When The World Meeting of Families is in My Front Yard
The families are arriving from across the country and around the world. They are coming to my city, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and their pilgrimage leads me to reflect on the word “family”.
I start with thinking about how my children are doing and move on to consider how the world’s children are doing. As a mom I guess I always feel like there’s something more that I could do to help. It’s a little overwhelming actually; this global community we can refer to as the family of mankind.
When I expand my tiny view of my personal family, the folks who sit at my family dinner table, as well as the ones who never show up and the ones who are never invited, and include all the families of the world, do I not extend that definition to our pets? And of their wild kingdom cousins? And what of my beloved trees? (I have a thing for trees.) The rivers, oceans, glaciers, mountains, valleys, plants, and dirt have a place within the family, don’t they?
Is my definition of family flexible enough to include all life; all the good and all the bad? Pope Francis and The World Meeting of Families’ organizing committee selected Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, sometimes called the murder capital of the world, for this year’s family picnic, so I think I could at least try. I welcome the World Meeting of Families to my front yard. Always the mother, I am here to help my family in whatever way I can.
Nourish Your Mind, Body, & Soul with Goodness 