No “Family Hold Back” Here

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there. 

The crowd was hungry. All they had was five loaves and two fish. You know what happened next.

Love’s funny that way. It’s not like when a dozen people show up for a dinner party where you were expecting eight, and the letters “FHB” (Family Hold Back) are softly whispered as you take just a bit of the mashed potatoes and want to tripod_meal_20150106_microsoftclipartremind your sister to do the same. You’re happy to see everyone, of course; it’s just that there are more of them than you planned for, and there’s not enough to go around. With love, there’s always enough to satisfy everybody, no matter how many children are born or friends are made or people show up.

God’s funny that way too. He never says FHB when people He doesn’t see so often come to Mass for Christmas, Easter, a wedding, a funeral, or a baptism. He doesn’t complain about how crowded the pews and the parking lot get. We needn’t get territorial or feel cheated or fearful that the others will diminish His love for us. You don’t think so? Bring some more people to the table by inviting them to take part in your ministry or accompany you to Mass or an event at church. With God, there’s always enough to satisfy everybody.

By Melanie

Melanie Rigney is the author of Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century and other Catholic books. She is a contributor to Living Faith and other Catholic blogs. She lives in Arlington, Virginia. Melanie also owns Editor for You, a publishing consultancy that since 2003 has helped hundreds of writers, publishers, and agents.

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