The Christmas Season is a wonderful time of year, filled with gatherings with friends and family. Each gathering brings opportunity to converse with loved ones on many different topics. If you are like me, you occasionally run into a conversation that you’d rather avoid. When people see the world exactly like you do it is easy, but there are many topics; politics, faith, sports, COVID, vaccinations, that are hotbeds for disagreement and frustration. What are we supposed to do when these conversations arise? Ignore them? Run from them? Engage in a heated battle until our point is made?
I have an idea; let’s enter into every conversation with only one thing in mind; infusing the peace of the Lord. You may ask, “how can I do this?” My answer would be the first thing we need to do is find His peace in our daily lives. Find time for prayer and reflection, for gratitude and appreciation. Once we focus on these items, we are then prepared to offer His peace to others.
In today’s second reading, we hear St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. He addressed the people of Colossae as false teachings and practices were threatening their faith. St. Paul does not reprimand the people, but rather meets them with the following beautiful words:
Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
On this Feast of the Holy Family, let’s commit to letting the peace of Christ control our hearts. With this commitment, we can then help our families to become special “holy families” in their own right.
