Dec30th
Post date: Dec 31, 2018 6:24:17 PM
December 30, 2018 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray
What does it take to be a healthy, holy family?
Express love—John a strong, self-reliant man who rarely expressed
his emotions had to rush his wife to the hospital for emergency surgery.
The operation was successful but the wife’s condition deteriorated.
Despite blood transfusions and intensive care,
she continued to lose strength. The doctors were puzzled
but became convinced the reason for her decline
was that she was not trying to get well. The surgeon, an old family friend,
went to her bedside and said,
‘I would think you would want to get well for John.’
She replied, “John is so strong, he doesn’t need anybody.”
When the doctor told John what she said, he went to her room,
took her hand in his, and said, ‘You have got to get well.’
Without opening her eyes, she asked, “Why?”
He replied, ‘because I need you.’ At that moment she opened her eyes
and the staff noted a change in her pulse. She said to her husband,
“John, that is the first time you ever said that to me.”
Two weeks later she was recovering at home.
A healthy family is also respectful, forgiving, accepting,
listening and sharing:
Playing together and outings are valuable family-building events.
Watching good movies or sports together and discussing them.
Another way is listening and talking without the distraction of television or cell phones. A phone call should usually not interrupt family time.
Let the machine get it.
How can we be a healthy, holy family?
By praying and worshipping together. The family that prays together
isn’t guaranteed to stay together but it helps immensely.
Do you thank God in the morning before you start the day?
Do you pray together at meal times?
In the Matthew Kelly book I gave you for Christmas
are some wonderful ideas to create some ‘holy moments’ for your family,
your neighbors, and yourself. Check out page 50/51.
And remember we are all called to be ‘holy’, one HOLY MOMENT @a time.
There’s a city in Germany called Weinsberg.
On a hill stands an ancient fortress. There is a great legend about that
fortress. In the 15th century, an enemy encircled the hill and
sealed off townspeople inside the fortress. The enemy commander then
sent word that he would allow the women and children to leave and go free
before he attacked. He also agreed to let each woman take with her the
most valuable possession she owned—provided she could carry it out.
You can imagine the enemy’s surprise when the women
marched out of the fortress each one carrying her husband on her back.
Cherishing each member of our family doesn’t just happen. It’s something you must work at. Family life has always been a bit of a mess and a bit of a miracle. I’ve never known a family that meets the ideal of perfection we imagine from a distance. There always seems to be some level of dysfunction, some rupture that needs repair, some craziness that requires
lessons in coping and persisting. But there’s also some level of grace
that can be found in our homes or our memories of growing up.
The key may just be showing up and creating holy moments in our own families.