The Gift of Family
By eileenleyva
@eileenleyva (27560)
Philippines
December 16, 2020 4:56pm CST
One can't help feel hurt when one sees a wedding of a relative and one wasn't invited at all. So one reasons that that was just due to this CoViD thing.
Same hurt when one sees other relatives on another branch celebrating a birthday party, and again one is not invited. Couldn't be due to CoViD, ain't it?
Today's Gospel tells of the 42 names in the genealogy of the Messiah, from Abraham to Joseph, the carpenter, the foster father of our Lord Jesus.
Credit the Jews who could recall their lineage just because their ancestors deemed it wise to write their story.
Curious that three major religions namely: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, trace back their beginnings to Abraham. That simply tells us we are all family.
And the story of our family is not without hurt or pain. The story of our family is composed of kings and courageous warriors, learned as well as ordinary peasants. And in the long line of patriarchs, five matriarchs are included, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ.
As we reflect on our families and feel the hurt because somehow we have been alienated, let us remember that there are so many who have not the joy of belonging to a family.
Which means if you have the blessing of a family, it is imperative upon you to be a blessing to others, too.
Forget the alienation and focus on being a gift to those who need you.
7 people like this
9 responses
@RasmaSandra (79648)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
17 Dec 20
I agree with you. I will make myself a Merry little Christmas and send my very best wishes to my friends and my family,
3 people like this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
17 Dec 20
Wow! Thank you very much for the excellent and timely idea.
I will do the same. About time to send best wishes to family and friends.
Will prod my daughter to make a video clip - from our family to theirs. And if I could, I will upload it here, too, for all my virtual friends, such as you.
I will do the same. About time to send best wishes to family and friends.
Will prod my daughter to make a video clip - from our family to theirs. And if I could, I will upload it here, too, for all my virtual friends, such as you.2 people like this
@rsa101 (38148)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
@eileenleyva l see that’s why he started his gospel with that. I guess he researched it well that he traced it all the way back to the very start. I could only trace mine to my grandfather but never beyond that.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
Lengthy but I love it, including the strange sounding names.
Matthew, the tax collector who was called to become an apostle, was meant to write a scholarly gospel. Matthew was learned. He was sort of obsessive-compulsive because he likes everything neat and proper. Thus, his take on the Gospel is complete - starting with the long genealogy leading to a graphic eschatology.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
@rsa101 The Jews are very adept with recording their history. Moses wrote the first five books in the desert. Called the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Matthew didn't even have to research. The scriptures were in scrolls and were read in the synagogues even during the time of our Lord Jesus.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
That's the case for all the families all around the world. We just can't be together celebrating this Christmas. But do keep the spirit. And remember that Christmas is time to celebrate the Birth of our Lord. This 2020, our Lord wants us to focus on Him.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
That is the advisement given us also, to keep from the traditional festivities in celebration of Christmas. It is doubly hard for the Filipinos because our families are tightly-knit. We are also an expressive kind of lot. The hugs and the kisses and just being with each other suffice on Christmas.
@Mga_715 (89)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
17 Dec 20
We cannot choose our family, it is God's given gift. Families are not perfect, it has its own ups and downs. We may be hurt by a family member, or a family member might be hurt by us but it doesn't change the fact that we are still blood related. I guess we just need to see the beauty of having a family since not everyone is blessed with a family and use it to our advantage by making our family as our pack or someone we can lean on in times of good and bad.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
You are, of course, absolutely correct. Even the genealogy of our Lord Jesus has shown a bloodline tainted with ill characters. Our Lord is not exempt from having ancestors of ill repute. Sigh. Yet, out God chose to dwell with us by living with family and relatives. Yes, the Blessed Mother, even when She was six months pregnant, went to help Her aged cousin Elizabeth to assist in the delivery of John.
I love the way John, in the womb of Elizabeth, jumped to greet Jesus, in the Womb of the Blessed Mother.
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
27 Dec 20
@allen0187 The idiom refers to another kind of blood.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
18 Dec 20
Ooops, I don't think that is pertinent to the discussion.
1 person likes this
@Raine38 (12250)
• United States
17 Dec 20
There is a saying that you can choose who your friends are, but you cannot choose who your family or relations will be. That in itself is both a blessing and a curse. If you have family members who hurt you, then that can be a burden. But at the end of the day, blood is thicker than water and family will always matter. If you are born into a family who builds you up and supports you, then you are blessed. Either way, I believe that we should be a blessing to anyone no matter how our own experiences turn out. For one thing, doing good makes us feel good. Having made a positive impact on someone's life is even better. Excuse my rambling, but I guess what I was trying to say is that we can never choose how our family will treat us, but that does not mean that we should pass along that negativity. We put a stop to it by exhibiting positivity and just leave them to their own sad ways.
1 person likes this
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
17 Dec 20
That is well written and well explained. Not a rambling at all but a truth expressed in a most profound statement and language.
I agree completely and wholly.
I agree completely and wholly.
@mosherii (1205)
•
8 Feb 21
It depends how you view it. Here the covid-19 rules has come to as a blessing to couples depending on how you view it. Most weddings here people go in hundreds therefore with the rules of only 100 guests allowed to a function makes it easy for the couple.
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
9 Feb 21
I do believe weddings should be held with only the dearest people beloved by the nuptials.
@eileenleyva (27560)
• Philippines
9 Feb 21
@mosherii The culture matters, I suppose. The more the merrier, the saying goes.
But if I have my way, the wedding must be most intimate and sacred.
@mosherii (1205)
•
9 Feb 21
@eileenleyva but here we are kind off still communal. For instance my mother will not feel happy to enjoy my wedding without her people. In that aspect she ends up inviting all the relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues etc. Everyone close to the couple in the process ends up having such a guest list. In the process the wedding will have almost to 1000people but on like 50 who are in connected to the couple directly.
1 person likes this
