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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you! There is a kind surety of security and protection a parent gives to a child even when some do not make sense, but the goal is always to build confidence in this child. Take for instance, when a child falls and is crying the parent will tell the child let us beat the ground for making you fall! The child gains confidence that where my father or my mother is, I have nothing to fear.
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Mind the Gap. When you go to London, particularly on the London underground trains, there is a warning that comes on over the microphone, Mind the Gap. Here, train passengers are warned to be careful while stepping over the gap between the train and station platform. I want to relate that to our life as Christians or followers of Jesus. Mind the gap can also be an invitation for us to pay attention to the space between where we are standing and where we want to go. That means making choices that are aligned with our values as Christians, so that we are not disconnected or disengaged from where we are, who we are and what we want to become as true Christians.
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May 1st, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Joseph was a carpenter, and Jesus would have learned from Joseph’s hands the trade and tools of the carpenter. The tradition, and what we assume from the Scriptures, is that up to the age of thirty Jesus worked as a carpenter. If you happen to see The Passion of Christ, by Mel Gibson, there are some moving scenes during Jesus’ Passion, as he carries the cross, with flashbacks of Jesus making a table and showing it to Mother Mary. That would have been the way Jesus supported himself. I often reflect on the fact that Mother Mary received a visitation from the angel Gabriel, while Joseph only received a dream. All of us dream every night, but Joseph was able to discern that this was not just an ordinary dream, that God was speaking to him on a deeper level. He was called to trust the words of his wife, that something which had never happened in the history of the world, a virgin conceiving, was true.
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In real social phenomena, there exist some kind of classes that define who we are or what we do. This status deploys certain responsibilities in us. In the division of these responsibilities comes seniors, bosses, employees or lords and subjects. Some may not have search names, however, there exists a life/social distinctive feature. If we look at this with a keen eye, it sounds awkward and even sometimes unexpected for ‘Lord’ to serve the subjects or even bosses to serve the juniors. And even due to such, those beneath us feel unworthy for such services towards them. For those in higher status or privileges which are even gifts or endowed duly by God’s blessings require a higher degree of humility and empathy to come down and serve those lower to them due certain social, economic, spiritual or political factors or any other form of factor that depreciates them. This does not diminish who we are. It does not make us less. Indeed, it uplifts us to true human nature. This is why in the gospel Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, and this does not make him lower. It makes him a true servant. A true leader. A good father or mother in a family lead by example.
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God implanted in our human nature a desire to love and to be loved. When we are accepted by others, we have the assurance that we are lovable. The desire for acceptance is so great that any sort of rejection causes us much pain.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us one of the most tender and powerful images: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This is not just poetry—it is identity. We are the sheep. Christ is the Good Shepherd. But this raises a serious question: What does it mean to truly be His sheep?
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