A Message from Fr. Jay
Dear Friends,
The journey of imperfect individuals through the bond of love to experience the perfect love of God is called a family. In the beginning, God created a perfect family of Adam & Eve, and all creatures of land, air and sea were included. Eventually this ‘perfect family’ started to sustain damage and injuries due to sin. Therefore, the nature of one big family started to deteriorate and perhaps what we have now, may be a very small unit of humans and pets.
Wars, natural disasters, fundamentalism, radicalism, political and social ideologies continue to damage and question the very existence of family. At the micro level, due to ego, anger or selfishness, the family is sadly broken. Men, women and children suffer greatly due to disintegration or separation. On this Holy Family Sunday, with the imperative of making the family inclusive for everyone as God’s creation, we are called to regain the joy of making our family holy through reconciliation and gratitude.
The first reading is about how parents should treat their children and how the children need to respect their parents. The gospel is about the ‘first talk-back’ of Jesus and how it makes an impact on his family. The second reading highlights the qualities needed for God’s chosen family. Let us recall these readings again and again. The holiness of our family is realized incrementally, step by step. Let us remember, we all have some of these dynamics in our families. Let us try our best to bring holiness into our family through understanding, reconciliation and gratitude.
God Bless You,
Fr. Jay Raju
Reading 1: Sirach 3: 2-6, 12-14
Reading 2: Colossians 3:12-17
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52
