Have you seen the movie, Coco? I certainly was not planning on watching it, but I just so happened to be eating lunch this Sunday on the couch when my sister turned it on (it's on Netflix, by the way). I planned on leaving right when I finished my mac and cheese, but I became immediately entranced by this animated Disney/Pixar film. It was unlike anything I had watched before and it totally caught me by surprise. This movie had incredible themes that made my sisters and I cry with happiness. It presented the amazingly counter-cultural value of family. Yes, family--and even a broken family made up of imperfections. Listen: the father left his family. The great-grandmother had some form of aging illness that was causing her to forget her family members. The grandma was pretty forceful and mean even though she cared for her family. They were a strict family forbidding the youngest boy from playing any music. I won't spoil it for you because I want you to watch it, but what unfolds blew me away. It inspired me to love my own family and to put them before my own selfish desires. Can I tell you about some real-life people who have inspired me? My mom and dad bought a business--as scary as it sounds, full of unknowns--to support my sisters and I. My grandma and grandpa have come to help out with my parents new business, be it accounting help or cleaning the house. At my internship with the Archdiocese, I've been welcomed and prayed with, attending to my social, work, education, and spiritual needs. At my gardening job, though I'm not an expert gardener, I have been welcomed by the volunteers and have been treated with dignity and care. Friends from school, the hospital, and the convent have written to me, texted me, and called me. I just went to a lovely wedding, surrounded by a family set on having a good time with each other and a good time with God. One of my sisters just can't give enough hugs. Another sister has encouraged me with my battle with OCD. Another sister has invited young men and women into her home for companionship and fun. The priest at my church just gave us a Eucharistic procession and Eucharistic Adoration--thank you thank you, Father, for giving us Jesus and saying Holy Mass. Our parish just got a hospitality committee so there was a lady standing under an umbrella in the rain, holding the door open for us as we walked into church. There is this other priest that I met who spoke to me as if I were the most valued person in the world, I saw him speak to every other person as if he/she was the most valued person in the world, and then he gave me a miraculous medal to give to someone I met on the street, encouraging me to treat every person as the most valued in the world! The biggest thing is that tons and tons of people pray for me. I can't count how many people have prayed for me and are praying for me. I've witnessed people coming together to pray and intercessory prayer teams and healing services. There are elderly people I know who treat me as if I were there very own flesh and blood granddaughter. There are even babies who let me hold them as if I were their big sister (though it's not likely that intentional for the babes but we know God is intentional)! What is the point I'm getting at here? I don't even know, Holy Spirit. I just know that the concreteness and even the concept of family is in crisis, as our Archbishop has put it (in this super lit letter called Unleash the Gospel--look it up online if you get the chance), but the family is the heart of unleashing the Gospel--aka, the family is the heart of the message of Jesus Christ, who shows us our true, ever-present Father, poured upon us by the power and love of the Holy Spirit. I guess you could say I am witnessing the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in my every day life. Our families are imperfect and are in crisis. There is divorce, abortion, contraception, addiction, abandonment and abuse. Perhaps what we would consider "lesser problems," there are overprotective parents, under protective parents, silent treatments, heated arguments, lazy children, inattentive children, sibling rivalry, etc. Yet, God is ever at work. Grant us more, Lord. Grant us more. Thank you for the faith I have witnessed in others. Thank you for the hope I have witnessed in others. Thank you for the love I have witnessed in others. There is a war in society over the family? Okay. But the family exists. And the Triune God, the Perfect Family prevails. He has called us to partake in this continuous gift of self; this continuous gift of love. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are at work and God is being glorified. Fire up, ya'll. The family will not be defeated! Look at our Church. We've got the sexual abuse scandals, cold-shouldered parishioners, decreasing numbers and sometimes lousy music! Individuals and some groups have lost battles, indeed. But the war is already won (That is some sort of famous saying, isn't it). Jesus Christ is risen and triumphant. The family is not lost. We are alive and running. Let efforts such as next January's World Youth Day, Unleash the Gospel, synods throughout the Church on the family, and the witnesses of individuals, families, and communities around us encourage us. You can deny that Jesus Christ is alive and walking among us. But you cannot deny this witness that I give you. Peace be with you and go love your family, extended family, community family, world family, and your Triune Family who is wedded to us, His Body, the holy Catholic Church. And watch the movie, Coco!
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AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
April 2021
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