"Would You Rather" is always fun. It tells you a lot about someone by what they choose, and it's helpful when they explain why they choose it.
There are a lot of things we have to take by faith because we can't see it. We weren't actually around for the Crucifixion, or the Nativity, or the Annunciation, so we didn't get to personally talk to Mom and Baby J. The vast majority of us have to go by what we know from experience and trust that these people are looking out for us. Our eyes may be closed, but we're still carried.
Ha! It's like the game!
A mom is almost always going to be that reassuring presence in our lives, whether or not we see it that way at times. She's always got our back. And those siblings of ours, how different would our lives be without their love and support. And I don't mean the biological siblings with whom we roughhouse and bicker and squabble. I mean the awesome people on the medals we wear around our necks, the people whose stories we know so well. Don't forget that they're around too. That they are part of our family, and that family looks out for one another.
And when I say "look out for one another," let's not forget that it goes both ways. That we owe it to them to love them. To talk to them, even if it's just a phone call to Mom (like a decade or two) to say hi. To keep the equivalent of "a wallet picture" with us. Why else would we do these things? Why else would we have all those statues around? The miraculous medals? The holy cards?
Because we love our family. And we know they love us. And even if we don't see them all the time, we like to remember that they're there. So the next time someone asks about what the deal is with "Mom," or wonders why we pray to statues (love that one), just let them know gently that this is your family. And that's what families do when they love one another: they show it to the world.
Much love!
Ceci Galvin
CYM, St. John the Evangelist
