All the glory of the king's daughter is within golden borders,
Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be
brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.
Today is the feast of the Holy Family and this presents us with the opportunity to recognise that our family stretches far beyond those who we share our home with. As Catholics we belong to a huge family consisting of all of the other Catholics around the world and it's important that we don't lose sight of that. We won't always get on with everybody in life but through sharing our faith with others we will be able to forge friendships with even the most unexpected people.
On Christmas Eve I was given a bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates from a lovely elderly gentleman called Tommy who I speak to each week before mass. He never fails to make me laugh with his weekly joke he has in store for me and although we talk for only a couple of minutes it is something that obviously has an impact on him and myself too for that matter. When he gave me the flowers he said thanks for making him smile each week yet I am sure that I'm the one who walks away smiling after another punchline delivered with plenty of laughter.
I don't need thanks from Tommy, yet his words of gratitude let me see just how valuable that little bit of conversation can be. He could even forget the punchline of his jokes (and he sometimes he does!) but what is important is simply two people taking a little bit of time out to talk to each, what's so hard about that eh? Should our churches be filled with quietness or buzzing with happiness and gentle laughter? I know which I would prefer and I reckon my pal Tommy would agree with me too!
0 comments:
Post a Comment