Feast Of The Holy Family...

In the Catholic Church, today is the Feast of the Holy Family. As I listened to the readings proclaimed in Mass this morning, it got my little head a-thinkin' and what I came up with is this...

I think about what it must have been like for Joseph. Here he thinks he is going to settle down and marry this sweet young girl without sin, when he learns she is pregnant...and not by him. Faced with some hard choices, he gets a visit in a dream from an angel who lays it all out for him. Truth be told, if I found myself in Joseph's situation I would be seriously questioning my eating habits so close to bed time - no more cookies after 8 PM. However, his faith allows him to trust and follow the plan.

I was feeling bad because my children received one "family" gift as opposed the multi-hundred dollar gifts others they know were getting. Suddenly this paled in comparison when one considers the Son of God being born amongst farm animals. And once again, among the lowing cattle and hay, Joseph has another visit in a dream to get out of Dodge because a lunatic King is coming to murder his son. And again, he believes.

I believe the Holy Family had their struggles. Who can't relate to Mary when she thinks Jesus is with Joseph and Joesph thinks Jesus is with Mary and they realize their child is missing. Granted, it has never happened to me over multiple days, but there has been one or two panic moments in Wal-Mart when I am afraid some crazy has made off with one of my children because they were enthralled with the latest electronic and failed to keep up. Did Joseph and Mary endure the terrible twos? We can only imagine.

But they had faith and they endured...the toddler years, the teen-age years, and right until the end when Mary witnessed her Son hanging on a cross to pay for our sins. They never gave up. And this is what resounds with me.

God gives us the people in our lives for a reason. He has chosen who will walk with us and why; we must let our faith lead us even when we don't understand. On this Feast Day of the Holy Family, I give thanks for all those He has blessed me with: the ones I love, the ones who test me, the ones I embrace, and especially the ones I don't. We are all one big Holy family in God's eyes, so on this day I celebrate every one of us.