Sermon Cloud

Sometimes when we meet new people, and get past the initial introductions and small talk, one of the next levels of disclosing a part of ourselves is to speak about our families. Questions such as, 'do you have brothers and sisters?' or 'where are you from?' or 'do you want to see pictures of my kids?' are a normal part of sharing a part of ourselves with friends new and old.

Whether we admit it or not, the relationships we have with the members of our families are the most important ones we can ever have. They teach us, from our early childhood, important lessons about getting along with others, about rejoicing in one another's victories and about sharing each other's struggles.

Each year at Christmastime, people of faith are also reminded that, besides our terrestrial families, we belong to another family. The readings of this liturgy help us to understand our true family home, by reminding us that we also count people like Hannah, Samuel, John, Joseph, Mary and Jesus as part of our 'family' and their stories are also our stories.

In the first reading today ( 1 Sam 1:11, 20-28), Hannah brings her new-born son Samuel 'to the house of the Lord'. She recognized that Samuel was indeed a gift from God and wanted to thank God for his generosity. Similarly, in many cases, our parents brought us to the Church as very young children and asked that we be baptised. In doing so they introduced us to the family of our faith, and by establishing a relationship between us and the Church, they have passed on the traditions and tenets of our faith to us. We in turn share these gifts with our children when we celebrate their baptism, and teach them about our faith. Let us pray especially today for the children who have been baptised in this church - there were twenty-four of them during 2006 - and for those who have accepted the responsibility to pass on the faith to them.

The evangelist John reminds us in the second reading today ( 1 Jn 3:1-2) that 'God abides in us and we abide in God'. We show the fruit of this relationship by our belief in Jesus Christ and in the way we love one another.

When love is missing, or when we are searching for a place to call home, we are often unsettled, nervous and even distraught. Unfortunately there are many souls in our world today who are searching, thirsting for acceptance, for love, for forgiveness, for a place to call home. This anxiety was also felt by Joseph and Mary as they searched for Jesus (Lk 2:44) but even as a child, Jesus knew that his place was with the Father and his mission was to proclaim the kingdom. "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49).

Let us pray today especially for individuals and families who are searching. Relying on the intercession of the Holy Family, let us also strive to be examples of love and forgiveness in our own families, treasuring the experiences and blessings of our families as Mary did (Lk 2:51), and encouraging our children to grow in faith so that they may increase in wisdom with the help of our God.