Welcome Others In
This weekend we celebrate one of my favorite feasts in the Church year, The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It’s extra special this year as our oldest, Augustine, was baptized on this same feast day 11 years ago on Sunday, December 29, 2013.
When I reflect on his baptism day, all those years ago, I of course picture our sweet little Gus, but I also see all the faces of people who have accompanied us in our growing family’s faith journey over the years.
Gus was wrapped in the 150-year-old blanket my grandmother was wrapped in when she was baptized. Gus’s godparents, who have continued to shape the young man he’s becoming, were by our side that Sunday and have been ever since. His godparents have been huge witnesses to us of what it means to really share life and pray for one another.
I also see the faces of all the families from the parish who witnessed family life to me as a teenager and young adult. Several families who trusted me to babysit their kids, allowing me to witness firsthand what the Domestic Church looks like. I can recall the different homes I was welcomed into and noticing sacred art, a crucifix or a small holy water font on the wall that told me about who they were as a family. I witnessed the way spouses continued to go on dates and take time together, setting an example for my own marriage. So many of those families are still here, still witnessing to me how to live out my vocation of wife and mother and now loving on our own kids, as those children I babysat are now young adults themselves!
At the time of Gus’s baptism, we hadn’t really formed a community of our own friends with kids. However, now I can picture all the faces of families and friends that have come into our lives along the way – sharing with us the deep joy and immense challenges of married life, parenting and family life.
I know being part of and having this community is a huge blessing and privilege because finding a community is hard! No matter what your stage in life, I think so many of us experience loneliness and lack of connection, but I want you to know there is a place for you here! Our three-year-old, Annie, has been fixated on the part of the birth of Jesus when everyone was telling the Holy Family there was “no room here!” Asking why they didn’t make room, why they “dumped out” Mary and Joseph’s buckets!
This has reminded me of the call of our own family to welcome others in. Whether that means not rushing out the doors at Mass for the next errand, saying hello to someone we don’t recognize in the pew in front of us, asking a Confirmation student to come babysit, inviting someone from the parish into our home (even if the floors are sticky and the toys aren’t put away!), taking the time to greet a family in the Fellowship Area after a baptism.
We all have felt like there was “no room” for us at one time or another, and we have all probably felt like we don’t have the capacity to make room for others. I challenge each of us to ask the Holy Family to guide us and open our hearts to make room and reach out! Our family certainly wouldn’t be where we are 11 years later without all of those who made room for us and who continue to accompany us on the journey.