#LasallianLife
Family
December 14, 2022
This past week, my wife and I thought that it would be a good idea to sign up to sell raffle tickets for our Catholic elementary school fundraiser after Sunday mass. During mass, our two year old much preferred to spend the liturgy walking around the back of the church. Our 8 month old practiced exercising her vocal chords. Our 4 year old vacillated between wanting to be with “mommy” in the pew and wanting to join “daddy” in chasing our 2 year old. To add to the excitement, our 7 year old came down with a stomach bug and got sick in the bathroom. Suddenly, the image of our family of six selling raffle tickets after mass morphed into the reality of my wife being the sole representative of our depleted household (my apologies to Father Ryan).
One of the beauties of Christmas is the reminder that God sent his son as part of the Holy Family. Jesus did not mystically appear on earth. Jesus was born as part of a family. The Holy Family is truly sacred and modeled the most perfect love, faith, unity and peace. Yet, they were faced with many of the same challenges of families who live in today’s world. There certainly would have been family illness and the passing of loved ones. They would have been ridiculed and judged for giving birth to a child out of wedlock. They would have encountered the daily busyness of chores, cooking, cleaning, late nights, and early mornings.
A Dominican Nun, Sr. Megan McElroy, wrote:
“The challenge is for us to let go of the impression that we need to be perfect in order to be holy. Holiness is not about our never doing the wrong thing. It is not about never questioning what is happening in our lives. It is not about nothing bad ever happening to us. Holiness, however, does have everything to do with faithfulness and believing in the promise of Christmas, that God is with us. What makes us and our families holy is allowing grace – the very presence of love – to enter the tensions and struggles of our lives.”
While my heart is filled each day with the living beauty of my Lasallian vocation at Christian Brothers Academy...when I go home each evening, my heart bursts with love and joy for my wife, Siobhan, and our children: Cayden, William, Hudson, and Kennedy. Of course, like this past Sunday at mass, there are many days when any one or all of the kids are sick, overtired, or arguing with each other. Through it all, I'm so very proud of Siobhan, who works in critical care nursing, and yet supports our family - including me - with enthusiasm, care, and incredible love.
From my family to yours, may we find comfort in remembering that it is not a lack of chaos that makes us holy. It is loving each other through the chaos. May we keep chasing God’s perfect love, let it embody our whole hearts, and let it transcend the relationships in each of our families.
God bless each of your families with the love, faith, unity, and peace modeled by the Holy Family during this Christmas season - especially in the midst of the chaos!
Mr. Matthew Keough
President, Christian Brothers Academy
