Genesis 15.1-6, 21. 1-3・Psalm 105.1+2,3b+4+5, 6+7+8a+10b・
Hebrews 11.8, 11-12, 17-19 ・ Luke 2. 22-40
Merry Christmas to all. Faith, Hope, Love and Peace be to our home.
Even before we celebrate the feast day of the Holy Family, many of us are inclined to reflect on and talk about family matters as early as from last week of Advent or from Christmas eve. It (our inclination to talk about family matters) simply shows that we all consider family and family life very important, so we have been truly acknowledging family as the basic unit in our society,
We find the image of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the manger, meaningful in our daily life, and daily family living. While we have the image of Jesus with Mary & Joseph, we find this Christmas season as an opportune time to reflect on the quality of our own family life. Christmas season is a very inviting season to always redirect our family life on earth in the light of what we consider in the Church as “First Family,” the Holy Family.
Similarly our parish community as a whole is being nurtured towards creating a family in the light of the Holy Family. Thus, a parish community becomes a family just like the family we have in our respective homes.
“A parish community turned one big family” is indeed a specific & sublime response to the simple, beautiful & holy nativity scene. Our church in this modern world continues to see in fact a responsibility to convert each parish and any other Catholic community and organization into a certain home where the existence of family is truly being felt.
In my around 18 or 19 years in priestly ministry, I was once given the chance to mingle with children raised by both Catholic and non-Catholic families in a particular school. I was strictly advised by the school principal not to mention the words “parents”, “mother”, or “father”, if I intend to talk and ask them about their respective homes. It was just there may be some among the children growing without parents (mother & father). I was rather advised to use the statement “person(s) living together in their respective house/home”. Christmas season reminds me of this particular experience and of the advice from the school principal. Indeed, each of us in the parish community are persons journeying and living together in faith. We can be parents, brothers and sisters in faith.
Extend the roof of our respective homes!
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