One of my daily prayer requests to God is that married or single parents of young children emulate, as best they can, the Holy Family as it relates to addressing their struggles; small or large. My expectation is not that they are to equal or excel the Holy Family, the latter is already impossible given Jesus is divine and with Mary is sinless, and Joseph is receiving periodic dream communications from God directly. But, that they are to look at life’s difficulties as opportunities to grow in their relationship with God and among themselves because they have faith and trust in His ways.
How many of us parents are or were faced with divorce and death prior
to the marriage ceremony as were Mary and Joseph because God hand-picked them
to parent His son, Jesus, as the future savior of all God created? I am going to write no one based on scripture
we have read and listened to since last week beginning with the Annunciation,
Visitation, Birth of Jesus and now the Presentation in the Temple of Jerusalem.
It is astounding that Mary, a young teenager girl, in her profound
decision of saying “yes” to the call of God knew she might face rejection and
death. Mosaic Law commanded that a female who became pregnant in the betrothal
period of separation prior to marriage could be divorced by her intended spouse
and stoned to death. Joseph, who
intended to divorce Mary quietly, changed his mind after a dream from God and
took her into his home to save her from embarrassment and death.
In addition to this, Mary rode a donkey 100 miles from Nazareth to
Bethlehem when nine months pregnant and ended up in a cave to give birth to
Jesus. From everything I have been told by
pregnant women and read about, it was not a comfortable trip or birthing
experience. And now, Simeon and Anna at
the purification rites for Jesus and Mary tell the Holy Family that they will
continue to suffer for many years to come.
And yet, scripture continually offers us a picture of undimmed faith
and undeniable trust that all three believed God would deliver them from any
struggle that would try to destroy God’s plan for their and our salvation. How can we, baptized disciples who have
pledged our lives to love God and all that He has created unconditionally,
reject God’s love, mercy and forgiveness in everything we think, say and do as
it pertains to our relationship with God and among ourselves?
The easy answer is we cannot.
The tough response is how we do it given our sin nature and being
constantly badgered by the world to take a different path of success. That journey leads to wealth, power and fame
that will feed our ego while we live here on earth but offers nothing towards
the Kingdom of Heaven for everlasting life.
That’s where faith and trust must become the directional signs in our
life as parents and children.
What I have come to believe and try to practice as often as is possible
as a parent, grandparent and great grandparent is to be present to those in my
family. Based on their feedback in
stories they share, they seem to appreciate the presence of family members in
their life. In addition, my wife, Candi,
and I try our best to make prayers, scripture, Sacraments and living a life of
selflessness a priority in how we should live. Was it always that way? No.
Like most things in life, it is a learning curve with struggles
peppering the journey then and now.
Our hope is that we focus enough of our time together in our
faithfulness and trust with God and ourselves to overcome worldly
distractions. That is how we try to
emulate the Holy Family. Let us pray this
Christmas season that all of us find a way which leads to closeness within our
families and to God so that nothing interferes with God’s plan for us but
opportunities for love, peace and joy!
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