Holy Family

There was this family, a husband and wife team.  They were employed as team to work for a boss. This boss basically gave them run of the company, asked them to manage it, take care of it, so that it demonstrated all of the boss’ values.
They were successful.  
For a time, but then they got some bad outside advice.  The advice was to manage the company according to their own wishes, not those of their employer.  It sounded kind attractive. So they made the decision.
Well the boss found out.  Chaos ensued, and the couple, caught, started the blame game.  He blamed her, she blamed the bad advice...nobody said “I am sorry.”
I am hoping some of us picked up on this...It’s Adam and Eve.
We are created by God, the Father, in the image of his Son, and through the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to reflect the values of God and to manage all of creation, so that all of creation reflects heaven.
This is our mission!  This our purpose. This is our holiness.
Genesis makes it clear that we need each other in this.
God created the family in God’s own Trinitarian image, so that we can fully reflect all that God is unto the world.
God makes the community, the family, so that we can all support one another, to be true to who we are, so that we can be saints.
Imagine then the world where all of us are living out our sainthood, our holiness, our purpose.
Imagine a world, a home, a parish, all of creation that reflect God’s values of compassion, mercy, justice, generosity, love.
It would be a great creation.

No pollution, no suffering, no war, no poverty, no children dying from bombs dropped on them, or dying from hunger…
Family is built upon that sense of purpose.
Family is built upon that sense of humility, in the sense we do this for a greater good and not for ourselves
It is built upon the divine value of love...the giving of self for the good of others.
Adam and Eve were doing great, as long as they maintained their purpose, their identity.
The sin was to forget they were creatures of God.
They followed the worldly advice of doing it for myself.  Do it solo, make myself great by my own means.
And we know the results.
Now, we never lost our purpose.
God, throughout what we call Salvation History, called us back to our purpose, time and time again.
God told us through Israel that we are still the Children of God, with all the rights AND responsibilities that come with it.
Time and again, Israel listened and then forgot.
The Son of God, born as a Child, reveals our own identity as Children of God.

Jesus Christ, born into a family, reflects the Holy Trinity, THE divine family and community, this is part of our being as well.


Jesus Christ, becomes all of Israel, forming his own family around him, those searching for a greater truth, searching for freedom so as to be true to themselves.
And grounded his his role as Son of God, Jesus goes to inaugurate the Kingdom of God here on earth.  He goes about his Father’s work!
Through his actions he reveals all that God is..healing, forgiving, calling for justice!
And once again, humanity rejects this work.  The Original Sin still at work.
Yet, the Son of God, crucified and dead, is raised.  
Nothing can stop God’s kingdom from being born into this world.
Nothing can stop us from fulfilling our purpose.
God still believes in us.  This our Redemption.
This was the same belief that gave Mary the courage to say Yes to the Holy Spirit.
To Joseph to give up his own dreams and accept a new one from God.
It is ours too.
The Grace of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, pours into our very being.
It empowers us to see the bigger picture, to see beyond the ego, the “me”; to believe in a community that can and will reflect this same God who raised Christ from the dead.
It will be the grace, the power to say “Yes” “I can forgive my spouse, my parent, my friend.”
It will be the power to say “Yes, I have more than what I need, and I can help those in need.”
It will be the grace to say “NO, to the fear mongering that others use to manipulate us, and extend hands in welcome to those who are in need.”
It is the capacity to be still, to wait, NOT PANIC, and see what God wants from each of us, all of us.
I honestly think there is a great change happening in our world at this time.
The idea of power and control is being thrown down.  There is a horrible destructive resistance to this...but Grace will win.
We are ever more conscious of the world, of others, and of a creation in crisis.
We are being made more aware of our part, our connection to this world and to others, and of our greater purpose.
The Kingdom of God is truly at hand.

Our part, is how will we work for with Christ, for the Father, in the Holy Spirit?

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