“This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than this, than to lay down his life for his friends.” Can we do this? How is this possible?
I’ve often counselled young couples and said: "There are few things as life altering than having your first child."
Yet there are few things that teach you more of what it truly means to love. I am convinced that in the Lord’s plan, having the first, and then, of course, subsequent children, is how He means to teach us to live. It is how we put into practice, "love one another as I have loved you".
A friend of mine recently had her first baby. I haven’t seen them yet because of Covid, so she sent me a photo of little Mary – so precious – and she wrote that this time for the young family is "blissful".
What a lovely word. I remember her excitement in the months of pregnancy – the interesting mix of great joy and a nervousness; apprehension; a kind of fear: Am I ready? Can I do this?
It’s curious that my friend wrote she was "blissful"! I know she gets very little sleep, she has to give of herself in a way she never imagined possible – yet she is blissful! The other day I was talking about this with Alex, here in our ministry, now a dad with an 18 month son, after he’d had a sleepless night because the baby caught a cold. He said, "there’s no place for the egotistical self, you do it for love."
The Lord’s lessons in true love through which He intends to transform us: God is love, so in fact God is loving through us. He is communicating His unconditional love, His very Self to this tiny person. It’s amazing.
All are to grow together in distinct ways: the child, father, mother, siblings… BUT: we’re supposed to notice! To let the Holy Spirit fully work His transformation, we are to believe: to be awake to see how the Lord is doing such great things, and to help our children to see!
Of course, all love their newborn babies - but not all learn God’s great lesson.
The Christian family is meant to be the garden where we are to grow in learning Christ’s great commandment. Often times it is a hard testing ground as well! There will be hard times. At those moments we can truly learn the importance and power of family prayer! If we are open to the Lord, He will continue to teach us to love as He loves every day of our lives.
The Family that Prays Together Stay Together
- Father Jim's inspirational homily was recorded live this morning during Mass at the Father Peyton Center. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.)
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