Feeding a seal at Eyemouth in Scotland and reflecting on how many seals there were yesterday at farne Islands – as many as 10000 seals.

Psalm 96:11

Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar and all that fills it. 

Not so much a roar as a humble seal who looked rather old or tired. Perhaps he could no longer go out and hunt but resigned himself to being fed by visitors.

As we get older we need more help and that is why beyond a doubt that Gods union of man and woman so that they can have children and bring them up in love and in their parents later years they will be supported.

I don’t know how we could go on as a family without the grand parents and all the support we get.

But what does Jesus tell us about family?

Read the parable of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:11-31

21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

The parable of the prodigal son tells us many things. For me it is a wonderful illustration of how God never abandons us, how as part of his family we are always accepted back no matter how badly we turn our backs on God.

The son demanding his share of his inheritance whilst his dad was alive was as good as telling his parents he wished they were dead!

But despite this, even after squandering this he is still welcomed back with celebrations. This is talking firstly about coming back to God, but it is also showing us that we should always be forgiving and especially to our family, because we don’t know when we will need to rely on them in our lives.

Dear Lord, thank you for all our parents, for our grandparents, for our extended family and help us to show love to them even when things are going tough. Help us to accept anyone who comes asking for help, asking for forgiveness or asking for advice. Help us Lord to not offend our family or our greater family, the family of God.

Through Jesus Christ

Amen