<TW>Weekend of 27 and 28 December 2008
- From: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Fr. Pat Umberger" <frpat@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:45:16 -0600
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D :=.
from Father Pat Umberger
_________________________________________________
M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S
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I ' M H O M E A G A I N
As you know I was in Rochester anticipating a Stem Cell Transplant. An
infection developed in my Central Line, so it was removed and now I'm
receiving daily IV antibiotics to clear it up. I'll return to Rochester on
29 December for appointments, a new line, Chemo and the Transplant. There's
much more information at my Blog: www.frpat.com/mayoblog
__________________________________________________
.=: V O L U M E 2 0 0 8 , Number 12-28 :=.
.=: T H I S W E E K E N D ' S S C R I P T U R E S :=.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Year B.
Weekend of 27 and 28 December 2008
The Lord took Abram outside and said, "Look up at the sky and count the
stars, if you can. Just so," he added, "shall your descendants be." Abram
put his faith in the LORD, who credited it to him as an act of
righteousness. Nothing is impossible with God. Imagine Abram's reaction
when he heard he would have son. What do we feel we're too old for? Could
God have another plan?
"The Lord remembers his covenant forever." Do we have this kind of
faithfulness toward our own children ... that we'll be there for them no
matter what? Why is God's covenant comforting? Challenging?
"Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing
with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against
another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do." How would our
family life change if everyone treated the other family members in this way?
Who would have to change the most?
What changes would you have to make? Would you be willing to do that even
if others weren't?
The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is
destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will
be contradicted --and you yourself a sword will pierce--so that the thoughts
of many hearts may be revealed." What were some of the challenges of the
Holy Family? We're there a many challenges to their family life as there
are to ours?
How are these Scriptures comforting? Challenging?
.=: S P I R I T U A L R E F L E C T I O N :=.
When I was newly Ordained, my pastor invited some of us to his cottage at
the lake for dinner. He had just written a wonderful bulletin article about
living as a holy family. He waxed eloquently about the joys of children,
good communication, sacrifice and revealing God's love to one another. He
spoke of respect of husbands for wives and wives for husbands, children for
parents and parents for children. It was a masterpiece!
We sat down to a wonderful dinner prepared by our wonderful pastor, and the
peace was broken. The next-door neighbors were having a full-fledged
battle. Kids were yelling at parents and parents at kids. Then parents
were yelling at one another. Something came crashing out of the door onto
the driveway and a car squealed away. I suggested to the pastor that he
might like to tuck a copy of his bulletin article into their screen door!
<smile>
We can imagine the lives of the Holy Family of Nazareth. What a peaceful
scene we can conjure, with Joseph working diligently in his carpenter shop
and teaching the trade to Jesus. We can imagine a smiling and serene Mary,
caring for and loving her family so very much. We can imagine Joseph
teaching Jesus about the Law and the Prophets, and Jesus respectfully and
eagerly soaking up all that was offered. We can think of genuine quality
time, of a family living together, praying together and doing God's work.
How tempting it is to make the Holy Family into a statue and hang it on the
wall of our minds as something inspiring but unattainable.
It is easy to forget how Mary, a teenager, was approached by an angel and
asked to be the Mother of God, and how Joseph was ready to divorce her
quietly. It is easy to forget how Mary gave birth far away from home, in a
place where only cattle stayed. It is easy to forget the flight into Egypt
and even the stress caused by Jesus as he stayed behind in the temple
without telling Mary and Joseph. We can even forget about the feelings of a
mother as everyone important turned away from her son and betrayed him.
It's hard to forget the tender picture of the Pieta, as the lifeless body of
Jesus is put into the lap of his mother. The life of the Holy Family of
Nazareth was anything but peaceful and serene!
But they stuck together! They knew where their strength came from. They
prayed together often. They trusted that things would be all right if they
did things God's way. Those were the values they learned from their own
parents and grandparents. It had learned how natural it was to do the right
thing, simply because it was right and that it was God's will. Our families
can be holier families if follow their example and do the same.
