Faith in the Family

My children say that I have a ‘brass neck’. They are right in so far as I do believe it pays to take a chance, to ask that vital question, to push the boundaries. However, I would prefer if they would describe me as audacious rather than as having a brass neck! I looked up the meaning of audacious and interestingly there are two. One is that a person has a willingness to take bold risks. The other is less positive and describes a person as showing impudence, nerve, gall, defiance – the list goes on!

In these months approaching the World Meeting of Families I believe that we all need to develop an audacious streak. We need to believe that God really is present and active in our lives. We need to have a confidence that Scripture has something to say to us. We need to trust that when Pope Francis talks about the Gospel of the Family he really means it – family with all its challenges and complexities is a place of encounter with God.

If we only see the World Meeting of Families as being about what happens in Dublin in August, then we are missing something vital. The whole process of preparation has the potential to transform us individually, as families and as Church – if we have the audacity to believe that the Holy Spirit wants to use this time to open our hearts and minds.

I know there will be events and liturgies in parishes throughout the country in preparation but as families we also have a role. We can take responsibility for preparation within our own homes and families. One way to do that is to spend time with Scripture. For example, we could reflect on the Sunday readings so that when we go to Mass on Sunday the Scripture is already resonating within us.

Trap

Do we fall into the trap of feeling it is a bit impudent to think God has something to say to me through Scripture? Perhaps we are inclined to think that God speaks to and through the priest and our job is to listen. In reality, God’s desire is to speak to each one of us, in our lives, through the action of the Holy Spirit. We have just celebrated the wonder of the Incarnation, but that wonder doesn’t end with the Christmas season. The Incarnation is the reality of the ongoing presence of God at the heart of our lives.

Challenges

So how to begin? As you read the Gospel for this coming Sunday just think – asking the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind – what word or image draws me in? What challenges me? How does this connect to my life?

The Gospel for January 14, John 1:35-42, is about John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to two of his own followers. When I sat with this Gospel I found myself drawn in by Jesus’ question: “What do you want?”.

How does my heart respond to that question? When I come to prayer is it just to tick a box and know I have prayed or am I in touch with what I desire?  It is a very straight question which invites an honest answer. Do I come to prayer as I am, honestly, capable of answering Jesus’ question?  Jesus’ words of invitation “come and see” also challenge me. The two followers give up any other plans and go off with Jesus, spending the rest of the day with him. How often am I invited to spend time but feel myself to be too busy, too many important things to do? And there is the connection with my own life – an invitation that echoes within me. What echoes for you?

My prayer for us all is that we have the audacity to believe that Scripture is something “alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12-13), that daily life is an encounter with God and that we too can be transformed day by day through the Word of God.