Siblings Day

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" (John 11:5).

For a few years now, I have observed July 29 as Siblings Day.  A woman named Claudia Evart is working to establish a National Siblings Day to be observed every April 10, and I hope she succeeds.  But I prefer July 29, and that's because the church calendar encourages us to remember on this day Mary, Martha, and Lazarus - who were siblings.  We read that Jesus loved all three of them.  I apply that to my two sisters and me.  And if He loves all three of us, how could we not love each other?  His love becomes our love.  I'll be calling them both today.

As a pastor, I know that not everyone has a loving relationship with their siblings.  If that includes you, remember who the real enemy is - the evil one.  Pray for your siblings, thank the Lord for them, and then reach out to them in love.  Ask forgiveness if you need to.  Don't give up.

Parents, teach your children how Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and how His love for siblings turns into their love for each other.  Have each child think of something nice to say about the other(s).  Then have a time of sharing over a special dessert.

Consider well the fact that the Lord Jesus laid down His life for your brother, sister, and you.  For this reason alone, how could we not love our siblings, and from all our hearts?

Real Relationships

"Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete" (2 John 12).

If I had to pick one thing from Laudato Si' by Pope Francis, it would be this paragraph:

"Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and with nature.  Today's media do enable us to communicate and to share our knowledge and affections.  Yet at times they also shield us from direct contact with the pain, the fears and the joys of others and the complexity of their personal experiences.  For this reason, we should be concerned that, alongside the exciting possibilities offered by these media, a deep and melancholic dissatisfaction with interpersonal relations, or a harmful sense of isolation, can also arise."

In other words, alongside the blessing of electronic communication is the risk of losing out on meaningful face to face relationships with those near to us.  Thanks to Holy Communion, we have and enjoy a flesh and blood relationship with our Lord.  And this should lead and inspire us to want the same with each other.  So God bless you as you reach out electronically, but never forgetting that this is no substitute for truly being with your spouse, children, family, neighbor, and fellow Christians.  If anything, we need to invest more, much more, in these real relationships.  And the real blessings await!