{"id":17432,"date":"2021-12-23T07:55:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T12:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=17432"},"modified":"2021-12-23T07:55:27","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T12:55:27","slug":"your-family-bigger-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/your-family-bigger-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Family. Bigger Than You Think."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Holy Family, what a team!. Mary, the mother, was conceived without sin (Immaculate Conception), Joseph (a just and faith filled man) and Jesus, God in human flesh . . . it sounds like a household of Super Heroes. They\u2019re certainly not like MY family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we look at this saintly group, let\u2019s look back a bit at the whole idea of \u201cfamily\u201d. That familiar picture we have: the house with the picket fence, the kids playing in the front yard; mom, in her apron getting dinner ready and dad, just back from work, calling out \u201cHoney, I\u2019m home!\u201d \u0016 \u0016 \u0016 is really a fairly recent view of a middle\u0016 class home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To go back a thousand years or so, \u201cfamily\u201d was more like a \u201cclan\u201d or a tribe. That African saying, \u201cIt takes a village to raise a child\u201d is evident in much of history. In primitive times, with dangers lurking in nature (lions!) and neighboring peoples (Those Hatfields!), an extended family was the best way to insure safety and a co\u0016 operative way of getting things done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see evidence of this in Jesus\u2019 childhood. When he was 12, his whole \u201cextended family\u201d in Nazareth traveled by caravan to Jerusalem. Jesus was gone from Mary and Joseph for a day or so with no apparent concern from his parents. \u201cAs they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it, thinking he was in the caravan (with the rest of the relatives)\u201d Luke 2:43, 44<\/a>. They returned to Jerusalem and \u201cafter three days (!) they found him in the temple.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does \u201cfamily\u201d look like today? It comes in many shapes and sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blended families, single parent families, extended, adopted etc. What does your family look like? Mine has shrunk somewhat. Mom and dad are gone over 10 years so the Horan\u2019s are 3 (Patty, Tim, and Maureen). This is what I mean when I say \u201cI\u2019m visiting family\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about your family? Big? Small? Just you? We look at photos of Christmas\u2019s past and we smile . . . or tear up a bit. Over the years family changes, doesn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

But something about belonging to a family never changes; it\u2019s where we learn how to give and receive love. St. Pope John Paul called the family the \u201cSchool of Love\u201d. It\u2019s where we learn to live for others and accept others kindness in turn. Family is where we help each other come to know the goodness of God. It\u2019s been called the \u201cDomestic Church\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now here\u2019s the exciting part . . . real family, described above, can happen anywhere, with any group of people. Jesus himself pointed to this. Remember the story of Jesus preaching in a crowded house. \u201cSomeone told him, \u2018your mother and brothers are standing outside wishing to speak with you.\u2019\u201d Jesus said in reply, \u201dwho are my moth- er and brothers?\u201d And stretching out his hand he said, \u201chere is my (family). Whoever does the will of my Heavenly Father is mother, brother and sister to me.\u201d Matthew 12: 48,49<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a new kind of family. One that is intended and sustained by the will of God. The Family of Christ. The Church in the widest sense, people of good will, seeking to love God and neighbor as Jesus has instructed us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And guess what? This family is thicker than blood or ethnicity. Its Father is our Heavenly Father; Mary is its mother. We all are God\u2019s Children. Please help Holy Trinity Church be a part of Christ\u2019s Family by the way we treat all who join us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome brother! Welcome sister! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bless this Family.
Fr. Tim<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Holy Family, what a team!. Mary, the mother, was conceived without sin (Immaculate Conception), Joseph (a just and faith filled man) and Jesus, God in human flesh . . . it sounds like a household of Super Heroes. They\u2019re certainly not like MY family. Before we look at this saintly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17432"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17437,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17432\/revisions\/17437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}