December 30: The Feast of the Holy Family

Read Luke 2: 41 – 52
Sing “Away in a Manger”

For many of us Christmas is so much about children that we forget that we celebrate the birth of the savior. But maybe now we are beginning to hope the season will end soon; the children have become an annoyance. The new toys have lost their luster, the house is too full of noise, and maybe we would like our children seen but not heard.

Luke not only tells us Mary pondered the birth of her God child but that her son grew in size and in wisdom and in favor of God and humans. He was nurtured and loved it seems. The feast of the Holy Family reminds us Jesus was a child with parents, a part of a family. And we too are a part of a family. What sort of family are we creating? Are we growing as Jesus did; are we encouraging that growth?

What’s more, all children, not just our own, need that love and nurture. Children the world over are vulnerable and we know many are abused, neglected, and needy. In a world of plenty how criminal it seems that children go to bed hungry. How insane it seems that we teach them to hate. What indeed makes us use these precious ones for our own pleasure despite the violence it does to them? They are our hope for the future as one of the angels in Dublin Castle suggests. The words around the outside of the heart of hope read “cherish all the children of the nation equally”. Not only the nation but the world I would add. How important that is! How will we do that? What is our part? What could we do today?

As I look at the symbols painted on the cast the loving hands of course draw my eye. Certainly we must hold our children gently, not too tightly that they cannot fly, but not too loosely that they are abused. The gate on the bottom however suggests even more to me; we must open the way; we must allow all to find their way—to grow as Jesus did.

For children from 2 to 92: Reach Out to Your Neighbors
Neglected, Abused, and Needy Children

Probably all of us received something new this Christmas season—a new dress, a new tie, a new toy. Even the adults among us may have been given something new to play with. What happens to all the “old” toys sitting in the closet? What happens to those toys we no longer use or want? What happens to those of us who have so much that the “new” toys really are simply more clutter?

Take some time today to go through all the old and new toys you have. Choose some to give to those who have less. Find a place where other children can enjoy your extras. Maybe even give away something you really like and wanted.

Imagine the joy other children will have with your gifts. What would you like to tell them?

Pray for children, yours and the world’s.