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Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Year C – 2021

A family… the word evokes people, different people of course –
each with his/her own character, likes and dislikes, weaknesses and strengths.
Every single member has a personal history and… a personal DNA, of course!

This description brings to my mind the picture of… a quilt!
Yes, a piece of patch-work serving as a colourful blanket to some of us.

Looking at a quilt what is most striking is that it includes so many different pieces of various sizes and colours.
When starting to put them together, one may think that they will not match, or fit together.
One may fear that the final look may be unpleasant, even jarring.
And yet… the finished piece is so pleasant to the eye – a masterpiece, really.

And so is a family – or… so it should be!
People, different, yes, but accepting one another.
Perhaps strongly autonomous and original, but valued for what each contributes to the group.

Thinking about it… it was somehow the same with the Holy Family!
Mary, a young woman pregnant, not by the man she is promised to, but by God’s own Spirit!
Joseph, a decent young man, dreaming of soon bringing home his beloved; but he suddenly thinks he must make another plan…
A baby born like others, it seems, but is he only an ordinary child?…

When he grows up, his mother and adoptive father will have cause to wonder… (Luke 2:41-52). 
The birth had taken place during a journey  imposed by a political leader –
not in some cozy surrounding with a nice crib to welcome this new-born.
A shelter from the rain for shepherds, a ‘grotto’ people would call it nowadays.
But, in spite of this…

One, really only one, thing matters to that Family – and, in fact, to all our own families:
God is present to all that happens, to all that these people live –
a real patchwork of experiences,
each one blessed by the One who has made himself ‘God-with-us’.

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/sainte-famille-de-jesus-marie-joseph-annee-c-2021/

 

Source: Images: Wallpaper Access   Free Bible Images   Church of Jesus Christ

4th Sunday of Advent, Year B – 2020

We get used to things that we do often; used also to the words we repeat day after day.
The words we speak during our liturgical celebrations are no exception and…
sad to say, all too often we repeat them with our minds busy with all kinds of other thoughts.

During the Eucharistic celebration (the Mass) more than once, the priest tells us:
“The Lord be with you.”
We respond immediately – or at least, most of us do –
“And also with you.”
 
These 5 words addressed to us by the celebrant sound somehow like a wish,
a prayerful one but still a wish.
I know a few priests who rather say: “The Lord IS with you.”
 
These are the very words with which the angel Gabriel greeted Mary.
We hear them again in today’s gospel text (Luke 1:26-38).
I wonder if Mary was surprised?… Amazed?… Delighted?…
Wondering what would follow this greeting?…
Did she truly believe the message these words expressed?
 
The first time I heard the words repeated during Mass, I was suddenly made aware of what was said… to ME!
And, for some time after, I kept repeating silently to myself: The Lord is with me…
 
Perhaps this is the purpose of the period of Advent: to realize that God is with us –
yes, already with us!
We need not wait for the Nativity scene to make us believe it.

The reproduction of the Holy Family in a stable, or a cave, or any kind of shelter, will not make this more real.
It will only be a reminder of who God is now and for ever: EMMANUEL – GOD-WITH-US.

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-de-lavent-annee-b-2020/

 

Source: Image: YouTube