One of the clearest, simplest calls to follow Jesus is expressed in John 13:34: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  ;Jesus did not say, “Love me as I have loved you.”  ;From a human point of view that would have seemed to be very logical.  ;It is easier to love those who love us in return.  ;Most of the time we are filled with enthusiasm in our love for our family and friends.  ;When we get angry or there is a misunderstanding there is that inner restlessness and anxiety that gnaws at us and tries to put us on the path to reconciliation and peace.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family.  ;The little information we have about the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as a family in the gospels reveals what we experience in our families: joy, peace, security, struggles, and trust.  ;How Mary and Joseph had to be amazed at the wonder of the shepherds who came to see the newborn Christ in a stable.  ;That amazement was magnified with the visit of the Magi and their bowing down in homage and offering their gifts.  ;What pain they had to know as they fled to Egypt to escape the evil intention of Herod to kill the infant Jesus.  ;Through their joys and sorrows there was a solid foundation of complete trust in God.  ;Mary said to the angel Gabriel, “Let it be done to me as you have said.”  ;Joseph believed the message of the angel who appeared to him in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.”  ; First and foremost Mary and Joseph trusted God, even when what he asked seemed to be humanly impossible.  ;Mary and Joseph saw their lives as individuals and as a married couple through the eyes of faith.  ;That is what being a Holy Family is all about: trust in and love for God, trust in and love for each other.

It is in our families that we are best known and accepted for who we are.  ;That does not mean we are not challenged to change when we need to, but when we see each other through the eyes of love, we accept what is said and done knowing it is for our own good.  ;We have our struggles and misunderstandings, but then the foundation of love makes us want to find the way to peace with one another.  ;The inner lack of peace within our families affects our waking moments, especially the quiet ones when we pray and reflect.  ;Looking at our lives and the lives of those we love through the  ;eyes of faith, as Mary and Joseph did, lights up the path to true security, meaning and peace.  ;In his book “The Wisdom of Tenderness” by Brennan Manning reflects on John 13:34 (“Love one another as I have loved you”) and says, “The gospel vision is precise on this point: we can’t be worshiping some vague deity above the clouds; we can’t be acknowledging Jesus Christ living within us and ignoring him in those around us.  ;Two central facts of Christianity emerge - Christ is in you, and Christ is in me - and in the end, as Saint Augustine said, “there will be the one Christ loving himself”.”

The Church is God’s holy family on earth.  ;You and I are part of that family as baptized Catholic Christians.  ;Do I contribute to the holiness of God’s family on earth?  ;Our common faith unites us with God and one another.  ;It expands the horizons of who we love and how we love them.  ;Further on in the chapter of Brennan’s book I quoted above he looks at how he seeks to follow Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us and says: “There exists a problem of epic biblical proportions: I’ve divided the human community into certain categories.  ;There are a few people whom I love, a number whom I like, and a multitude whom I seldom think about, move proactively toward, or manifest any concern for.  ;Yet the evangelical witness described in Matthew and Luke quashes discrimination of any kind.  ; “If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus?”, Jesus asks.  ;Anybody can do that.  ;If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal?  ;Any run-of-the-mill sinner can do that” Matthew (5:46-47, The Message).  ;Any of us can love someone with whom we have a mutual interest or attraction.  ;I find it effortless to turn on to people who favor my existence and make me feel good.  ;So did the contemptible tax-collectors, traitors to the Jewish cause.”

Jesus came to save all people.  ;So often we judge others as unworthy of our love and God’s love.  ;Our task is not to judge or reject, but to love no matter what.  ;We find that easier to do in blood families.  ; As members of the holy family on earth we are trusted to go beyond our usual limits and expectations and contribute to the holiness of God’s family on earth by loving all those God sends into our lives as he has loved us.

Father Walden