IN THE LIGHT OF THE WOORLD
The Bible is full of families, births, love
stories and family crises. This is true from its
very first page, with the appearance of Adam and
Eve’s family with all its burden of violence but
also its enduring strength (cf. Gen 4) to its very
last page, where we behold the wedding feast of
the Bride and the Lamb (Rev 21:2, 9). Jesus’ description
of the two houses,
one built on rock
and the other on sand (cf. Mt 7:24-27), symbolizes
any number of family situations shaped by the
exercise of their members’ freedom, for, as the
poet says, “every home is a lampstand”.5
Let us
now enter one of those houses, led by the Psalmist
with a song that even today resounds in both
Jewish and Christian wedding liturgies:
“Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!
You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands;
you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
our children will be like olive shoots
round your table.
Thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
May you see your children’s children!
Peace be upon Israel!”