Today is the feast day of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary & Joseph. I wish to express my love and gratitude to them in the best way I know how. They are a source of inspiration and strength. I gaze at their loving faces and I long to be just like them – humble, patient and pure and wholly obedient to the Father’s will. They are my guide and I hope they will be yours too. I firmly believe that Love is alive in our hearts. We just need gentle reminders that God’s love is perfect and infinite. He loves us unconditionally. He doesn’t look at our mistakes; He sees the goodness in us because we are His creation. He loves us.
I can only imagine the courage and strength it must have taken Jesus, Mary & Joseph to overcome all their hardships right from the beginning. Jesus, the King of Kings, was threatened even before He was born. St. Joseph & the Blessed Virgin Mary had to flee in a life and death situation even while she was in labor. Glorious was the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Kings and Angels and Shepherds came to bear witness. Yet they had to keep running and hiding until Herod died. Even then they couldn’t go back to their home. But then I guess that was the Father’s will too. This will always be a mystery to me and I would never want to unravel this because when I meet our Creator, I am hoping that I may be able to ask Him one day about this.
Home, Love, Family – isn’t that the most basic human desire? For me it is. Food, clothing and shelter are needs. But there is a difference between having a roof above your head and having a home to call your own. They say home is where love is and our family is the most basic foundation of love. Our parents are the first people we “see” and know even before we understand what love is. So I can only imagine the kind of love that the Holy Family shared.
Our home is filled with images of the Holy Family and I am grateful to have been born in our humble home and living now in our still humble home, leaking roof and all. Some of our family members may have passed away but our happy memories will always remain in my heart. The love my grandparents shared with their children and with us, their grandchildren. The love my mama and papa shared even though they did not spend most of their lives together. Now I understand that true love does not count what is lost, true love makes people cherish the time they spent together – joys, sorrows and all. And all throughout my life, I will always look back with gratitude and happiness because God is always with us. He has never left us, not one single moment has passed by the He wasn’t there. And I am amazed at His love.
I have to say this too, I am amazed at Mama Mary’s loving guidance. Now I understand why we pray “Hail Mary full of grace...” She really is full of grace, that’s why whenever we pray the rosary we say out loud that Mama Mary was conceived without original sin. A priest said during his homily that this is why Mama Mary never sinned – God did not allow that to happen. He filled her with Grace so that sin would never taint her. And when she said “Be it done to me according to Your Word” that changed all of our lives forever. So we are also blessed because of her obedience. And St. Joseph, her husband was also humble, obedient and kind.
I now realize that it is not how big our house is – it is our family and love that makes our home just that – a home. Now I understand that sometimes we search in vain for the wrong things and the wrong people. Not knowing that the ones we’ve been searching for have been right here all along. I can honestly say that I have been blessed with such loving family who did nothing but protect me from the harsh realities of life and gave me nothing but love. And that is just the beginning. Yes, there is nothing certain about life but this much I know – we are always welcome in our Father’s kingdom and our family will always love us – flaws and all.
The Holy Family is a source of strength for me, not because they are perfect examples of love, faith, hope, obedience and strength, but because the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came down to be with us mere humans as a Son of Man. He was a King but he chose to serve – our Servant King. Jesus lives up to his Holy name – Emmanuel – God with us. So now, when I turn my head and look at their loving image, I see so much love and I feel so inspired because they are so humble yet so strong... loving, faithful and true. They make me want to serve too and learn how to love unconditionally.
And so as I’m writing this, I am in awe of our God Jesus Christ, He not only created us, He obeyed the Father’s will and came down to earth, taught us how to live a Holy life and prepare for our Heavenly destination, then suffered and died on the cross to save us. Sometimes I forget the best part His Resurrection – when He conquered death, restored our life and gave us the greatest gift of all – everlasting life. His promise that He will never leave us and that one day, He will come back to judge the living and the dead. I used to be scared of that but now I’m not. Because deep in my heart I know that God does not count our trespasses, He wants all of us to be saved, to be with Him in all His Glory.
There may be times when we feel unworthy but it is during those times when God is hard at work, gently guiding us, teaching us to love and forgive ourselves and humble ourselves before Him and others. I guess the lesson I learned this year has been a daily one. I may forget to reflect sometimes in the daily hustle and bustle of my daily life but this much I know, I will never take love for granted again because that’s the best lesson I learned -- LOVE.
My love may be imperfect but God loves me anyway and that’s enough for me. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning, excited to start my day and go to sleep at night, less lonely and less scared as each day passes by. And I have learned the best way to relax is to trust in Jesus, because He is my all – my God, my Messiah, my Lord, my King, my Boss, my Savior, my hiding place, my sanctuary but most of all, He is my Father, my Brother, my Teacher and my Friend – the best Guide I could ever ask for. Light of the world. Word of God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life – this is a WOW moment! And now I know why I keep hearing this as my spirit song “It’s all about You Jesus, it’s not about me, as if You should do things my way, You alone are God and I surrender to Your ways.”
And as we journey on in this wonderful thing we call life, I would like to share the lyrics to my favourite song right now – “Go and Sin No More.” I especially love the last part because it expresses everything I could never say out loud, because He knows! He really knows!
So now I’m counting my blessings. I may never fully understand the concept of total surrender of how to let go and let God, but this much I know, Jesus loves me and I’m passing it on – one person at a time. Thank you Jesus! J
Go and Sin No More [Extra]
You search me
You know me
You see my every move
There's nothing I could ever do
To hide myself from You
You know my thoughts, my fears and hurts
My weaknesses and my pride
You know what I am going trough
and how I feel inside
But even though You know
You will always love me
Even though You know
You'll never let me go
I don't deserve Your love
But You gave me feeling
(You will always love me even though You know...) 2x
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