Tenth of the Twelve Days of Christmas

The Schmalz studio gives us this beautiful image of the Holy Family titled, Love's Bond. The question every family faces is this: how will be bond ourselves into a unity that nourishes and supports each of our family members and the family itself at the same time? I have no doubt that the Holy Family had to face the same question. How did Mary come to understand how God had touched her life and at the same time grow close to Joseph, her husband? How did Joseph learn to accept his foster-son, Jesus, as his own? How did Jesus find ways to love his family while at the same time growing in the knowledge that he had to be about his "Father's business?" None of these dynamics would have been easy or simple - all required surrender to God and others - and the sacrifice of one's own needs and desires...

Jesus, Joseph and Mary,
teach us in our families and in the Church
to respect one another
and to accept the many different ways
in which God shapes our lives and calls us to serve...
Bond us as one,
especially in the things that make us different..
Keep us as one
as we grow in your love and in love of one another...
Give us the patience we need
to grow as a family
and to grow as the Church...
Draw us together,
knit us as one,
especially when we are tempted
to stand apart from each other...
Let our desire to be faithful to you
be the fidelity that keeps us together...
Amen.