The Feast of the Holy Family

Today's mass was all about family and the importance of trusting in God.  Today is also the feast of the Holy Innocents (the children of Bethlehem that King Herod put to death when he learned that a king had been born there).  In my mind, these sit as opposites: children who are granted through the Lord's promise and children who were taken away because of it.

In a sense, Christ is both.  In today's mass we sang a song called "Wood of the Cradle" which draws comparisons between the wood used to make the manger that held the infant Christ and the wood used to make the cross that held the crucified Christ.  Fulfillment in granting life and fulfillment through sacrifice are intricately tied together in Christian tradition.

Our homily focused on the importance of living like the holy family and the importance of family.  For me, my family is everything; they are all that I have worked and suffered for.  I do not claim to be the perfect father; I know that I am far from that, but I have tried to do what I could to give them a strong example, to raise them in the Catholic faith, and to give them the best chance that they have in life.  I trust in God that He will lead them down the correct paths.