28 December 2025 #whatareyouwearing?
It’s the Feast of the Holy Family, a day to celebrate families! Fathers and mothers and children are reminded of their vocations and given the “high bar” as it were… virtues to strive for and relationships for tending. But I want to pause for a moment and acknowledge the imperfection and struggles of families. We are all broken human beings living in a broken world. Very rarely are we at our best and sometimes we don’t even act like Christians. Tempers flare, motives are misunderstood, and two people who both love the Lord don’t always agree on which path is right for the family.
Sirach reminds us that things aren’t perfect. If they were, he wouldn’t have to write about what ‘should be.’ Fathers and mothers need to set a faith-full example for their children… prayer, honor, kindness, consideration, and reverence are foundational. All actions that flow from these are the ones the Lord blesses, the ones he wishes we would make.
St. Paul writes to the good people of Colossae with words of wisdom. Married or not, we should all wear compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, wisdom, forgiveness, and gratitude… underneath our winter overcoat of the Lord’s peace.
A couple of women-friends and I started talking about taking a Pilates class together. In the early stages we were trying to figure out timing, schedules, modes, location, and what might work best for the three of us. As friends who respect each other’s space and commitments, it was fairly easy. Why is it not that easy with husbands (or wives)?! What words of the Holy Spirit might we not be listening to? Which gift of the Holy Spirit might we need to put on?
Like last week, the angel of the Lord speaks to Joseph and he obeys. We know the story and how it ends, but at the time, Joseph had no idea how this was all going to shake out. He gathers Mary and Jesus and all that he can carry to depart for Egypt, a place with severe and negative connotations for Jews (slavery!). He doesn’t speak the language. He doesn’t have a familial connection there. He has no idea how long he’s staying (around 2-4 years). He has no idea how he will support his family. But like Our Lady, he wears Paul’s virtues under the cloak of obedience and off they go into the great unknown. But known by God the Father and that’s all that matters.
Therein lies the heart of most family drama: the great unknown.
It’s the heat of the ‘what-ifs’ that get us to start shedding those virtuous garments. The situation gets too hot as our minds tend toward the most negative of outcomes. We want to do damage control before we even know what damage might be done. We want to mitigate the premises before the conclusion arrives. So, we become callous, unkind, self-centered, cruel, impatient, reckless, ruthless, and unappreciative… laid bare in the original sin of our birthday suit. It is definitely not how the Lord wants us to behave. Perhaps we ought to spend some time this month thinking about our clothing choices. #whatareyouwearing?