😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you. Last Friday I had the pleasure of celebrating my uncle’s life. After the beautiful Mass and graveside service we went to a favorite family location to share memories and support each other. One of my relatives, that I don’t recall ever meeting, sat at our table and said that when he saw me, he knew I had to be my mom’s daughter. Without knowing who I was, he knew who I belonged to.
When you’re in a room surrounded by family, it’s easy to see those dominant features that run in the family, physical traits, mannerisms, and even those that are chosen, such as a name that is given to at least one or more persons in every generation. Although from the same tree, it’s easy to see and distinguish between the different branches on the family tree.
As we leave our tribe and scattered into the world, we become surrounded by different faces and others that don’t have such strong family traits. The longer we’re apart from our tribe, the easier it is to forget those family traits and ties. We are drawn to and focus on those we surround ourselves with. We are enticed by the newness of exploring the world and the people in it. We enjoy meeting and learning about others, and bringing them into our tribe. But not so surprisingly, we have a tendence to find comfort in traits that remind us of our tribe.
Genesis 1:26-27, “”Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness…’ So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them”.
Psalm 139:13-14, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Admittedly or not, at the core of every person is the image and likeness of our Lord, Father, Son and Spirit. With that knowledge, it’s no wonder we are able to find similar traits and are drawn to one another. The Holy Trinity are our tribe, a three-strand cord that is not easily broken. They are who and what connects us to every single person in this world.
We are the Body of Christ and it is in receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist, Christ’s true body and blood, that we become Christ’s living and breathing tabernacle. At the core of it all, it is the Lord that is within every single one of us, that draws and connects us to each other. It is this oneness with the Lord, there by oneness with each other, that we should celebrate. When we focus on and celebrate what binds us together, instead of what tears us apart, we become even stronger in our bonds. I can’t say it enough. The common thread, the three-strand cord that binds us is the Father, Son, and Spirit. We become our strongest, most compassionate, most loving, most forgiving, most life-giving person and family when we allow the common thread of our Lord to be the tie that binds.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
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#ThePorter’sGate – Bind Us Together
Third Day Devotions 