The story is told about a famous surgeon whose greatest worry is that there will come a time when his hands will no longer be steady. He thought for a while and said: “My greatest fear is that there will come a time when I will become callous and insensitive, and I can no longer feel my patient’s pain.”
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Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. In our own family, have we become so focused on the work of our hands that we have forgotten the love in our hearts? Maybe your hands are full, but your hearts are empty? Let us ask Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to help us make our families close to God, close to the people, and close to one another.
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CLOSE TO GOD. The family that prays together stays together. True! The awareness and the presence of God do make a difference. Let us not remove God from the picture, and let us not leave out God in our conversations. When all we talk about is money, people, and events, we end up shallow and empty in our family.
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CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER. Do we talk to each other, do we really listen to each other? Let us not allow anything or anyone to divide us. People come and go, but family remains in the end. Let us make a commitment, a decision not to give up on each other, no matter what. Let us continue to give, forgive, assure, and treasure one another.
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CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE. Maybe your family is religious, nice, and all, but are you approachable and available to people? Do you share your time, talents, and treasures with the needy and the poor? Do you treat your helpers and workers well and fairly?
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As we say goodbye to 2023 and journey to 2024, let us be filled with gratitude for what happened last year, good or bad, happy or sad. We leave them all in God’s heart. As we journey to the year ahead, let us be filled with hope and trust, and leave the future in God’s hands.
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Praying for the three H in the New Year, for all of us to be more Healthy, Happy, and Holy. Of course, we pray also to be more wealthy but remember, without health, without happiness, without holiness, wealth is vain, burdensome, and empty.
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Let us start our 2024 journey on the right foot by being grateful to our loving and merciful God who never stops loving us even when we keep on letting Him down. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
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Our most important journey is our journey to God’s heart. It begins to happen when we focus on kindness, respect, understanding, and love.
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Our journey to God’s heart takes on a new meaning when we focus less on being impressive, and focus more on being expressive. As someone beautifully put it: “People don’t care how much you know, as long as they know how much you care.”
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Our journey to God’s heart becomes a reality when we talk less, and listen more. That is when we realize we have so much to learn from each other, and that every person is worth stopping for, and worth listening to. Listen to nature, listen to the sound of silence, listen to what people are not saying, listen to God in prayer, and listen to your own heart.
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A moment with the Lord.
Lord, please help our families to be close to You, close to one another, and close to other people. Amen.
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