FAMILY REUNION 2026

I study the two images below: In one I see my brother and me in white, and my two nephews in red and gray t-shirts. I see us all at a certain point in time (Irish-time can be sort of fluid). When this picture was taken, I had just come back from a 'come-and-see' with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie PA and I was still working as a social worker in Downtown Toronto… 

I return to the family reunion photo and look deeper: I see the people who aren't there. It's complicated. With the Irish Wishing Tree in mind, I fold an 8X10 black and white photo copy of the family reunion photo into smaller-and-smaller squares. I say a prayer and carefully tuck the folded photo copy into the ivy vines wrapped around my balcony railing. It's not an Irish Wishing Tree, but it's close enough. I think of Major Mark Hall saying in church that, "Satan attacks us through family, church, and our testimony." This resonates.

I am told the answer to my worry about family is 1 John 4:4, "Little children, you are from God, and have overcome them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the World."

Cb
Amen

Family Reunion Circa 2016


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