Daily Thoughts: My reflections
are a little long today so please bear with me…
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!
If you would allow me just a little more
of your time today I would like to offer you a little extra food for thought.
If today was not Sunday we would be celebrating the feast of the Holy
Innocents. This feast has special meaning for me because when I professed my
vows as a Passionist my title was Paul Raymond of the Holy Innocents. I took
“of the Holy Innocents” as my title, because before entering the Passionists I
worked as a social worker and my responsibilities focused on abused and
neglected children. I also worked with hard to place adoptive children. So when
I entered the Passionist I wanted to honor children particularly those often
forgotten by or unwanted by the world. I thought what better way to honor and
remember the children I served, worked with and encountered by placing them and
myself under the protection of the Holy Innocents.
There is not a day goes by that I don’t
pause to remember many of the children that I encounter in my work. I often
wonder what happened to them. Many of them were wonderful kids who just need a
chance to break the cycle of abuse and neglect. They were children with gifts
who often didn’t get the chance to realize those gifts because of decisions
that adults had made. I continue to commend them and all children around the
world to the care and protection of the Holy Innocents.
The Holy Innocents are martyrs, saints
and spirits of God who cares for those often not cared for or forgotten. By
remembering them today as we remember the Holy Family may we come to value the
gift of all children from the first moment of conception to the last breath of
life and every moment in between as God precious the gifts.
Have a great Holy Family Sunday everyone
and may you find a little time for God today!
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!
A Runner's Thoughts: 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. I have
a busy day ahead. I will be at St. Mary and St. John Parish in Chappaqua, NY
for the noon mass and then it will be on to St. Francis de Sales Parish in
Manhattan for the 6 pm mass this evening. So if you are in either of these
places come and join me for the celebration of Holy Family Sunday!
As we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy
Family 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 for
all families and for all of you I ask God’s blessing 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 upon all families today and
may we 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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