Daily
Thoughts: As
we celebrate this Sunday between Christmas and the New Year we do so by
honoring the gift of family, specifically the gift of the Holy Family. When we
honor the Holy Family we honor all families.
As I
prayed with the readings for today’s Feast of the Holy Family a favorite
fictional character from TV came to mind. The character, Special Agent, Leroy
Jethro Gibbs, from the show NCIS. During an episode a number of years ago part
of the story line was Abby’s struggle with family. She found 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' best wisdom but also it reflects
the focus of our feast today.
We might
look at the Holy Family and say how can the Holy Family be an example of family
life? They were the perfect family, how can a family in today’s world 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 any family ever measure up to the Holy
Family? Well, 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 have considered
a person family even though they didn’t have your DNA? You considered them
family because in some way they were present to you when you needed them to be.
They cared about you, about people in your life, about your family.
All of
the stories we find in the scriptures 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 us by DNA and those we are not – perhaps
all of whom we can call family!
Have a
blessed Feast of the Holy Family everyone.
Daily
Prayer:
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love, to
you we turn with trust.
Holy
Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and
prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel, and small domestic Churches.
Holy
Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence, rejection,
and division: may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and
healing.
Holy
Family of Nazareth, make us mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the
family, and its beauty in God’s plan.
Jesus,
Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer. Amen.
(Prayer by Pope Francis to the Holy Family)
A
Runner's Thoughts: “You can run full speed into a door that is closed or you
can pull back just a little and go through the open door.” (John Bingham)
Daily
Blessing:
Sunday greetings and blessings to all and welcome to the Feast of the Holy
Family. I hope your Sunday has started off well. Perhaps you are still in
Christmas mode! I do hope you will be giving a little time to God today. I will
be headed later this morning to the Church of St. John and St. Mary in
Chappaqua, NY for the noon mass. If you are a TV watcher you will also find me
on The Sunday Mass which airs on ABC Family and various other TV stations
across the country. You can also watch it online at www.thesundaymass.org.
We are
celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family and I hope you are with family today
and will take the time to enjoy the gift of their presence. 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 one. Peace in the Holy Family...Fr.
Paul
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