Contemplating the Holy Family, Family Circle Magazine came to mind, one of my mother’s favorites growing up. From there, the old gospel song, “Will the Circle be Unbroken” with one specific verse standing out “Now the family is parted. Will it be complete one day? Will the circle be unbroken by and by, by and by? Is a better home waiting in the sky, in the sky?”
As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family,
remember we are all family. All part of God’s creation. Created by the word of
God, molded into the image of God, and then by God’s own breath, the spirit of
life came into us.
In each and every life, in each and every
person, in each and every day, creation comes again full circle. It is in that
circle of God’s love that we will find the truth and happiness for which we
constantly search
It is a circle that all of us are part. It is a
circle whose center everywhere and whose end is nowhere. In that circle, we are
born in the image of God and meant to grow into the full likeness of
God. It is a likeness that has heartfelt compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience in bearing with one another and forgiving
one another.
I saw that last week. Due to a family illness, I
have been at the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Medical Center. There,
the halls are full of people wearing Christian Crosses or Yarmulkes or
traditional Islamic dress. And each speaks to others with compassion and
kindness and gentleness and patience.
One day I walked upon two medical students (One
Asian and one European) were speaking to each other. The Asian student asked
the other, “Where exactly is this country you are from, Poland?”
That is why we can say, it is a circle whose
center everywhere and whose end is nowhere. The Creator has bestowed his love
on all of his creation. The human family is enormous. The problem is we get lost. We get lost when we think God is only
ours. Sometimes, it is fundamentalism. Sometimes, it is radicalism. All the
times, it is a mistake to think God is only for us. It is a mistake to think that Christ
came and died only for us. God sent his truth and his word for all people.
We are all in some way trying to get closer to
that word and ultimate truth. Some just do not know where to look.
We look with great anxiety. We look in the wrong places.
As I walked down the halls of the hospital after
Christmas, I overheard two young nursing students discussing Christmas. One
said, “I was raised Catholic, but all that is just not my thing anymore.”
I hope she was not talking about
God. I hope she still seeks the truth. Because, it is in each of us
that over our lifetime we develop our own unique relationship to God from our
life and experiences. Some will embrace that relationship. Some will seek
wholeness from an inner realization of union with God.
Some will seek separation. Some want only
ordinary earthly thinking. They disregard everything else.
But the truth is they never leave the circle
whose center is everywhere and whose end is nowhere. The never leave the circle
that is the family of God. They never leave the love of their creator even if
they deny it.
Each of us is loved with a love that nothing can
shake, a love that loved us long before we were created; a love that will be
there after everything has disappeared. Even those who deny love are loved with
the same love as those who embrace love. It is a circle that will be unbroken.
Those in Christ know this circle. See what love
the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Be
part of the Holy Family and realize the truth of our family’s circle.
Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the
way you live your life, by and by, and love another. Amen.
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