Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3
On this feast of the Holy Family we read in the Old and in the New Testament how God dealt with families in difficult situations. God revealed to Abraham the future of his descendants before Abraham even had any children. Faith enabled Abraham to become a father even though he was old, and later to offer this son as a sacrifice. It was faith in God that brought many individuals and their families through hopeless hurdles. The Holy Family, too, had to travel to Bethlehem, escape to Egypt and undergo terrific anxiety when the son entrusted to them was lost. Is there a family that is not stabilized and enabled through faith?
Mother Pauline’s life reflected learnings through her family, which she alluded to often in her writings – how she learned to care for the poor through her mother; how she learned to put self aside in caring for her family after her mother’s death; how she learned to deal with people in high positions through hosting her father’s parties… and especially how she sought to learn about her Catholic faith despite her father’s Protestant leanings. Her sacrifices for daily reception of the Eucharist enriched and nourished her faith, which in the future, enabled her to trust totally in God as she dealt with her religious family of Sisters.
God has a plan for each individual, which began at our conception and continues today. All our dealings with people over the years, and our faith in the times of struggle, have strengthened that seed of faith implanted by God at our Baptism. May we continue to cooperate with and totally trust in this Divine Plan, and see through our daily happenings and the people we encounter, a God who loves us and leads us to Himself.
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