meaningful mondays: from my family to yours

This weekend, we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and in this, had a chance to reflect on the importance of family.

What an under-appreciated group, the family, and yet what an important circle of individuals.

The family is a messy thing, it’s true. It’s far from idyllic. It can be loud, obnoxious, frenzied, clashing, and yet even in the muck of it all, something holy can emerge, in fact does emerge when somewhere at the core of this circle, God is held as sacred.

“The family is the privileged setting where every person learns to give and receive love,” wrote Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI during his pontificate. He went on to call the family an “intermediate institution between individuals and society,” “a necessary good for peoples,” “an indispensable foundation for society,” and “a great and lifelong treasure…”

What rich words to describe something we often minimize, yet are desperate to be part of.

It’s hard not to move through the Christmas season without reflecting in some way on family and the “great and lifelong treasure” it is.

From my family to yours, have a blessed rest of the Christmas season, and a joyous New Year!