Food for Thought

Oct 01, 2014

The Holy Family is a tough act to follow. We can’t compete with a holy child, a perfect mother and father when we live in a world of extremes. There is either too much work, too much “racing,” as Pope Francis said, or no work at all and no means to provide for the well-being of others.

Both of those circumstances, plus secularism, wars and famine, also affect the well-being of the “gift” that is the family, as Pope Francis puts it.

He recognizes that these challenges threaten the institution's happiness and success. But families can build toward happiness with prayer, by keeping the faith and experiencing joy, he said in an October 2013 homily.

He said, “Family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society.” It is only in the family where we can find “true joy,” he said. This joy is not rooted in the material world.

It comes from the “profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journey.”