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Holy Family Feast
12-29-2019 |
Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. Fortunately, most of us value the
gift of family. We treasure it, and understand its importance, for both
society and Church. We live in a fast-paced world. Some with more than
one job in order to make ends meet. It is easy to get lost in our day to
day living.
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When that happens, we may neglect the family while we worked to provide
for them. Some of us can remember a song by Harry Chapin recorded many
years ago. It was called the ‘The Cat’s in the Cradle.’ It was
a ballad
about the relationship between a father and son. The father spent his
time and energies making a successful living. The son kept asking for
his attention to be able to share his father’s life: “When you comin’
home, Dad?” The son would repeatedly ask, only to receive the reply, “I
don’t know when, but we will get together then.”
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A friend of mine has a daughter who is a lawyer. She lives a
considerable distance from him, months had passed since he had seen her.
He is not a well man, and every day is precious, so he called to ask
when she might visit. The daughter detailed a list of reasons that
prevented her from taking the time to see him: her court schedule,
meetings, new clients, research, etc.
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At the end of the recitation, the father asked, “When I die, do you
intend to come to my funeral?” The daughter’s response was immediate,
“Dad, I cannot believe you would ask that! Of course I will come.” To
which the father replied, “Good. Forget the funeral, and come now. I
need you more now than I will then.” St. Paul gives us a blueprint for
family life. He knows that life is not easy, particularly in families.
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Sometimes we are too close to the people we love to avoid crossed swords
and hurt feelings. That is why St. Paul tells us that forgiveness is the
bond that keeps people together through tough times. He is saying that
if people treat each other well at home, chances are they will treat
neighbors and strangers the same way. One cannot speak about family
without acknowledging the real fact of divorce. Perhaps this is too
large a subject to mention in a Sunday homily.
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So I shall only say, on the part of family and friends, there must be
compassion, understanding and healing. The message of Christmas is that
we are given a Savior who appeared not with trumpets and clouds but who
was born into a family. Families are holy communities and we are called
in one way or another to create holy families because this, quite
literally, is where the Gospel of Christ begins.
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It was at the end of the 80s when many New York hospitals were caring
for orphan babies with HIV. Nobody knew what to do with so many
children. The idea was floated to ask people to foster care them. In
many ways, this seemed impossible because who would want to care for an
AIDS baby? Some people didn’t even know how AIDS was spread. However,
some stepped forward and often took more than one child into their care.
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I was often asked to baptize some of these babies. Some churches would
not allow me to use their baptismal font for a child with AIDS.
Therefore, I baptized them at home. We soon realized that the children
in foster care were living twice as long as those in the hospital care.
At a meeting of the foster care team at a major New York hospital. The
head doctor, looking at the statistics, noted the longevity of the
foster care children compared to those in hospital.
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Both groups of children received the same medications and the nurses did
their best to care for these children, but the task was overwhelming:
there were so many. A young social worker, having just graduated from
school looked up at the doctor and said, “Don’t you realize doctor? The
children in foster care have been held; played with, read to…they are
part of family.” As we enter a New Year, take Paul’s words as a
blueprint for family life.
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Clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy…with kindness….humility…meekness
and patience. Bear with one another. Forgive whatever grievances you
have on one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. And, over all
these virtues, put love…make that phone call…take that visit
now…remember the song, ‘The Cat’s in the Cradle’ we will get
together then. “Then” may never come. Do it now!
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Yours in Christ, |
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Fr. Bob Warren, SA |
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