January 6. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother he is a liar.  Owen shared, “These last holidays were an interesting experience for us, as we had a large extended family time together.  It made us realise that we must begin to work on our relationships.  Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, sisters and sisters-in-law, brothers too didn’t always see eye to eye. For some there were long-term feuds that came to the surface. We all went happily to Church over Christmas and claim to live our faith, but is that the reality, or is having those conflicts a normal family situation that most families still need to address?”  Becoming an eco-friendly family:  Consider Laudato Si goal 5:  Ecological education.

We love God, because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God, and hates his brother he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:19. Pope Francis.  Working to overcome our divisions without losing our identity as individuals presumes that a basic sense of belonging is present in everyone. In a family, parents, grandparents and children all feel at home.  His problems are theirs, everyone contributes to the common purpose everyone works of the common good.  They may quarrel but there is something that does not change: the family bond.  FT230