December 26, 2010

The Holy Family

You do realize that the Holy Family is a non-traditional family...right? Joseph was Jesus' step-father. That doesn't demean Joseph's role; in fact, I'm pretty sure he is the only one in history who could have taught Jesus how to be a good Jewish man. I'm actually grateful that the holy family isn't a traditional family; it opens the door for other non-traditional families to be considered just as sacred as Joseph, Mary and Jesus. I think sometimes we forget that Jesus was born into a family. His extended family was actually pretty dysfunctional. They were descendants of the House of David and David's house was a mess. For those of you who are fascinated with genealogy, go and look at Jesus' family tree. I think you'll find it quite enlightening. I'm not saying let's go look at the dirty laundry in a voyeuristic way. But you should look at his lineage and say; 'Oh, his family is just like mine.' So God understands all of the struggles of family life. Families are not perfect and anyone who thinks their perfect is kidding themselves. What's being held up for us today is not perfection, it's love. Family is the loving relationships in your lives. The person who will do anything for you...that's a family member and it isn't always a blood relative. Our community is meant to be like a family. We're called to care for one another in the same way that family members are supposed to care for one another. But even the greatest families are broken. I can tell you that I experience rifts in my own family and it is a huge source of anguish for me. The only thing that we can do is try to nurture these gospel values that strengthen the family bond. Values like: caring for the elderly; spousal love; respect and honor; reverence; obedience; compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; forgiveness. I realize that these are not popular values, and they won't make you successful in the eyes of the world, but I don't think that's the purpose of family. I think the purpose of family is to be there when no one else will be. I think it's our calling to embody these values so that everyone who walks through these doors will know without doubt that they are home!