The Sunday after Christmas is the feast
of the Holy Family. We look at Jesus and Mary and Joseph and see in them the
perfect family – no drama, no dysfunction, no addictions, no mental or
emotional illness. But each and every family, including yours and mine, is called
to be a holy family. Yet how many of us grieve over a broken relationship:
perhaps a son or a daughter, or a brother or a sister, or a parent or a spouse?
How many of us have closed an emotional door of our heart to another person, or
had another’s heart closed against us? How many of us suffer with a broken
heart over a lost relationship: one in which we have been hurt or have
inflicted hurt, one that may even have ended in tragedy?
One
of my favorite Gospel stories is the one about the Prodigal Son. As a parent
myself I can relate to that story and see it as very relevant to the feast of
the Holy Family. In the story one of the two teenage sons cannot bear to spend
another day with his family. He asks his father for his inheritance ahead of
schedule, and goes off to squander every last penny on foolish and harmful
things. He eventually hits rock bottom and comes humbly home to beg his dad for
a job as a laborer in the family business. The most moving part of the story is
how the dad waits anxiously by the window every day watching for his son to
come home; and how he jumps up and down for joy when he sees his son approaching
the house. He runs out to hug him and welcome him home, with no questions asked.
The
message of the story is unconditional love and forgiveness. Jesus calls us to
never close the door of our heart to another person, even when another’s heart has
been closed on us. Jesus calls us to never give up.
We
are all called to be holy families despite the drama and dysfunction we sometimes find
ourselves mired in; despite the mistakes we inevitably make; despite the hurts
and scars we bear and sometimes inflict. We don’t have to be perfect. We just
can never stop loving, never stop reaching out. And that reaching out can even
go beyond the grave.
Be
at peace if there is someone in your life that left this world without the
chance to say, ‘goodbye,’ without the chance for you to say, ‘I love you,’ or ‘I
forgive you,’ or ‘please forgive me.’ Be at peace if there is someone who left
this world under tragic circumstances, even the tragedy of murder or suicide. I
believe in the deepest part of my soul that even in the darkest moment God finds
a way, whether in this life or the next, to heal our broken relationships and
make us whole. We just can never give up.
On
this feast of the Holy Family, in this season of Christmas, let us pray that
any locked doors in our hearts may be opened once again. Let us take the first
step and reach out across the miles, across the years, even beyond the grave to
heal any relationships that have been broken. With the grace of our loving God
in our hearts, we can still become that holy family we are called to be.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers
of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on
Amazon.com:
Just
to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life
Synchronicity
as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and
Pastoral Ministry