Our lives are stressful! Things we would never plan or choose can come our
way. We may need to face illness and even the death of loved ones. We can
be deeply hurt by unfaithfulness. We can be devastated when those we love
behave badly. We can be even more devastated by our own weaknesses and
unworthy behavior. All these things can bring great tension to our families
and even threaten to destroy them. Then, as the Holy Family did, we need to
look to the source of our strength. We need to look to God!
There are children all around us. Some of us have children at home. We have
grandchildren too, nieces and nephews, neighborhood children and the
children that are the treasure of our parish. They look at everything we do
and listen to everything we say. The values we hold become their values as
well. We can lead them toward God or draw them away. Our prejudices can
easily become theirs. Our honesty or dishonesty is passed on to them as
well. Our patience or our judgment can become very much a part of them.
God calls us to show them how to live as God's children, as a holy family.
The family that prays together stays together. Those words are true. Times
of prayer together, as a family or as a parish, can bring us together and
help us focus on what is truly important in life. Things may not turn out
the way we think they should, but we can make the best of them and not allow
them to corrupt our peace of mind or the values of the little ones around
us. As we look to God we can come to understand that God understands our
pain and disappointment completely. We can hear God's call for us to hang
in there ...
together. God calls us to use these challenges to build a holy family.
Many of us know people who have been estranged for a long period of time.
Many times those people have long forgotten what caused the problem.
Sometimes we need to admit that we act like five-year-olds. We can easily
allow something relatively small to become very large. As time goes on we
can remember with great pain how large we allowed the problem to get, but
sometimes forget that it can be put back into a more realistic perspective.
Most of the time estrangement could end if at least one of the people became
willing to become humble enough to think things through, and then to reach
out and try to heal the division.
Holy families are families where reconciliation occurs. We know the
frustration of seeing a parent, child or friend deny they are wrong, even
though everyone else on the planet would agree that they are. What a
wonderful lesson we can provide for our children when we admit our
wrongdoing and ask forgiveness. That takes more strength than fifty years
of justifying our wrong actions. It teaches a profound lesson to our
children. They're more likely to admit their own wrongdoing and make peace
when we teach them to do so by our own example.
Even when we have been wronged or when we have wronged others, the time
comes for us to let go and become friends again. Take a look at our
resentments page for some practical ways to do that. It's a relatively
simple process. We can come to understand that we'll never be at peace
within ourselves until we're willing to let go of the hard feelings we hold
against others.
What joy there is in life when we live as holy families. We can look
forward with joy to holidays and to all the time we spend together. We don't
have to be perfect, and we won't be. Sometimes we can resist the temptation
to criticize or to respond to the criticism of others. What goes around
comes around. Offering encouragement and affirmation even to those who
don't encourage or affirm us can be transforming. If nothing else, it can
transform us! We can look for the good in those around us and appreciate
our similarities. We can be enriched by our differences as well. When we
have problems with another person, we try to work it out. We can spend lots
to time praying for that person. We can find that our new outlook will
transform us and our relationships with those around us.
To be honest, we learn to live as a holy family mostly during times of
stress, disappointment and difficulty. Those life lessons are precious to
us and precious to our children as well. May we look to the example of the
Holy Family of Nazareth for the strength we need. May God bless us with a
unity that comes most often amid our diversity. May we do our part too, to
pray, to understand, to reconcile, to hope and to consider what's truly
important. May the many families we belong to grow more holy this day
because we're a part of them. And may our children learn to build holy
families by following the example we set for them!
(c)MMVIII Fr. Pat Umberger. This Spiritual Reflection is found each week at
the Web Site www.frpat.com. Feel free to link to this page or reproduce them
for parish use as long as this credit remains.
__________________________________________________
<TW>This Weekend is free, and comes from:
Father Pat Umberger, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse
in Wisconsin U.S.A.
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