English
EspañolIn our family life, in its daily occurrences, a particular incarnation of Jesus Christ’s life is reproduced for each of us and our families. Do not seek him far away and in exotic landscapes. Jesus comes to you in the daily life of your family.
Text
“The fraternal and communal demands of family life are an incentive to growth in openness of heart and thus to an ever fuller encounter with the Lord.” (The Joy of Love, n.316)
Commentary
Perhaps, growing accustomed to daily dealings with our relatives causes us to sometimes fall into inattention or neglect towards one another.
We often believe that we love God by doing good outside and far from our homes. We forget that loving God and our neighbor begins at home.
With its ordinary and daily events, every family bond is an opportunity to love as Jesus Christ loved and taught through his life. If our heart is genuinely disposed to love, whatever our defects and limitations may be, our eyes will be opened to the face of Christ that appears every day with our spouses, father, mother, children, siblings, grandparents, or grandchildren.
Personally, I have noticed this when I have felt the inconsistency of struggling day by day to improve my relationship with God, forgetting to improve as a daughter and as a sister. What a contradiction! At last, I have understood that my parents, siblings, and grandparents represent the face of Jesus Christ before my eyes.
Patience while dealing with my family members, avoiding hurtful words, helping them, respecting my parents is how I grow day by day. It is an arduous task at times, but it is the opportunity that God gives me every day to make amends, truly love my family members in the midst of their specific reality, and earn heaven for myself.
