Episode 26: Holy Family – Help My Family!

[00:00:05] Hello! My name is Sally Moriarty-Flask; welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, December 29, 2024, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This week's episode is entitled: Holy Family, Help My Family! And in these readings, we'll compare our families to the Holy Family… we'll see how those two units stack up - don't worry, we all come out of that looking bad! But that doesn't mean that we can't always strive to be better! [00:00:49] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: Although we may not be perfectly holy ourselves, shouldn't we still try to embody the same sort of love and support that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph had for each other? [00:01:10] And let's begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:16] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the many blessings you give us each day, especially for the gift of family. Help us to grow in the qualities we need the most of to be good families… patience, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, strength, acceptance, sympathy, humility, laughter, generosity, gentleness, and most especially, love. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:58] Now that we have opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures this week. Our Gospel this week is from Luke 2: 41-52. [00:02:12] “Now Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.’ And he said to them, ‘How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?’ And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And 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 increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” [00:03:40] If a Sunday falls sometime between December 25th (which is when we celebrate the Nativity) and January 1st (when we celebrate the Feast of Mary, Mother of God), we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on that Sunday; if not, then we celebrate it on December 30th. We're lucky this year that we can celebrate this wonderful feast on this upcoming Sunday. [00:04:07] I have to be honest, this feast always seems so intimidating. Yes, we are told the Holy Family should be a model for all Christian families. But let's face it, how can we possibly compare ourselves and our families to a family where the mother was born without sin and the Son is God? Not possible! Like I said at the beginning, we all come out of that looking bad… so, let's discard the notion right now that we have to try to be just like the Holy Family. It's not happening - ever! But we can - and should - try to grow in all of those virtues that make us better people… because when we are better people, then we become - and build - better families. [00:05:02] Interestingly enough, Catholics are not the only ones who celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family… it is also observed by Lutherans, Anglicans, Coptic Christians, and Orthodox Christians. Devotion to the Holy Family - specifically - began in the 17th century in France and it was formally recognized for the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1893 and was inscribed into the general Roman calendar (in other words, that means that all Catholics now are able to celebrate it) by Pope Benedict XV back in 1921. [00:05:46] If you've read all of the Gospels, you know this passage is the only scriptural account we have of Jesus' life between his infancy and his adulthood… and it's found in Luke. And I say the only scriptural account - I should say the only canonical scriptural account - because there are other, what are sometimes called gnostic, scriptures that tell other stories about Jesus. [00:06:16] We have to understand the early Church fathers would have known these non-canonical gospels very well… they would have been familiar with them, they would have read them. [00:06:28] But for their particular purposes, those non-canonical gospels were excluded from the text of the Bible because they were missing something! They lacked veracity or truth, because they lacked the exact, direct witness of the author of the events… any number of reasons, but they were excluded from the Bible. But those early Church fathers would have known those writings very well, would have been familiar with them, would have read them and been aware of the stories. [00:07:04] So, let's dive into this week's Gospel. By the way, this passage is only found in Luke! [00:07:11] “Now Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.” Remember, Passover is one of the three great pilgrim feasts when all faithful Jews should travel to Jerusalem if they are able. Truthfully, at the time of Jesus, at the time of his family, it would have been male Jews, but typically they took their family with them. Passover itself commemorates the exodus from Egypt, and it must occur in the spring according to the Torah, according to Mosaic Law. And it most typically falls in April. [00:07:50] Pentecost, which is the second great pilgrim feast, takes place 50 days after Passover and commemorates the first fruits of the harvest that typically takes place in May or June. And then the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles is the third great pilgrim feast, and it's a harvest festival that usually takes place in October. Anyone who has ever traveled for Thanksgiving or Christmas has a pretty good idea of how overwhelming large crowds can be. And to put Passover crowds in perspective for us, the normal population of Jerusalem around the time of Jesus would have been somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people. For Passover, that number would swell to 150,000 people. That's quite a crowd! [00:08:49] “When [Jesus] was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him.” [00:09:19] Now, I kept all that together because I think we need to look at it as a block. And that whole passage sounds so incredibly strange to our modern ears. But that's because we simply do not - and cannot - understand how a Jewish family might have undertaken travel as part of a pilgrimage. Travel at that time would have been dangerous for a small family on their own. They would have faced difficult terrain, few accommodations along the way, and the prospect of being attacked by either wild animals or bandits. So, instead of lots of small groups traveling separately, pilgrims would arrange to travel in large caravans. That is most likely how Joseph had arranged his family's travel. Now, typically, in a large caravan, all of the children would have been put together in one quite large group overseen by a smaller designated number of adults, typically friends or kinsmen. [00:10:37] Mary and Joseph would have left Jesus with a group like that and then gone to find their own place among the other adults in a different part of the caravan. That arrangement seems strange to us, but it would have been commonplace at the time… that's how travel was arranged. Then we hear after an entire day's travel - and just to be clear, it would have taken four days travel to get from Jerusalem to Nazareth - so, after the first day, when the caravan stopped for the evening meal and to set up camp for the night, that is when Mary and Joseph would have learned that Jesus was not with the caravan. Our modern minds may have jumped to the conclusion that they were negligent parents… they were not! They had arranged their homeward travel exactly as it should have been… but from the details we are given and, knowing how young boys think, it is not outside the realm of possibility to assume that Jesus elected - on his own - to stay behind and speak to the rabbis in the Temple… his Father's house… his Heavenly Father's house - without ever considering that he should maybe let his parents know what he's doing. [00:12:06] I raised two boys… I know how boys think. And then Luke tells us… “After three days they found him” And, yes, it really may have taken that long to find him. Remember, one day… one day it takes them to travel back to Jerusalem; that's one of the three days. And even in a city of just 30,000 people, that's still a lot of ground to cover to find one missing 12-year-old boy. And there were likely still a much greater number of pilgrims remaining in the city. [00:12:41] And yes, if you heard it already… yes, three is one of those perfect biblical numbers. When we think of the boy Jesus being lost in the city of Jerusalem for three days, we should absolutely be reminded of the three days he was in the tomb during another Passover. So, where did they find him? [00:13:08] “in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” [00:13:21] This passage emphasizes Jesus' wisdom… a wisdom that would have far outstripped that of any other 12-year-old boy, certainly. And it also prefigures his adult teaching ministry in that very same Temple. [00:13:41] I have over the past few months posted a number of photos from our trip to Jerusalem showing the Temple Mount and also showing the model of the ancient city of Jerusalem, which is located outside the Israel Museum. But I will post them again on my Instagram this week so that no one has to go searching through old posts to find them. But just so you have an idea of how - even in the time of Jesus - how big the city of Jerusalem was. [00:14:15] “And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.’” Can't you just hear your own voice saying, “where the heck have you been? Don't you know I was worried sick about you?” That is Luke's way of saying… that's kind of what Mary was saying. [00:14:37] Mary and Joseph, of course, here are thinking purely in human terms. And let's face it, any of us who are parents, anyone who has lost sight of their child - in a store, in a park, at a playground, in a mall - can sympathize with the concern they must have been feeling. And those instances of losing sight of your child are only for a short time… imagine losing your child for three days! I don't know about you, but if that would have ever happened to me, I would have been absolutely beyond myself… beside myself… in terror. [00:15:14] “And he said to them, ‘How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?’” Again… typical 12-year-old. He knew what he was doing… why was anybody else worried, right? [00:15:28] And look at the words Jesus uses here… MUST. He uses the word must - that indicates an imperative, something that can't be ignored… he MUST be a certain place. And where was that place? In MY FATHER'S HOUSE… meaning, again, his Heavenly Father's house, the Temple. At the time of Jesus, we need to understand, there was no coming of age ceremony like a bar mitzvah or a bat mitzvah - like there is today for Jewish people. However, rabbinic sources from the time often suggest that the age of 13 was the point where a boy would be considered an adult - responsible for his own actions, responsible for his own time. [00:16:20] Jesus, Luke tells us, was only 12… so he would not yet have been considered an adult in the eyes of Jewish society at the time. And Luke tells us… “they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.” Again, first of all, their thoughts had to be colored with… what the heck were you thinking? So, whatever words would have come out of his mouth would have not made perfect sense to them anyway in their worry, in their fear, but beyond that, they probably just simply weren't ready to accept - or even be able to fully comprehend - his independence and his divine mission… not at the age of 12. [00:17:06] Societally, he wasn't yet an adult in their minds… in their eyes. So, it's difficult to accept him undertaking an adult mission. Luke tells us… “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them;” Notice, Luke tells us, Jesus went down with them to Nazareth. Nazareth is actually north of Jerusalem but remember, Jerusalem is built atop Mount Zion, so the people go up to the city when they arrive and down from the city when they depart. [00:17:47] Then Luke tells us that Jesus was obedient to them - think here of the Ten Commandments, specifically the commandment to Honor Thy Father and Mother. So, he was obedient to them, following what they - as human parents - were establishing for him… the rules and regulations and curfews, everything else like that… but also following his Heavenly Father's will by honoring his human parents. Then Luke tells us… [00:18:20] “and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” We should hear an echo - in those words - of the encounter with the shepherds at the Nativity. Mary, like any young mother, kept many treasured moments in her heart. I can still remember the first time I held each of my boys when they were first born… and countless other memories as well. That's part of being a mom! So, this also highlights for us that Luke spent a significant amount of time with Mary… listening to her recount her stories. Remember, that's what Luke tells us in the beginning of his Gospel, that he set about to provide an orderly account of the life of Jesus… and he did that by getting to know, and interviewing, the people that knew Jesus during his life. Certainly, who knew Jesus much better than anyone else? And that would be his mother! And then Luke finishes with… [00:19:31] “and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” [00:19:37] Those words… that simple sentence… brings to a close the sum total of everything we know about Jesus’ life until he begins his public ministry 18 years later! [00:19:53] This Gospel shares with us a brief, but precious, glimpse into the life of the Holy Family. Like every family, I am sure, they faced good times and bad ones, joys and sorrows, storms to be weathered and parties to celebrate. We don't hear those details, but that's where we're invited to use our imaginations to fill in the blanks… and remember, our imaginations are also gifts from God. So, we're invited to dwell within those possibilities. And let's face it, families can bring out the best and the worst in each other… that's part of being human! But one other thing I need to point out, families really don't exist solely for their own benefit. Despite what we may think, families really exist… their purpose is… to share God's love with the world through the example of love that they live together. I'm reminded here again of the Law of the Gift spoken of by Pope Saint John Paul II, where he said: our being increases in the measure that we give it away. Or as Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta) said: if we love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. That is the kind of giving… the kind of love… that should be - that needs to be - the basis of family life. [00:21:48] And in every family, will there be pain? Yep. Will there be challenges? Of course. Hurt feelings? You bet. Love? Absolutely. Forgiveness? Unconditionally. Acceptance? Total. [00:22:09] One thing is certain. The more love we give, the more love we have to give. God makes sure of that. And that is the example that Jesus left for us. [00:22:27] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from the 1 Samuel 1: 20-22, 24-28. [00:22:37] “And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the LORD.’ And the man Elka’nah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, ‘As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and abide there for ever.’ And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slew the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, ‘O my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. For this child I prayed; and the LORD has granted me by petition which I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.’ Hannah left Samuel there.” [00:23:54] Now, 1 and 2 Samuel are part of the historical books in the Old Testament, and they deal with (in large part with) the possession, use, and abuse of power. God is the origin of all power and authority… so, anyone in a position of power must use it in accord with the terms of the covenant with God. [00:24:26] All people, in other words, must deal fairly with each other according to God's will. The question then becomes: how can we know God's will? Well, for the Jewish people, that becomes the purview of the Levitical priesthood… then the Judges… and then eventually the King. However, mistakes will be made! We are human, after all. [00:24:54] Hannah, the protagonist of this passage, was considered barren and had prayed desperately to God for a child. This, then, is a story of answered prayer! And it starts… [00:25:11] “In due time” In other words, after many years and many prayers. “Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the LORD.’” [00:25:26] Now, the name Samuel means God has heard. So, Hannah saying: I have asked him of the LORD... (actually, that name is Saul… that's neither here nor there), she named him Samuel because she presented her prayer to God… and God heard it and gave her the gift of her son Samuel. “ “And the man Elka’nah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow.” We're not told what time of year this event takes place, but it is not outside the possible to assume that the yearly sacrifice refers either to the