For a few hours this weekend, some of us outsiders were granted membership in the loving (and fun-loving) clan.
The occasion? A celebration of Nonna’s recent 95th birthday. Relatives gathered from across the country, along with a few visitors from Canada and Sicily, too. A bunch of us from the “parish family” joined in as well. But I was really tickled when the “immediate family” got herded up for a commemorative photo: 30+ folks squeezed in around Nonna. Now that’s a bueno familia!
Not a bad legacy for a hope-filled Sicilian couple who came to these shores from Libya almost 60 years ago – with not much more than their four kids and the clothes on their backs. No doubt, there’ve been tough times along the way. But the group-photo bears unmistakable witness: it’s been worth it. The hard work. The sacrifices. The risk-taking. And surely not least – the gift of the Spirit … that kept the wind at their backs through it all.
But it’s not a given, is it? That we’ll welcome God’s presence into our sojourning? I got to thinking about that when reflecting on another group of immigrants from north Africa whom we meet in this week’s scripture:
In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?”
Remarkably, the Israelites (at least in their weakest moments) seemed to prefer slavery to this new adventure in the desert. Grumbling is their legacy, rather than gratitude. Or perhaps “obliviousness.” They tended to miss the clear signs of God’s presence. (See that staff in Moses’ hand, anyone?)
We often miss the signs, too, don’t we? God immerses us in the love of family and friends – if we’re lucky, we can find ourselves immersed over the course of decades. So much so … that it becomes like the air we breathe, the clean water we drink; we come to take the legacy of familial love for granted.
It’s helpful, therefore, to pause for a moment at the well. To settle into the presence of the Teacher. To hear Jesus gently remind us:
“If you [only] knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
The signs of the Kingdom’s flourishing are all around us: “I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.” That’s our true legacy in Christ, not desert dryness. And as Nonna continues to teach us in her 96th year, it’s a gift we are meant to share – far and wide.
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 