this, "Abby, family is more than
science and DNA, family is about the people who care about you and you have a
lot of people who care right here." To me it was a touching scene that
reflected some of Gibbs' wisdom but also it reflects our feast today.
We might look are the Holy Family and
say how can the Holy Family be an example of family life? They were the perfect
family, how could my family even begin to measure up to them? They were special
people, blessed in a unique way by God. Jesus is the Son of God. Mary came into
the world without sin. An angel came to both Joseph and Mary. How can we ever
measure up to the Holy Family? In a word by caring!
Gibbs was right the basic value of
family is that family cares no matter what. And it doesn’t always come from
DNA. Haven’t there been times when you considered a person family even though
they did have your DNA? You considered them family because in some way they
cared about you, about your family.
All of the stories we find about the
Holy Family are about people who care for each other and for those around them.
The gift of the Holy Family is the grace of caring! Perhaps our challenge today
is to remember the people who care, those we are connected to by DNA and those
we are not – all of whom we call family!
Daily Prayer: God the Creator
of all families, graciously help us to imitate the love of the Holy Family for
each other and the world. Grace us with the gift of caring so we might always
bring your loving presence to a world that at times forgets to care. May your
gift of family always keep hope alive within us. We continue though out this
Christmas Season to pray for families in grief; for little ones whose lives
were too short; for teachers, administrators and responders who put others
first; for firefighters who risk their lives; for a community that must find a
way to live; for all of us who seek a world of lasting peace! For truly blessed
are all who hope in you! Amen!
Runner's Thought: A truly
successful run is one in which the work of returning to God's presence in
practiced over and over again.
Daily Blessing: I hope you are
having a great Sunday and have not forgotten to give a little time to God
today. We are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family so I hope you are with
family today and will take the time to enjoy the gift of their presence today.
I ran across a Prayer of Thanksgiving a few years ago and it seems like a good
prayer to use today for our Daily Blessing. So to all families and to all of
you I ask God’s blessing on us all today as I pray…
God of all blessings, source of all
life, giver of all grace: We thank you for the gift of life: for the breath
that sustains life, for the food of this earth that nurtures life,
for the love of family and friends without
which there would be no life.
We thank you for the mystery of
creation: for the beauty that the eye can see, for the joy that the ear may
hear, for the unknown that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder, for
the expanse of space that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.
We thank you for setting us in
communities: for families who nurture our becoming, for friends who love us by
choice, for companions at work, who share our burdens and daily tasks, for
strangers who welcome us into their midst, for people from other lands who call
us to grow in understanding, for children who lighten our moments with delight,
for the unborn, who offer us hope for the future.
We thank you for this day: for life and
one more day to love, for opportunity and one more day to work for justice and
peace, for neighbors and one more person to love and by whom be loved, for your
grace and one more experience of your presence, for your promise: to be with
us, to be our God, and to give salvation.
For these, and all blessings, we give
you thanks, eternal, loving God, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Blessings on all families today and may
all have a blessed and holy Sunday and for you and your family may it be a
special on. Peace in the Holy Family...Fr. Paul
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