Called To Be Present To One Another

“The Church is a family of families, constantly enriched by the lives of all those domestic churches.” – Pope Francis

“Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you”. This scripture passage from the book Genesis holds great meaning for me. When I was 32 years old our family was called to do the same – leave our home, family, friends, and our parish community for a place God was leading us to. The economic situation of our town had declined since the close of the steel mills. Many businesses that once flourished were now leaving for more promising opportunities in different market places. Many young people found themselves leaving as well in order to pursue a more stable financial future. We became one of those young families that were called upon by their employer to relocate.

Joe and I engaged in many hours of prayer seeking guidance and confirmation that this is what God was calling us to. Our confirmation came quickly – I was hired to a position after two phone interviews; the realtor we sought out for counsel told us of the desirability of our neighborhood; and once on the market our house sold in two weeks.

Even though so many things fell into place the anxiety of leaving everything we knew was still overwhelming.  The source of our greatest anxiety was the question of who would be in our lives to support us in raising our daughter? Who would be present to reinforce our values, traditions and, most importantly, our Catholic faith, which has always been paramount in our lives?

The memories of the experiences I just shared came flooding back to me as I took part in a symposium on family and faith in September of this year. For three days and nights we talked nonstop about today’s families. Who are today's families? How do they look different from families of 30 or 40 years ago?  What challenges do they face? What are the hopes and dreams parents have for their children? What are families concerned about in light of today’s society? And lastly, how do parents lead their children into a mature faith that can sustain them for a lifetime?  

As you might imagine the answers to these questions were illuminating. The research presented did prove that many things concerning families have changed greatly over the last 40 years; but at the same time, research confirmed that many things that many would deem highly important to family life have remained constant.

Parents still love being parents; they find parenting and family life the most important thing in their lives. Children are still close to their parents, enjoy mom and dad’s company and acknowledge the great role and influence of parents in their lives.

Grandparents are loved and cherished, and very much involved in the lives of their grandchildren.  That being said, there are other things that must be navigated by today’s families that were not concerns in the past. Most families face extremely busy schedules – work, school, extracurricular activities; some are caregivers for aging family members. As you can imagine, the list is extensive.

Being involved in this conversation for several days gave me time to think about the families of our parish communities and what we are able to offer in support of one another. We have an abundance of opportunities to reach out to each other in love, in order to create a community that is relational and truly “a family of families” as Pope Francis has described.   

As I reflected about this I remembered how we as a young family came to a new place, far from our home and family, and were embraced by a parish community that was present to us. Many of those individuals became our family; and 26 years later, we still enjoy that great gift!

In this remembering I am challenged to be present and pay attention to my parish family and ask this question frequently: How can I reach out to those individuals and families that may be in need of support?