Nativity Catholic Church
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Somewhere to Lay our Head: The Beauty of "Home"
A "FIRESTARTER" Spiritual Essay by Rev.
Dr. Benjamin
Berinti, C.Pp.S.
Last Sunday, the Gospel proclamation from Luke offered up a rather sharp-edged and prickly ear-full! The cost of discipleship was spelled out in no uncertain terms: “the foxes have their dens and the birds of the sky have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” For those who choose to follow the life of the Master, “home” is hard to come by. When I look at my own life—the several moves I made as a child, and the shuffling around I have done in both my preparations for the priesthood and my days in ministry—these words have carried deep meaning. At times, I too have felt as if “home” were hard to come by. Surely, in my service as a priest, I have shared in the generosity of special people and dear friends who have welcomed me as a family member, opened their homes to me, invited me for the high holy days of feasting and celebrating, and even allowed me into the inner sanctum of family joys and embarrassments. Yet, so often I have still felt like the stranger. “Home” is hard to come by. This matter of the heart touched me all the more when I had the wonderful opportunity to do something I haven’t been able to do for quite a few years—to celebrate both my birthday and my ordination anniversary AT HOME—in the company of the two people who brought me into this world, and who continue to nurture and sustain me with their love—even though it has to be shared across the miles—my dad and mom. The sacredness of a true “home” was made all the more real being with them. Although I may visit this beautiful place tucked away in the rambling hills of the Allegheny National Forest only a few days out of each year, it is home…my real home…because it is a place where I can share my days with the beautiful people who gave me my first home in this world. Perhaps for each of us, we have, at one time or another, known the despair of a loss of “home,” to have rested our heads in many places, but not to have been able to embrace completely those places as a true “home.” As I pondered the words of Jesus last Sunday, I knew the loss and anguish and disconnectedness he was expressing in his own life—because I’ve felt it myself. Indeed, “home” is a sacred gift…and whenever we find it…we never want to lose it!
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