Live God's love at the kitchen table

December 28, 2003 -- Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. What can you do to enrich the well-being of your family? 2. How do you interpret God's love for others? 3. What value do you assign to family life?

During the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), sixteen documents were issued ranging from the mission of the Church to ecumenical concerns, from the nature of revelation to religious liberty and so much more. Of all the documents one of my favorites is the "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" (the Latin title: Gaudium et Spes). The Fathers of Vatican II (Bishop Wycislo being one of them) powerfully describe the connection between our faith and our modern world.

In that document there is a section on the family. Today the universal Church celebrates the feast of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their relationship to one another. Here are three passages from Gaudium et Spes that deserve our reflection on this feast.

"The well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and family" (#47)

We all know, even little children, what the result is if the well-being of the family is in any way diminished: sorrow! In the Gospel today Joseph and Mary are in deep sorrow. As they were returning from the feast of Passover they lost Jesus. No one but a parent can experience the anxiety resulting from a child being lost for three days. The anguish of separation and not knowing is overwhelming.

Thus we must do everything possible to nurture the well-being of family life. Fostering communication, spending quality time with children, putting first things first are some approaches to ensuring health. And there is another: prayer! The old "trite" saying carries a profound truth: "The family that prays together, stays together." That is, a family truly grounded in God and authentic prayer has a source for well-being that is truly powerful. We should note that with only about thirty-five per cent of Catholics attending Mass regularly one of the negative fallouts of this fact is that the well-being of the family is endangered.

A second passage from Vatican Council II: "Parents should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those to whom it has been transmitted. They should realize that they are thereby cooperators with the love of God the Creator, and are, so to speak, the interpreters of that love" (#50).

To be co-worker with God in the giving of life is a noble vocation. And then an added dimension: to interpret God's love for one's children is an awesome responsibility. God's love is unconditional; God's love is merciful; God's love is compassionate. When such a love is lived at the kitchen table and experienced within the walls of our homes, peace and joy will be the consequences. The Gospel states that Jesus progressed in wisdom. Surely it was wisdom that came from how Mary and Joseph interpreted and lived God's love.

A third and final passage: ". . . by the joys and sacrifices of their vocation and through their faithful love, married people will become witnesses of the mystery of that love which the Lord revealed to the world by His dying and His rising up to life again" (52).

What sacrifices Mary and Joseph made for Jesus; what joys they experienced in that home of Nazareth. And through their fidelity they bore witness to a God who loved us so much as to send his Son for our salvation. Our opening prayer says it all: "Teach us the sanctity of human love, show us the value of family life, and help us to live in peace with all . . ."

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay.)