December 28, 2014
On this, the feast of the Holy
Family, we’re is invited to reflect, not only upon that holy threesome who have
figured so importantly in our salvation history,
but also upon all the other families
that comprise the universal family of humankind.
Unfortunately, and due to a variety
of factors, the ties that bind us one to another within our global network of
families have suffered a series of assaults over the past several decades.
This is a fact that need not be
argued; the evidence of relational weakness and even decay is obvious and this
weakness affects every one of us to one degree or another.
Now, I’m not just talking about the
nuclear family, I’m talking about all families, traditional or otherwise, who
are joined together in love.
Attacking families just because they
don’t necessarily “look like” the traditional father, mother and
two-point-whatever children is just another symptom of our being scared for the
family unit.
Rather than lament the fact and
belabor the point, our attention might be better directed and our efforts
better spent in trying to effect change, conversion and growth within the
family unit.
"If we can change the culture of
our families" says Steven W. Vannoy [i]
"surely that change will radiate out to touch those around us. "In
this way, our society will be improved from the inside out, family by family.
The following fable offers a powerful
example of the contagious grace of change.
The membership of a once numerous
order of monks dwindled over the years, until there were only five brothers
left in what had been a thriving community.
For years, people from the
surrounding area had been drawn to the monastery in search of the learning and
spiritual renewal they found there.
Now, no one ever visited as the
spirit of the place and its inhabitants seemed to be slowly dying.
One day, however, a rabbi happened by
to visit.
When he was about to leave, one of
the brothers asked the rabbi if he had any advice on how to revitalize
themselves and make their monastery a spiritual center once again.
After a few moments, the rabbi
replied, "The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of
you."
Flabbergasted, the brothers replied,
"The Messiah among us? Impossible!"
As the weeks passed, the brothers
puzzled over the rabbi's startling revelation.
If the Messiah were here, who would
it be?
Maybe, Brother Timothy. . . he's the
abbot and in his capacity as leader, he could surely be chosen to be the
Messiah ....
It couldn't be Bro. Mark; He's always
so argumentative, but, he's usually right
...Or maybe, it's Bro. Pius who tends
the garden and the animals. He could probably nourish a troubled world if he
were the Messiah.
Surely, it could be Bro. Dominic;
he's studious, learned and familiar with all the great spiritual writers.
It couldn't be Peter, could it?
Certainly, the Messiah couldn't be
the one who cleaned toilets, dirty laundry and scrubbed the pots and pans each
day.
Or, could it?
Since the monks were unable to
determine which one of them was the Messiah, they began to treat one another as
though each were the one.
Moreover, just in case he himself
might be the Messiah, each monk began to treat himself with new respect and to
conduct himself with greater dignity.
Within a few weeks, the monastery's
occasional visitors were awed by the love, goodness and revitalized
spirituality they experienced.
They returned again and again and
brought new friends along.
Soon, a few young men asked to be
admitted to the order and the monastery thrived again.
Imagine the possibilities for growth
and renewal if each family were to take to heart the rabbi's words, "the
Messiah is one of you. "
How much more might spouses love and
cherish one another...
how much more might parents value
their children, protect them, teach them and lovingly attend to their needs ...
how much more might children honor
and appreciate their parents.
How much more might we look upon love
as the only important criteria for determining what is & is not a family
If each member of every family were
to reverence one another as the Messiah, i.e., as Jesus who is our Savior and
brother,
how much might that strengthen and
secure those familial bonds that are the infrastructure, without which our
society has no future.
Today, the love shared among the Holy
Family offers us both a witness and a challenge.
To love one another as they did
requires that we look beyond the faults and idiosyncrasies that annoy us in
order to discover the Christ who lives in each of us.
Such love requires that we replace
nitpicking, nagging and criticism with wise counsel, humbly offered, and
encouragement and praise, generously bestowed.
Such was the love that became
incarnate among us and which we reveled in celebrating at Christmas.
Such is also the love that has
brought us to the end of this year
If our children’s children’s children
are to look upon the next millennium, it is this love which will make it
possible.
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