Bless, O Lord, Our Families!

Listening to the Spirit

Dear Lord, our Heavenly Father, we come before you today with hearts full of gratitude for the gift of family. We thank you for the love that binds us together, a love that reflects your own divine love.

We ask for your blessings upon all families. Watch over our parents, that they may have the wisdom and patience to guide us, the strength to protect us, and the love to nurture us. Grant them good health and the grace to live out their vocation as parents with joy and dedication.

Bless our children, that they may grow in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with you and with others. Help them to learn and to grow, to be kind and compassionate, and to follow your path throughout their lives. Protect them from harm, both physical and spiritual, and guide them with your loving hand.

For those families experiencing difficulties, we ask for your special comfort and strength. Heal broken relationships, mend wounded hearts, and bring reconciliation where there is division. Help them to find solace in your love and to trust in your divine plan.

We pray for families who are separated by distance or circumstance. Keep them close in spirit and grant them the hope of reunion. Comfort those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and grant them eternal rest.

Lord, we know that family life is not always easy. There are challenges and trials, moments of joy and moments of sorrow. But through it all, may we always remember your presence among us. Help us to forgive one another, to support one another, and to love one another as you have loved us.

Amen.

Listening to the Word

Luke 2:41-52

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

Reflection

Last December 24 after the Christmas Vigil, we planned to offer a light dinner to all the servants, but we found out that only few remained because, rightly, most of them went home to celebrate with their families the birth of our Lord Jesus, the traditional “Noche Buena”. The Christmas Celebration is the occasion to gather as families and to enjoy being there one for the other.

Some families are living this special time as a difficult one because the parents are separated or there are misunderstanding among family members, because of diseases, or because one of the parents is working abroad, supporting the family.

As families, we look at the Holy one: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. If our family is passing through some challenges, we are not alone because Joseph, Mary and Jesus went through several difficulties since the beginning: Mary found herself pregnant by the Holy Spirit; Joseph tried to discern and search the will of God and he did it based on very few instructions. Jesus, the Son of God, was born in a manger, in a state of emergency. After a short time, the whole family was forced to escape and to migrate to Egypt.

What we can learn from the Holy Family is the TRUST in God and in His Will. In this Christmas Season I came across with several families facing different challenges. I have been praying for them, hoping that God could intervene and give them peace and serenity. I told them to trust blindly in God: He will do the way, even when every road seems to be blocked.

How much important is for our families to spend time together. More and more we see families that are under the same roof, but they live in different “planets”, mostly because of our best “friend”: the cellphone. There is the need to be there for one another: the children desire their parents even though they look so busy with other. The parents need their children because they look for their affection and love. Hopefully we will not give up to the capacity of listening, spending time, showing that we need the presence of each member of the family.

Lastly, let us not forget that because of Christ, our families can give life to a bigger family of those LISTENING TO THE WORD OF GOD AND FULFILLING IT. We remember these words of Jesus during his public ministry but in today’s Gospel, the young Jesus is already pointing out to this aspect when he says: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Not flesh and blood, but COMMON OBEDIENCE TO THE WORDmakes communion possible, everywhere and in every kind of relationship. It gives life to a new family of those who try to live everyday the will of the Father.

Happy Feast of the Holy Family.