A Gift of Witness

“Living in a family is participating in the work of the Lord; it is a sharing in the mission of the Church. It is indeed holy….” Pope Francis.

Family is a witness to the world that love shared is a reflection of the great love and care of Christ for all people. When we love each other unconditionally as family, we demonstrate the love of God, which is the work of evangelisation. All families are missionaries in their own right!

It was in the hidden life of his family growing up in Nazareth that Jesus came to his human maturity. It was a refugee family, not well off, who had experienced the path of rejection and flight, and the misunderstandings common between teenagers and parents. Such a family produced Jesus – we can all take hope.

Gift that it is, family life, we all know presents difficulties. Some learnt behaviours and attitudes can be destructive, and family dysfunction produces many casualties who fill our prisons, mental hospitals and soup kitchens. Domestic violence kills an average of one woman a week in Australia and causes great distress and dislocation to thousands of other women and their children, to our national shame.

Today we acknowledge that we all belong to broad groupings and communities where love, acceptance, forgiveness and loyalty are given and received to nurture our spirit. Let us pray for each other and allthe ‘families’ to which webelong.

A happy and peaceful 2019 to all who belong toSt.Canice’s.

Fr Chris.