Now that the kids have opened all of their Christmas presents, I wonder how many got one of the big three from my day:

 either Block City ... Log Cabin .. or ... Girder and Panel Building Set!

If none of those products ring a bell, perhaps you’re more familiar with the

Legos Building Set, which is a newer addition to the family of toy building sets. 

In all of those sets, children have the chance to build elaborate houses and buildings by locking various pieces together. In Block City, we had hundreds of little white blocks that interlocked like bricks to build homes. In Log Cabin, we had various length logs to build log cabin homes. And in Girder and Panel Building Set, we had countless girders that resembled real I-beams that mounted on posts to build

multi-story buildings that were covered with plastic roofs and windows.

I remember having hours of fun with these toys. It was great to be able to build things without using tools … just interlocking parts. And then after admiring my work for days or weeks, I would want to create another structure, so I would have to take apart the one I already made to use the pieces over again.

But taking these buildings apart was no easy thing. Because the pieces interlocked, you couldn’t just knock it over.     No, you had to take it apart piece by piece!

You had to take out enough bricks or logs or girders before the rest of the walls would finally come apart easily.

There’s an inherent strength to the building when each piece is in its proper place.    This strength goes away when enough of the needed pieces are missing.

This whole idea of having pieces in their proper place to make up a strong structure ... applies in a most profound way to God’s Plan ... for our world.

You see, God established the Human Family as the building block for the structure of Society.     And when each family is well and in place,

it contributes to the strength of the entire social order …

making the whole community very resistant to

any outside forces being able to take it down.

But if the building blocks, the human families, become broken or go missing, then the strength of the social order is jeopardized and we are at risk of collapse.

The devil knows this and so he has been working throughout the ages ...

to take our world apart.     How does He do it?     Just as we did it with our toys!

He takes it apart ... piece by piece … family by family.

God is a God of order and structure.

The devil, who is opposed to God, is about disorder and destruction.

In the very first chapter of God’s book, the Bible,

we hear how God created order out of chaos.

And then, throughout all the remaining books of the Bible ...

we hear God calling His people, who have become disordered & divided ...

to have union with Him and one another to reclaim order.

But, sadly, the devil never ceases striving to destroy the work of God.

And in the last 60 years, the devil has been especially successful in bringing down our society … by his insidious attack on ... the Human family.

Everywhere you look there is division and discord and dysfunction and divorce. Every day, the news highlights just how widespread is the assault on our families.

This past year, the Governor of our State became romantically involve with someone else’s wife ... which so damaged the bond of his 50 years of marriage ... that he and his wife are now divorced and hurt has touched the whole community.

And over the past 2 months a steady stream of accusations of sinful behavior have been made against: actors, producers, musicians, conductors, congressmen, athletes, coaches, educators and church leaders ...

which is destroying families and futures ... and harming the whole community.

This is no small thing.

The devil is having a heyday and we as a society are suffering greatly.

If the human family, which is the building block of society, continues to breakdown, we as a society will eventually collapse. Just like the toy walls in Block City … once enough pieces are broken or missing, the whole wall will crumble.

What can we do?     We need to pray to turn this thing around.

God loves us and wants us to flourish in this world, so we have to choose to listen to His wisdom ... and follow his guidelines for the proper order of Human life.

God designed the human family to be “a community of life and love” ...

consisting of a Father, a Mother and the fruit of their love … their Children.

The parents are to live together in a lifelong covenant bond ...

caring for one another in mutual respect and teaching their children ...

to reverence, respect and love ... God and others.

This is God’s design; it is God’s law.

In fact, He gave one whole commandment to assist Parents in maintaining order in their family ...:  

His 4^th Commandment declares: “You shall honor your Father and Mother.”

Sirach affirmed this in his writing proclaimed today saying, “God sets a father in

honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.

God’s expectation is that there be reverence & respect, peace & harmony in the home. Then the family is strong and healthy and a solid building block of society.

Today, we celebrate the Holy Family … Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

It’s the model for all families to follow.

Maria VonTrapp, from the Sound of Music, once said, “If more fathers would be like Joseph, and more mothers would be like Mary, more children would be like Jesus!”

A popular saying as I was growing up was:

“The family that prays together, stays together.”

Well, it’s a saying that is just as true today as ever.   So simple ... yet so ignored.

How about your family ... do you pray together?       At home?     In Church?  

When a family prays together ... it’s as if they were adding a layer of glue ...

between each family member and God!

What would a layer of glue do to all the joints of our toy buildings?

Why, they’d be so strong that even dropping them on the floor wouldn’t break them!

          Well, Prayer is the glue to keep our families together.

Let’s recognize that we’re in a battle ... with two forces tugging on your family.

One is God, who is good, and who promises harmony and order and lasting peace!

The other is the devil, who is evil, and whose temptations are empty lies.

More than ever before, families need to draw together … to one another and to God … to protect themselves from the attacks of the devil. We need to put up our guard and turn away from every temptation that can weaken or break family unity.

Today, as we honor the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

let’s recommit ourselves to having harmony in the home.

And, let’s call upon the Holy Family daily ... to protect our families ...

and to preserve all families as strong communities ... of life and love.