Its nice that the Feast of the Holy Family follows on so closely the celebration of Christ’s birth…..Christmas is a special time for families… for treasuring the gift of our families, for being close to family and friends… and remembering with love, those who have gone before us… and given us so much love…//
This Christmas I was able to spend some very special time with my family…. and I treasure that…. also, my brother and sister-in-law Liz and my nephew and nieces are with me over the next few days.. so I get to continue enjoying the gift of family….. also, my time of sabbatical was a chance to experience the brotherhood and support of fellow priests.. and be renewed and strengthened in that…. I also got to get another angle on how we are all part of a worldwide family in the church….
and .... I have come back confirmed ever more strongly in the belief in the reality and the blessing of the family that is our parish community….. and in many ways this is the key…. since its our being family in the parish and in the wider community that we put into action what Jesus spent his life and ministry showing us so perfectly….. his real inclusion of others.. all others……..into his family…..and into his priorities…….This is very important… and it is a reality that is much more than words…// our daily lives are truly meant to be transformed (practically) by Jesus’ message that we are to treat everyone we meet as loved members of his family….
Jesus, was born into our world…. and also into a human family….. where he too experienced the joys and struggles of family life…… According to the gospel….. it may have been a close family… but things were far from always being a case of ‘happy families’ ……..rather, The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, faced difficulties, struggles and grave dangers in their early years..… including having to flee for their lives, as refugees, in order to escape the deadly jealousy and malice of King Herod……who meant to find Jesus and kill him…
To Jesus, family meant a lot……. he had the greatest respect for his parents…. and he was highly critical of anyone who dared to neglect their duty to their parents under the excuse of making some kind of religious vow…… to him.,.. the duties of family were an expression of the mutual duty of care and love that we owe to our families……
But, in another place in the gospel… Jesus makes a seemingly contradictory statement about his family…. when his mother and other relatives come to see him… they can’t get inside….. so they call for him and send a message in to him to let him know they are there…. jesus replies…”who are my mother… who are my brothers… they are anyone who hears my words and keeps them… they are my mother… my brother and my sister……”…
But, in fact, it is precisely because family means everything to Jesus, that he can make this stunning claim…….. he loves his family….. he continues to show care and devotion to his mother, Mary, - also…. the image of God that jesus presents to us… is of a loving community…. Father, Son and Spirit… three persons in one God…. a family, so to speak… in perfect union and communion and sharing the one nature….. of God…… and it is into this community… Jesus invites each of us….. into the very life of God… to share the life of God as members of God’s family…..
So, Jesus is quite literally extending his definition of family… to include many, many others…… to include (in fact) …ANYONE who would truly respond……
SO, Jesus is by no means putting down Mary nor is Jesus putting down his blood relatives …. rather he is saying… ‘I really mean to treat anyone who accepts, as my brother, my sister, my mother…. the depth of commitment I share with you, I share with all……’ and I really think one of the keys to Jesus Gospel message is that jesus really meant us as disciples to take this reality very seriously and quite practically…..
How would the world be different if all people truly saw each other as if they were related as blood relations…… what would it be like if the people being treated as the ‘least’ in this world were suddenly recognized by everyone as if they were just like my own brother.. my own sister… my own mother….
As I travel along on the road, it always makes me reflect on peoples values reflected in how they are behaving……… and there is much food for thought in observing what goes on in the highways and byways around us…… Who amongst us if we were driving in a car behind our own mother would even think of overtaking them in a way that makes her swerve off the road… none of us would sharply overtake one of our own family members – leaving them well behind…. and not caring how our erratic or aggressive driving affected them….……….. who amongst us would tailgate our own sister until they almost crashed…..
so presumably.. those crazies in the world who do that… are not thinking of the people around them as their brother, their sister and their mother…
The people who assassinated Bhenazir Bhutto obviously did not see her as if she was like their sister… a member of their own family….
but this is exactly what jesus is calling us to do if we are to follow as disciples in the footsteps of Jesus….. if we are to accept Jesus’ invitation to join his holy family…. Jesus was never into exclusive membership of anything… and so he invites us to be family members of his.. along with everyone else.. there is plenty of room…
Mary, that first and most perfect of disciples, rose to the invitation… and became Jesus’ Mother also by becoming his follower….. and so many others including ourselves are invited to respond to this amazing and wonderful invitation…. Jesus is saying we are all welcome to be real members of his family…. and to be part of God’s life…. and at the same time, we are called and challenged to treat everyone around us, as if they are out relatives… for in Christ.. that is exactly who we are….
may this reality continue to have a profound effect on our daily lives…..
and the lives of the world…
may it give to the world a deeper sense of respect and reverence for the dignity of every human person, and give us a sense of peace that the world longs for and for which it quietly hopes..