Passover or to the harvest Feast of Booths, which would have put it either in spring or fall. [00:26:21] But the words to pay his vow likely meant that Elka’nah, who was of course Hannah's husband, also made a vow to the Lord just in case his wife Hannah did happen to bear a son. [00:26:39] That vow would have in turn required the presentation of a sacrifice of thanksgiving. That's likely what the author is talking about here. [00:26:50] “But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, ‘As soon as the child is weaned,’” Now, typically in Jewish society at the time, that would have been somewhere around the age of four or five. And those of you who are parents… who are moms… you know that by WEANING that means that you're no longer breastfeeding the child. [00:27:12] Tradition, however, holds that Samuel was actually 12 at the time that Hannah finally took him up to the temple. We don't know for certain, could be either one. All it says is that he was young. [00:27:29] “I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the LORD, and abide there for ever.” [00:27:35] Now, in the NAB there is an entire additional line inserted after that which says: “I will offer him as a perpetual nazirite.” A nazirite is one who is consecrated or set apart - and that vow is described in Chapter 6 of Numbers. Tradition holds that John the Baptist was a nazirite, that the entire Essene community were nazirites… they were set aside - consecrated - to study the law and serve God. [00:28:13] “And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine; and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh;” [00:28:28] Shiloh was established by Joshua. Remember, Joshua took over as the next leader after Moses and led the people into the Promised Land. Shiloh served as the center of Jewish worship and became the residence of the Ark of the Covenant during the time of the Judges - before the Temple was built in Jerusalem. Remember, the Temple wasn't built until Solomon. And we're told… [00:29:03] “the child was young.” [00:29:05] Obviously, that does nothing to clear up Samuel's age. As we learned in the Gospel, a boy would have still been considered a child until he reached the age of 13. And again, tradition holds that Samuel was 12. So, Hannah did say she would take him up after he was weaned… but she didn't say how soon after! “Then they slew the bull, and they brought the child to Eli.” Eli was the high priest that year. “And she said, ‘O my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD.’” Now, you have to go back a bit in 1 Samuel to understand this… but Eli, the high priest, stood and watched Hannah praying and thought she was drunk. To be honest, he thought she was hammered. And you can read that part of the story in 1 Samuel 1: 9-15, if you are so inclined. Hannah goes on… “’For this child I prayed; and the LORD has granted me my petition which I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.’ Hannah left Samuel there.” [00:30:24] I cannot ever imagine how Hannah must have felt. This would have required a tremendous act of faith on her part! The one thing Hannah had always wanted was a child. So, it's understandable that we would ask, how could she give him away? [00:30:49] But… because Hannah's prayer was answered and Samuel was given by the LORD… that is precisely why she could give him back to the Lord! Who better to care for, guide, and protect Samuel than the one who called him into existence? Again, think back to the law of the gift… our being increases in the measure with which we give it away. [00:31:26] Hannah's love for Samuel was so great that she recognized that he had a greater part to play, a greater destiny, something more than could be achieved if he stayed with her. [00:31:49] Our Responsorial Psalm this week is Psalm 84. And the refrain is: “Blessed are those who dwell in your house, [O Lord].” And here are the verses: [00:32:00] “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Blessed are the men whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God; look upon the face of your anointed!” [00:32:38] This Psalm is a song of Zion and the verses suggest to us that devotion to God extends to his house - the Temple… the place where he dwells on earth. And the words of the Psalm seem to suggest to us that the composer is at some physical distance from the Temple when this was written… and his yearning for the Temple is quite evident in his words. [00:33:18] The Psalmist clearly misses the security, the serenity, the intimacy that comes from being in the Temple, a location unlike any other location on earth. The word blessed, remember, means happy or fortunate, and that underscores the desire to be in the Temple - in the presence of God: Blessed are those who dwell in your house - so that great blessing of being with God in his Temple… forever in his presence. [00:33:55] That leads us to our Second Reading, which is from the 1 John 3: 1-2, 21-24. [00:34:06] “[Beloved:] See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.” [00:35:20] The Letters of Saint John were written after the Gospel of John, likely in the early 2nd century. Remember, John's Gospel was written about 90 AD. [00:35:31] 1 John is the earliest of the letters… written somewhere probably around 100 AD. This letter, in particular, reads less like a typical letter from biblical times and more like a homily. And the reason for that is - perhaps - because it was intended to shed light on the proper interpretation of John's Gospel. Now, just as we experience disagreements, divisions, challenges in our modern parishes, things were no different in the early church and were often much more polemic… much more argumentative… and 1 John certainly bears witness to