When I was a seminarian, I got to know a lot of “seminarian groupies.” These are people who just love seminarians–they come to all the public events at the seminary, they know all the seminarians’ names, they host parties for them at their houses and get them gifts at Christmas. I really enjoyed the seminarian groupies when I was at the Josephinum. But one of those groupies stood out among all the rest: an elderly woman named Ginger. Ginger is one of those people who just makes you smile whenever you see her. We became friends very quickly and she would always give me a big hug when we saw each other at various seminary functions. I always looked forward to sharing with her about what was going on in my life.
One especially fun memory with Ginger was when we both got stuck in Louisiana after attending a friend’s Ordination Mass. We missed our flight and couldn’t get a flight out of that airport until the following day. Ginger and I decided that instead of waiting for a flight the next day, we would rent a car and drive several hours to an airport in another city so we could fly out that day. So we ended up sharing an unexpected road trip together and flew out successfully from a different airport. It was a lovely adventure with a good friend.
Ginger is one of those dear people in my life. She has always been close to me and other seminarians and priests with her prayers and love. I would guess that most of the priests and seminarians in the diocese know who she is. Her friendship is a real treasure. I love Ginger because she is someone who lets the light of God’s love shine through her so freely, you can’t help but get drawn in. It makes me happy just talking about her!
Friends like Ginger are one of the choicest treasures in this life. As we hear in the book of Sirach: “Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one finds a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price, no amount can balance their worth.” I am very grateful for the friendship of Ginger and others like her because they have shown me the face of God in so many ways through their love. They have blessed me by showing what it means to faithfully give oneself away to others.
This type of friend is on my heart today as we contemplate the beauty of the Holy Family. The love of the Holy Family is for all of us that sturdy shelter of friendship and love. They show us what the magnetism of love does. What do we see with them in the beautiful scene we get to contemplate in the Gospel? They draw others in. When Joseph and Mary bring the infant Jesus to the Temple to make an offering according to the Law of Moses, they come poor. Their offering of a couple of small birds was the offering recommended for those who couldn’t afford anything fancier. But they come with the most incredible hidden riches: God come to us as a tiny infant. And Joseph and Mary are dedicated to Jesus, both as their child and as their King. Angels have revealed to Mary and Joseph the exalted status of this baby, and they are doing what they can to cooperate in God’s plan. Their cooperation involves lovingly bringing up their Baby in the ways of the Jewish people.
Clearly their love for Jesus and each other made them a magnet for others. We see that both Simeon, a righteous man filled with the Holy Spirit, and Anna, a prophetess given to continual prayer and fasting, can’t help but be drawn in by the love of the Holy Family. Their devotion to each other and to Jesus doesn’t turn them in on themselves, but makes them a magnet for others, an expansive and welcoming force.
This is the beauty of the love of God poured out through Jesus, the love who is the Holy Spirit, given to us in Baptism and strengthened through our Confirmation. When we live in this love like Mary and Joseph did with Jesus, we become a magnetic force in the world, drawing others in by the love of God burning within us. We shouldn’t be surprised by the expansive love in the heart of the Holy Family, because they were open to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that perfect union of Love which is not exclusive, but Who pours out upon the whole world so much so that God the Son entered human history. Mary and Joseph, in communion with Jesus, are shining examples of letting the expansive love of God flow through them.
When Simeon encounters the infant Jesus, he takes Him into his arms and says, for all to hear:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.”
He immediately proclaims the goodness of Jesus and shares his joy with others, especially with Mary and Joseph. But Simeon also points out another aspect of the expansive love that Mary and Joseph are now drawn into. This love will require them to endure hardship and suffering. He tells Mary of the sword that will pierce her heart, foreshadowing the grief that will cut her to her core at the foot of the Cross. Anna also is drawn in and immediately invites others along, too.
So we see the wonderful dynamic of love at play here, both drawing others in and being willing to endure hardship for the sake of that love. I am grateful for those friends in faith I have encountered in my life, friends like Ginger who have both laughed and cried with so many people. Who love to spread the joy of the Gospel and are ready to endure the suffering that comes along with that mission in our fallen world.
The question for each of us to consider is: how can I allow myself to be at the service of the expansive love at the heart of the Gospel? How is God inviting me to prayer and fasting like Anna? How is God the Holy Spirit stirring my heart like He stirred Simeon’s heart? What suffering am I able to endure for the sake of others coming to know the Love of God? I pray that your families become places where the Love of Jesus dwells in your love for each other, so that love draws others in just as it did with Mary and Joseph in the temple all those years ago. I pray that our parish family more and more answers the call of the Holy Spirit to that expansive attitude that reaches out to those who are lost, broken and in need of the light of Jesus. God wants to reach many others through our parish family, too. And for those of us in a season of being single or who are called to walk as single people, I pray that as we are drawn into the expansive love of God, we become those magnets for others, showing them the goodness of being part of that great Bridegroom which is the Church, on fire with love for Jesus, our Heavenly Spouse.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for blessing us with the shining example of the expansive love of the Holy Family. Jesus, thank you for being obedient to Mary and Joseph and making their love a key part of your mission. Holy Spirit, thank you for all that you did in making Mary and Joseph faithful to the plan of God and drawing others through them. Please burn in our hearts so that our faithfulness to God’s plan for us can draw others in, as well. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. +