The Family Foundation School Catholic Community Bulletin
Pauca Verba (a few words)
It is the Feast of the Holy Family! Jesus was born into the family of Joseph and Mary. Joseph is a kind of step-father. He is the guardian and protector of the Child and his Mother.
Families come in a great variety today. There is my family and at home and my family here at school. And families have strengths and weaknesses. These days I need to be about making my family stronger, through reconciliation, healing and the good-news of my report card and a renewed sense of being a maturing son or daughter.
And I can help my family to be a holy family too: being open to life, living with my roots in God’s word, learning virtue (practiced goodness), through my prayer and newly found sense of my purpose or destiny as God has created me!
Praise God who has become little and joined the human family in love!
************************************************************************
Some of us like the idea of discovering old-fashioned things that make life a little nicer. One of those now forgotten practices is writing notes and letters to people to thank them for their generosity and kindness. This week after Christmas is a very good time to take a few moments to write to people and thank them for the gifts they gave. And bless and thank God too who gives us gifts in every moment: my breath, my sight, my friends, my family, my abilities and strengths, even my weaknesses by which I can learn to be patient and accepting, even my past story by which I can learn mercy and empathy!
Sometimes in museums and art books we see wonderfully beautiful paintings of the extended family of Jesus. Some of these family insights are biblical, some are not but come from other texts and sources. That’s okay. There are pictures of Saint Anne holding the little Mary. Anne would be Jesus’ grandmother. Joachim is Jesus’ grandfather. And pictures of pregnant Elizabeth and Mary together. Or pictures of Mary and Jesus with Elizabeth and John the Baptist. This Feast of the Holy Family might be a day to pray for our extended families too. May our families be places of faith, prayer, worship, joy, healing and love.
************************************************************************
Feast of the Holy Family
(Sunday after Christmas)
Blessed be you, O God,
for through the mystery of the Incarnation
of Christ, born into a human family,
you show to the world the beautiful example
of a family united in respect and love.
Teach us the dignity and sanctity of human love,
deepen in us our appreciation of the value of family life,
and help us to live in peace with all people
that we may be found worthy
to share in your life forever.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
***********************************************************************
There is a lovely plaque of the Infant Jesus and his Mother on the sanctuary step. Return to it often as a place of prayer during the Christmas time. And as you see the face of the Holy Child – pray for the other holy children around the world: the children of other continents, the children who are sad or damaged by war, the children who are poor, the children who are sick, the children abused and abandoned, the children awaiting adoption, the children who are exiled or refugees. Send them your own Christmas gift: your prayer, your growth, your living in conscious gratitude for every gift-ed moment. Send them your love. And some day, when you are earning a living and not wasting money on foolish things, perhaps you will become an agent of practical help for some of them. This is tender mercy – being an agent of healing. “The weary world rejoices,” the Christmas carol sings!
