Like the perfect meal, we must find the right ingredients to make our families wonderful. Like a perfect dish, we have to find what's missing or lacking and take steps to make it tasty again. Love is the most essential ingredient to nurture family relationships -- it's the bond that holds families together. Have we become closer to our parents or siblings? Or are we not on talking terms? Like the spices, we must have open and engaging communications with one another and never taking each other for granted. Have a faith dimension in our shared meals like the Gospel, where Jesus fed 5,000 and interacted with his disciples over meals. He's inviting us to God's table of plenty. It's time to invite our family members and others, especially those in need of love.

-Novena Devotion by Br. Celestine Toh, C.Ss.R. (1 February 2025)