Feast of the Holy Family

My parish celebrated its feast day this weekend, unfortunately it is hard to make a parish celebration of it when it falls a few days after Christmas.  The other disappointing thing for this new pastor was that the deacons were scheduled to preach.  So I did not even get to preach on the parish feast day.  So I thought I would share one thought that would have been a building block for a homily.

Last week I brought communion to a homebound parishioner.  She could not get over the idea that the PASTOR came to her home.  She was so honored to have the PASTOR visit her.  I felt unworthly of such adulation but was uplifted by it.  That evening my associate told me that a parish teen told him that he did not like when I preached, because I was too long.  I have never been told that before but perhaps that is the grace given to pastors -- long preaching.  Talk about being exaulted only to be humbled.

These two experiences got me thinking about the role of the family in the human experience.  Families should build us up and validate us.  Families also keep us honest and challenge us when we miss the mark.  As a pastor, I pray that I may receive both the validation and the correction that will help me to serve this family well.  And as the father of this family I hope I will be granted to wisdom and courage to validate and correct with love.

Happy Feast Day Holy Family