that. Several problems had arisen in churches (in house churches) raising a lot of issues… problems anywhere from minor disagreements to incorrect interpretations of the written scriptures - the written Gospels at the time - that sometimes came close to, or bordered on, heresy. John spends a significant amount of time in this first letter correcting false ideas, combating the rise of heresy, and reestablishing unity. [00:37:08] John does that by stressing that knowledge of God and love for one another - those two things - are inseparable. Remember what he says at the end? Belief and love… those two things are inseparable. And that an error in one area inevitably affects the other… it inevitably causes error somewhere else. So, let's go back to the beginning and look again at what John has to say. “[Beloved:] See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Through the Holy Spirit we have become sons and daughters of God by divine adoption through baptism, which enables us to receive - with joy - the gift of God's Fatherly love. He goes on… [00:38:14] “The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” [00:38:21] By THE WORLD John means unbelievers - those who do not accept Christ… those who do not believe… those who do not love him. The greatest sign of God's love, remember, is the gift of the Son… but it requires faith to know him… we have to believe in him. “Beloved, we are God's children now;” And the very fact that we are children of God is proof of the Father's great love. But we are not yet perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. He goes on… [00:39:02] “it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” [00:39:13] I hope, in those words, you hear an echo of 1 Corinthians 13: 12 “For now I know partially; but then I shall know fully as I am fully known.” The relationship between God and his creation (meaning us) is a reality here but it will be perfected in the world to come… when he appears - when Jesus appears in the second Coming - we shall be like him… we shall have those glorified bodies for we shall see him as he is! We shall see him - in all his divinity - at the right hand of his Father. [00:40:07] “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” Is John referring here to the Ten Commandments? Sure, partially. If you read the entire letter, though, all the letters - you realize that John puts much greater emphasis on what he calls Jesus’ Law of Love than he does the Ten Commandments. Remember, Paul taught largely that Jesus supersedes the law… not that he abolished it, but that he fulfilled it. [00:40:52] And that is not to say that the Ten Commandments are unimportant. They're not! We still follow them today, right? We still understand their importance! They help us know God's will so that we can, as John puts it, DO WHAT PLEASES HIM. But Jesus’ law of love… okay, that is tantamount. And I'll get to that presently. John says… “And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” Again, this is where John is spending some time clarifying items from his Gospel. Because look what he points out… believe and love. Think John 6:29 where Jesus says: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent” and in John 13:34 when Jesus says: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” That is Jesus’ Law of Love and that is what is so important to John. The letter goes on… [00:42:17] “All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them.” John is talking here about the living presence of God within us, abiding with us, dwelling with us, remaining within us. [00:42:32] “And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.” [00:42:39] John hints at a promise and a fulfillment here. The promise comes from Acts 1 where Jesus promises that his Apostles will receive the Holy Spirit; and the fulfillment comes from Acts 2 where the Apostles were all filled with the promised Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That promised Holy Spirit still guides the Church today - if we listen. So, we are God's children - which means we know he loves us. We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit - which guides and protects us. And if we believe in the Son and love one another as he has loved us, John assures us that God will abide with us. Pretty strong promises, aren't they? So why do we struggle so much with holiness - not just in our own hearts and minds - but in our homes and in our families? [00:43:45] That's because we are not yet saints! We are all called to be saints… but that doesn't happen overnight. It is a journey - and we can only take one step at a time. The good news is that every journey begins with just a single step… and every step is important! [00:44:09] So let's take a step! Let's be kinder to each other… let's accept each other in spite of our many faults… let's share God's authentic love with each other - the type of love Jesus shares with us… and let's make room for the Lord in our hearts and in our minds, in our homes and in our families. [00:44:42] Holy Family, help our families... to love as you love! [00:44:54] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at [email protected] Thank you for listening and until next we meet, may God shower His blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand. [00:45:13] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions. The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask. Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with permission of the composer. All rights reserved. Information regarding the references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request. Thank you for listening. Have a very happy upcoming New Year and God Bless. God Bless us… God Bless our families!