Remaining Family

“There’s a line in a prayer for World Refugee Day that has always stayed with me: God of our Wandering Ancestors, may refugees find a friend in me, and so make me worthy of the refuge I have found in you.”

“The promise of Christmas is not that we will be shielded from sorrow and pain. The promise of Christmas is that God will give us the strength to travel difficult paths that we would rather avoid.”

“When we have to deal with new and foreign circumstances, our faith tells us that those places can still be good and life-giving. We can seldom recover the way things were. But God is faithful. And when God is with us, we can always find a home.”

“Herod's whole existence was conditioned by, predicated upon what was good for Herod. Joseph's whole existence and behavior are conditioned by obedience to the word of God. See, this would make all the difference.”

“Matthew’s modelling of Jesus’ childhood on Moses tells us something important about who this child Jesus is...Matthew depicts Jesus as the new Moses, who will save us his people from their sins.”

“In the beginning, God wanted to make himself part of the family of Adam and Eve, but as a result of their disobedience they failed to welcome him. But the Gospels have revealed that God finally became part of the human family thanks to the obedience of Mary and Joseph.”

“St. Joseph sets an example for all Christian fathers in particular, and for all believers generally, of how to hear God’s Word and obey it. St. Joseph, pray for us!”

“On this Feast of the Holy Family, may we go forward, without fear, confident in the knowledge that we are one Holy Family, one ujamaa, and we are called to treat each other as such”

“If we have God-like expectations of our families, then we’re surely going to be hurt and disappointed at some point. But if we are merciful and forgive, those very moments of difficulty and sin can be transformed by the grace of God to renew and strengthen the bonds of love.”

“The Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are no longer physically with us. But, internally they should be in our hearts for all families are called to be holy. May God grant us the graces needed so that each of our families becomes a Holy Family.”

“So this family is holy because it is responsive to the demanding word of God spoken in the very trying circumstances of their daily lives”

“Family life is something precious. Those near to us should be dear to us and we to them. Family life is worth fighting for. Family life needs fighting for. And most certainly, praying for.”

“The fact that some of us can look with longing towards a world that can be better means that it is possible for us to bring the light of Christ into it. We may not stop oppression but we don’t collude with it.”

“What are the struggles that other people are having and how can I help them? Apply this principle within families.”