Today I was thinking about family. Not my own – but the family that is availed to every Christian;  that of our heavenly family.  Even if our own family ties fail us or are not what we hoped or expected as we grew from childhood to adulthood, we have a perfect family in heaven.  We have God – the Father, The Son and the The Holy Spirit – all Love. We have Mary, the mother to all, Joachim and Anna – Mary’s parents – our spiritual grandparents. We have uncles – The Apostles. We have brothers and sisters in Christ – every Saint graced by God, and we have a multitude of generational cousins of all the martyrs throughout history.  We have a devoted, vibrant living spiritual family as well as a vivid and diverse Christian family throughout the world.  God sent us the Bible, or even love letters, as a guide to knowing Him and living His plan for our best life possible. He gave us a family with members too vast to count. He has said Himself, He would never leave us.  He reminds us daily that He never has and He never will.  We are children of God.