What are our values?

BY ED NUÑEZ | December 31, 2018
Sunday’s Readings

What are our values? How do our families impact those values? Our readings for the Feast of the Holy Family, specifically Paul’s letter to the Colossians, speak about the things that we should “put on” (Colossians 3:12) and what these unique values are.

Sometimes I forget what my values are. These values have been passed down to me from my family and other institutions, but they’re not really written on my head or anything like that. Nevertheless, the readings for this day, the Feast of the Holy Family, call us to question what we are hearing from Jesus and how that applies to our own life.

The Holy Family probably had their own values, right? I’d imagine that they valued a love for one another, concern for each other’s whereabouts, and a sense of hope. But we must ask ourselves, where do my values come from? The values of Jesus Christ are love, compassion, justice, joy, and hope for all people. Are my values in line with this? Am I working for a world and a society that is just, loving, and hopeful, just like the Holy Family? What do I need to “put on” in order to make the communities around me better?

The Holy Family and these readings encourage us to take a step back and remember where we come from and what our values are. We come from families of all kinds, but today we are reminded that Christ’s values—and the Holy Family’s—should also be ours.

In a very polarizing and tense time in our nation and in our world, may the Holy Family inspire us to “put on” some new and different values of justice and love for all. And as a new year rapidly approaches, let us reflect on our own lives and what values we might want to take on, so this new year can be one that boldly mirrors our deepest-held values of justice and peace.

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