OFTEN
overshadowed by what we consider to be more
important concerns, like those in our professional work,
politics,
business, etc., taking care of our family get-togethers
actually hold
a certain priority over them, since these gatherings possess
a
foundational or cornerstone type of importance in our
life.
And the simple
reason is that these get-togethers play a
crucial role in making family life vibrant and healthy.
That’s because
they have a highly formative and educational value.
If we regard
the family as the first school a person has
where he learns the fundamental values in life, or as the
basic unit
of society whose health depends on the health of the
families that
comprise it, or as the domestic Church where the
spiritual and
supernatural values are first imparted and transmitted,
then
everything has to be done to make family life as healthy
as possible.
The status of
each person and of the world somehow depends
on the status of the family. Said in another way, how the
family
somehow determines how a person is and how society and
the world in
general are. More specifically, we can say that how the
family is
determines how the spiritual life of each person and the
spiritual
quality of society and the world are.
The heads of
family should realize more deeply this
serious responsibility they have in their hands. Thus,
they have to
see to it that they arrange their lives in such a way
that this
primordial importance of the family life and the
get-togethers so
essential to it are given due recognition and are
properly attended
to.
The heads of
family should take the initiative to organize
these get-togethers where all the members, from the
oldest to the
youngest, can participate as actively as possible.
Regular absenteeism
of some members, especially the heads, should be avoided.
This obviously
will require efforts to make everyone aware
of the importance of family get-togethers. Ways have to
be found to
motivate everyone to look forward to having these
get-togethers and to
actively contribute to them. Among the things that we can
do in this
regard is to prepare edifying stories, anecdotes, even
jokes, etc.,
before going to the get-togethers. We have to learn how
to spice up
the get-togethers.
In these
get-togethers, bonding and a sense of unity amid
the unavoidable differences and conflicts that can occur
even in the
best of families is developed and reinforced. Mutual
knowledge and
concern for one another grow, and from there the basic
skills that
would enable us to relate with others in society and the
world in
general are also developed.
The family
get-togethers can actually prepare us to handle
our responsibilities toward others in society and in the
world. The
social skills we need to relate ourselves with others in a
meaningful
way are developed.
Of course,
everyone should be encouraged to be more
mindful and thoughtful of the others. This is a basic
attitude to
have. We have to overcome the tendency to look after our
own interests
only. We have to get more and more involved in the
interests and the
very lives of the other members.
That basic
attitude articulated by St. Paul to bear each
other’s burdens (cfr. Gal 6,38) and to regard others as
better than us
(cfr, Phil 2,3) should be developed. Like Christ we
should just want
to serve and not to be served. (cfr Mk 10,45)
In fact,
putting these get-togethers to their highest
values, we can say that they teach us how to reflect that
inner life
of God who in his Trinitarian life is in a perpetual mode
of knowing
and loving. Being God’s image and likeness, we have to
somehow reflect
God’s Trinitarian life among ourselves, and this starts
in the family.
Let us hope
that the importance of family life and the
family get-togethers is adequately taught to all those
preparing for
marriage and for founding a family.
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