By Fr. Eugene Lobo SJ.
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21; Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 or Luke 2, 22-40
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The feast of the Holy Family is the natural continuation of the Christmas Season. All the scripture readings of today reflect on aspects of family including the duties and blessings that come about as a result of the faithful living of family life. In the creation narrative of the Bible we read that God created man in his image and likeness and placed him in a family. To understand what a family is we must come to know the life of God in the Trinity which is a family. Again God expresses his relationship with human persons in terms of covenants which are family bonds. He lived at Nazareth with his parents to give us an understanding of a true family life. Here God himself becomes a model for us so that we may truly come to know the real family life. Today we hold the family of Nazareth as an example to all Christians how a family life should be and thus truly relate ourselves to God who is a family. In the Gospel we have the protective role of Joseph as he takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt.
On this feast day the Church presents the Holy Family to us as a model for our own family life. Joseph was the head of the Holy Family and provided for Mary and Jesus with the work of his hands. He was obedient to the angel who told him to take Mary as his wife, what name the child should be given and again he was told to flee to Egypt with the family when there was a threat on their life. He taught Jesus the family trade and what it was to be a man in the society in which they lived. Mary took care of her family in the home at Nazareth. It was she who would have taught Jesus the Scriptures and prayers of their people when he was very young. It was through her example of managing the home that Jesus would formulate many of the examples he would later use in his teaching. Jesus saw work sanctified through the example of his earthly parents, who did all things well in the ordinary circumstances of daily life.
Devotion to the Holy Family is a recent development, but one that naturally grew out of a love for Jesus and his family. The cult of the Holy Family grew in popularity in the 17th century, and several religious congregations had been founded under this title. The Holy Family also became portrayed in popular art of the period. Pope Leo XIII promoted the feast as a way to counter the breakdown of the family unit. Towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of twentieth, prompted the popes, especially the far-sighted Leo XIII, to promote the observance of this feast with the hope that it might instil into Christian families something of the faithful love and the devoted attachment that characterize the family of Nazareth. The primary purpose of the Church in instituting and promoting this feast is to present the Holy Family as the model and exemplar of all Christian families. In 1921 the Congregation of Rites under Pope Benedict XV inserted the Feast of the Holy Family into the Latin Rite general calendar.
The first reading from the book of Sirach tells of the privileged place parents and family have in the eyes of God. The parents are gifted by God to bring into the world others in the image and likeness of God. The author calls children to exhibit honour, reverence, compassion, and kindness toward their parents. It says that Obedience and respect to parents is tantamount to obedience to God. Sirach urges sons and daughters to hold mother and father in high esteem. As agents of life their parents enjoy a gift only Gould give. Great blessings await those who obey their father and bring comfort to their mother. They will have good relationship with God and their prayers to God will be heard.
Saint Paul writing to the Colossians encourages the Christian community to practice every virtue. They are especially to clothe themselves with love. He reminds them that Christ forgave and likewise they have to forgive one another. The individual family is built up of loving relationships. So he tells that parents should not nag their children and children should honour and respect their parents. He tells husbands to respect their wives and that wives should be subordinate to their husbands. Again Paul admonishes us to put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another.
Today’s Gospel shows us that not even the Holy Family was spared the trials and sufferings of every family. Joseph is the principal character in this narrative and like Joseph the Patriarch, God communicates to him through dreams. The baby’s life is threatened and they are forced to flee into Egypt to avoid the evil intent of Herod. As a result the Holy Family became displaced persons in a foreign country. They had to be the victims of political vengeance and go and hide into a foreign land for their own safety and of that of their child. Though such tribulations Joseph shows himself a true Israelite, obedient to God and ready to do his will at any cost. He already showed himself a courageous man of honour who wanted to protect the reputation of Mary because God wanted him to. Later when Jesus is lost in the Temple and they find him, the child says he was at his Father’s business, giving the idea to Joseph who his real Father was and he accepts it. The trip to Egypt would have been a nightmare for the Holy family but they accept it in obedience.
Mary, Joseph and Jesus model for us the life of the Holy Family. Joseph exhibited great trust in God and demonstrated intense devotion and love in caring for Mary and Jesus. Scripture does not quote a single word of Joseph, and yet his actions speak volumes of a strong man devoted to God and family. Mary, too, showed tremendous faith in God and trusted in God’s love for her. As wife, she helped Joseph in his quest for holiness. As mother, she cared for Jesus with great love and tenderness. Both Mary and Joseph created the environment which allowed Jesus to grow in wisdom and age and favour before God and man. Jesus, for his part, was obedient to Mary and Joseph.
What kept the Holy Family together was obedience. Christ knew that he had to be obedient to God his Father. That’s why he was in the Temple. His obedience drew his parents to the Temple. But Jesus also knew he had to be obedient to Mary and Joseph. That’s why he immediately went home with them. Obedience is the way in which a person can show respect to the members of his family. To obey means to allow someone else to lead you and we value our freedom and independence. To obey means to sacrifice once freedom and will and do something demanded by others. Nobody likes to be told what to do. But here we called upon to learn a lesson from Jesus. He is the Son of God and he freely chooses to obey his mother and foster father.
The Feast of the Holy Family is not just about the Holy Family, but about our own families too. The main purpose of the Feast is to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families. Our family life becomes sanctified when we live the life of the Church within our homes. This is called the “domestic church” or the “church in miniature.”
The feast of the Holy Family is a good time to remember the family unit and pray for our human and spiritual families. The mission of the family is identical to that of the whole Church: to give tangible witness to the vision of Christ for the world. We also take this feast to reflect on the value and sanctity of the family unit, and to evaluate our own family life. Finally, we can use this feast to ask ourselves what we are doing to promote the family within our own cultures, neighbourhoods, and communities. Pope Benedict XVI said during his pilgrimage to the Holy land that we must contemplate ever anew the silence and love of the Holy Family, the model of all Christian family life. Here, in the example of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, we come to appreciate even more fully the sacredness of the family, which in God’s plan is based on the lifelong fidelity.
Pope Francis in his homily on the Feast of Holy Family says that we often see pilgrims journeying to shrines and places dear to popular piety. These days, many of them are making their way to the Holy Door opened in all the cathedrals of the world and in many shrines. But the most beautiful thing which emerges from the word of God today is that the whole family goes on pilgrimage. Fathers, mothers and children together go to the house of the Lord, in order to sanctify the holy day with prayer. It is an important teaching, which is meant for our own families as well. Indeed, we could say that family life is a series of pilgrimages, both small and big. How important it is for our families to journey together towards a single goal! Pope Francis says further that at the end of that pilgrimage, Jesus returned to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents (cf. Lk 2:51). This image also contains a beautiful teaching about our families.
A little boy greets his father as he returns from work with a question: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” The father is surprised and says: “Look, son, don’t bother me now, I’m tired.” “But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour?” the boy insists. The father finally gives up and replies: “Twenty dollars.” “Okay, Daddy,” the boy continues, “Could you loan me ten dollars?” The father yells at him: “So that is what you want. Now, go to sleep and don’t bother me anymore!” At night the father thinks over what he said and starts feeling guilty. Maybe his son needed to buy something and so goes to his son’s room. “Are you asleep, son?” asks the father. “No, Daddy. Why?” replies the boy. “Here’s the money you asked for earlier,” the father said. “Thanks, Daddy!” replies the boy and receives the money. The he reaches under his pillow and brings out some more money. “Now I have enough! Now I have twenty dollars!” says the boy to his father, “Daddy, could you sell me one hour of your time?” The father cried and hugged him promising to spend time daily with his son.