I once heard a family therapist say, “It is important for every family to get its saints out of heaven and its sinners out of hell.” The point is that it doesn’t pay to either idealize or demonize our families (or fellow family members).

Most of us like to keep things simple. In life we draw up a plan and then step-by-step try to put it into action. Get an education, get a job, start a family, build up savings, then retire. It sounds so easy and straightforward, doesn’t it?

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

We all have them. Some are as fresh as morning, newly uplifting, others may be in need of painful analysis. When recalled, some come back bringing a smile, others possibly a grimace to our face, still others rest somewhere in between. Family is a good place for them.

Gathered as a community of faith, we cry out to the God who saves us.

It is necessary to go back to seeing the family as the sanctuary of life. The family is indeed sacred: It is the place in which life—the gift of God—can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth.