I recently had the honor of visiting a large Italian family. They have two rather large farmhouses set on rolling, wooded hills and fertile pastures. The eight children have all left except for the eldest brother-patriarch and his son in one house and the grandmama, an aunt, and a sister in the other. Everyone else drives all kinds of distances to be there. So do passles of friends.
Why do they flock to this farm? Because this family throws open its doors to everyone. They once welcomed four children into their home and have fostered many babies and adopted several. More babies are on the way. In fact, to visit is to observe a culture of life where boys learn to be boys hunting and fishing, and the girls learn about being women from the five sisters and the matriarch. And the lessons of the natural world and the natural law itself are more apparent in the country where what God has wrought is more visible than what man has raised up in a city. Materialism is not a part of the tree-dappled picture.
Besides, everyone cooks, male and female. It is kitchen madonna heaven! Who needs the Food Network?
There are four tables set end to end in the patriarch's kitchen to accomodate the many regular visitors. And they always groan with more food than anyone can eat. There is a unspoken frugality that supports the wide open and copious hospitality. Individuals learn to defer to the needs of the family but the warmth and the closeness nurtures individuals. Children come first and marriages are fruitful in everyway. There is no need to lock the doors because the treasures are people that can't be stolen.
And then there is the wine making. From wild cherry trees on the farm, dandelions, and grapes from afar until their vineyard produces. The patriarch serves wine that was created from everyday water right there in his kitchen. Who can miss the significance of that?
Our lives are darkened by suffering. But through signs such as these – miracles of family and nature – the water of our lives are turned into wine. Joy is more than possible. The luminous mysteries herald the coming of the Kingdom.
