FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY C

 

DO YOU MISS HIM?

LK 2; 41-52

 

 

 

My heart melts each time I watch videos of missing children. Imagine the pain in a mother’s heart when a child is abducted and is never returned to her embrace. And the uprooted child also feels a deep longing to find out about his roots, and to be reunited within the fold of his real family. When in rare cases, people are finally reunited, the intense emotions are beyond description.

 

The same thing happened to the couple Joseph and Mary who suddenly discovered that their Son was not in their company as they returned from their Temple pilgrimage. Mary sums up her harrowing experience: your father and I are full of great anxiety. Those words truly come from a suffering heart. Joseph and Mary’s world was threatened by the disappearance of Jesus.

 

Specially at Christmas time, we feel a certain sadness when people we love are far from us; when they are unreachable; or when they are permanently gone. Christmas is a time for connecting with one another as an expression of unity and love. That is why it is a season for families.

 

This year, some of our family members may be out of the country working as seamen, nurses or domestics. Others may be spending Christmas in the hospital with strict restrictions on visits. And some will be missing this year loved ones who succumbed to the pandemic or to other illnesses. Much as we want to be all together this Christmas season, there are reasons why we will miss, rather than kiss, each other instead.

 

Mary and Joseph finally found joy in discovering Jesus at the center of their lives. They not only offered their hearts to Jesus when he came to them that Christmas night. In fact, their whole lives revolved around God’s Son who they were so blessed to care for on earth. Their longing subsided when they realized that they belonged to him inasmuch as he belonged to them. Later on, Jesus would not be physically close to his family because of a mission from his Father. But once cherished in the heart, Jesus will always be with the people who truly loved and cared for him.

 

Do you miss some people in your life this season? Pray for them, remember them, cherish them in your heart. Ask  the Lord Jesus to transmit to them your love in a spiritual way. Ask Jesus to bridge the distance through your prayers and good intention.

 

PRAYER WHEN YOU MISS SOMEONE

 

You created our hearts for love and unity.

Yet the challenges of time and place, and the

changing rhythms of life

make unity at times broken or incomplete.

 

And so I find myself this Christmas,

Missing this person/s _____________

(mention the name/s).

 

We acknowledge, O Lord, that it is

a right and a good thing to miss deeply

those whom we love but with whom

we cannot be physically present.

Grant us, therefore, courage to love well

even in this time of absence.

 

We praise you also knowing that these glad aches

are a true measure of the bonds

you have wrought between our hearts.

Now use our sorrows as tools in your hand,

O Lord, shaping our hearts into a truer 

imitation of the affections of Christ.

 

You created our hearts for love and unity.

Yet the challenges of time and place, and the

changing rhythms of life

make unity at times broken or incomplete.

(adapted from douglas mckelvey; thanks!).

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!