Ornaments of Grace - All of Our Families

Because you are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. Over all these virtues, put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect. Colossians 3, 12-14 Today, on the last Sunday of the year, we celebrate our families. St. Paul gives us all useful advice in his letter to the Colossians, reminding us to respect and treasure each member of our family, just as Jesus, Mary and Joseph did. We are called to nurture one another as we journey together toward heaven. It is a good day to recall that the Holy Family was flesh and blood as we are, not figures in a stained-glass window or angelic spirits untouched by the trials of real life. We cannot forget that the Holy Family was roused in the night to flee from a crazy king who wanted to kill innocent babies. We cannot forget that this family had to keep trusting when they went to a new land and returned to Nazareth. They had to trust when Jesus was lost on a journey to Jerusalem. Jesus and Mary had to trust when Joseph died. Mary especially had to trust when Jesus was executed as a criminal and when her son’s dead body was laid in her lap. We also need to remember their day-to-day duties. Mary prepared food and cared for the house. Joseph worked to support Mary and Jesus. Joseph and Mary taught Jesus to pray, to read, to have fun, and to learn a trade. The Holy Family did not live isolated from others. They lived and worked in a community. What held them together through all this was their love for one another and their trust in God. Many families have experienced members who do not want to go along with them every step of the way. Certainly, Mary and Joseph were concerned – to say the least – when Jesus, as a twelve-year-old boy, decided to stay in Jerusalem and just assumed his parents would know what he was about. Lots of teens decide to do something, assuming their parents will just somehow know why. When Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the Temple, they expressed the anxiety they felt while searching for him. When Jesus said he had to be about his father’s business, his answer left them confused. Still, there was deep respect among them. Jesus, honoring his parents’ wishes, went home with them. While loving advice probably came frequently to Jesus from Mary and Joseph, these parents did not interfere with Jesus’ growth. They had a deep respect for the mystery of one another and the mystery of their son. They wanted, however difficult it was, for him to grow freely into the person God called him to be. But sometimes parents have to step in and tell even adult children to look around and handle something they might not have noticed. Surely Mary did this in telling Jesus the newlyweds at Cana needed wine for their feast. Let us celebrate this feast by nurturing our family members so that they can each grow into the person God has called them to be, no matter the cost to us personally. Real love is never self-seeking but desires what is best for the other. All Our Families are today’s Ornaments of Grace. Besides providing food, clothing, and shelter, how can you nurture your family members? Can you discern when it is good to offer advice versus interfering in another’s life? What questions might help you to see what is truly for the other’s good?