Family Tradition of Giving

MERRY CHRISTMAS! May you all have a Christmas Season full of light, life, and joy!

On Saturday, December 28, my family of 10 siblings, 7 brother’s-in-law, one sister-in-law, 25 nieces and nephews and their spouses, fiancés, and children, and a few new boyfriends and girlfriends will be together for our annual Christmas gathering. There will be over 50 people present. Additionally, there will be lots of hugs and kisses, food, music, beverages, games and conversations. There will be a few gifts given from godparents to godchildren. And my niece, Alexandra, will choose a charity this year to which everyone will make a donation according to their ability. It is her turn to choose after my Dad, all my siblings, and eldest 4 nieces and nephews have already had the opportunity to choose a charity over the years. We stopped exchanging names for gifts among family members about 16 years ago. The person choosing the charity is responsible for providing the others with information so that we can plan our gift. Over the last 15 years we have donated nearly $18,000 to various charities.

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We honor and admire their family life and the witness they give to all of us about holiness. Holiness requires humility and decisiveness. We can see those characteristics in Mary’s fiat to God through the angel Gabriel, and Joseph’s humble acceptance of Mary as his wife under the strange and miraculous circumstance of her pregnancy. We also see in Jesus a son who was both obedient to his parents and inquisitive about his place in the religious context of his time. When he decided to stay to talk with the elders and teachers of the law in the temple, Jesus was anticipating the many debates and discussions he would have as an adult.

I pray for parents and for their sons and daughters as they “grow up” together. It is no easy task to raise a child to adulthood, nor easy to move from childhood to adulthood. Both parents and their children must be humble and flexible as they learn and grow. No current childhood can be equated with the childhood that parents lived a couple of decades ago. Parents learn from their own parents, but they must also make new decisions for themselves. Children must be patient with their parents as they learn together how to negotiate today’s challenges.

May all families excel in accepting the blessing of holiness from God.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Peace, Fr. Andy