Start a new year with your family
On the Feast of the Holy Family, Pope Francis in his homily said, “The most beautiful thing which emerges from the word of God today is that the whole family goes on pilgrimage. Fathers, mothers, and children together go to the house of the Lord, in order to sanctify the holy day with prayer ... Indeed, we could say that family life is a series of pilgrimages, both small and big.”
“How important it is for our families to journey together towards a single goal! We know that we have a road to travel together; a road along which we encounter difficulties but also enjoy moments of joy and consolation. And on this pilgrimage of life, we also share in moments of prayer.
“What can be more beautiful than for a father and mother to bless their children at the beginning of each day, to trace on their forehead the sign of the cross, as they did on the day of their baptism? ... In the same way, it is important for families to join in a brief prayer before meals, in order to thank the Lord for these gifts and to learn how to share what we have received with those in greater need.
“These are all little gestures, yet they point to the great formative role played by the family in the pilgrimage of everyday life ... In the Year of Mercy, every Christian family can become a privileged place on this pilgrimage for experiencing the joy of forgiveness. Within the family, we learn how to forgive, because we are certain that we are understood and supported, whatever the mistakes we make.
“Let us not lose confidence in the family! It is beautiful when we can always open our hearts to one another, and hide nothing. Where there is love, there is also understanding and forgiveness. To all of you dear families, I entrust this most important thing — the domestic pilgrimage of daily family life — which the world and the Church need, now more than ever,” Pope Francis concluded.
This season of thanksgiving is also the season where families and friends rekindle their ties through countless reunions, parties, trips, and gatherings.
Before attending the Mass celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family, we had the privilege of witnessing the hatching of olive ridley sea turtles at All Hands Beach in Subic. On the last week of November, we also witnessed a mother sea turtle laying eggs late at night by the beach of the same resort.
The DENR representatives who supervised the release of the baby turtles said that the olive ridley sea turtles are critically endangered and that only one percent of these babies will survive in the wild. The release was done a few meters away from the water. She said the reason is that the baby turtles have to feel their hatching ground as they normally would go back and lay eggs on the same beach where they hatch.
The olive ridley turtle, named for the generally greenish color of its shell, is found in the warmer waters of the southern Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
National Geographic said, “These turtles migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles every year, and come together as a group only once a year for the arribada, when females return to the very same beach where they hatch and lumber onshore, sometimes in the thousands, to nest.”
The nesting season is from June to December. The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
After knowing all of that, all the more we feel so blessed to have witnessed as a family the laying of eggs, the hatching of eggs, and the release of the baby sea turtles.
As we released the baby turtles with a prayer that they would survive in the wild, we celebrated the gift of life and the gift of family. The Feast of the Holy Family and the release of the baby turtles coincided not by chance — it is a miracle that reminds us that we do not live solitary lives. We are part of a family that loves, laughs, weeps, wins, hopes, prays, and lives this pilgrimage of life together!
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Post me a note at mylenedayrit@gmail.com or mylene@goldsgym.com.ph.
