Untitled Post

Post date: Dec 30, 2020 10:23:31 PM

December 27, 2020 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.

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.

But there is some level of grace that can be found in our homes and relationships, or our memories of growing up.

The year 2020 will be remembered for generations

as the year the world stood still. Literally.

How ironic that it took a pandemic to send us back to that space where

life begins and where we usually experience love at its best—HOME.

Crises often brings suffering and loss, but for many of us,

spending more time together was a huge blessing.

The friends and family both near and far provided us the perfect opportunity

to practice what St. Paul says is so important:

heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility,

gentleness, patience, forgiveness,

love, gratitude and even singing.