Family customs and caring

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our growth as experienced in our family.

Working on relationship

The Book of Sirach reminds us of the blessings in being responsible to our parents.

 * [3:1–16] Besides the virtues that must characterize our conduct toward God, special duties are enjoined, such as honor and respect toward parents, with corresponding blessings (vv. 1–9). By showing such respect especially to old and infirm parents (vv. 10–13), the sins of children are pardoned (vv. 14–15). Failure to honor father and mother is blasphemy and merits a curse from God (v. 16). Cf. Ex 20:12; Eph 6:2–3.1

Psalm 128 paints a picture of the home of the faithful.

The Letter to the Colossians presents kindness, humility and patience as practices to renounce vice.

 * [3:5–17] In lieu of false asceticism and superstitious festivals, the apostle reminds the Colossians of the moral life that is to characterize their response to God through Christ. He urges their participation in the liturgical hymns and prayers that center upon God’s plan of salvation in Christ (Col 3:16).2

In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus absence from His parents to do the work of His Father invites us to consider why the Evangelist has included this episode in the Gospel.

 * [2:41–52] This story’s concern with an incident from Jesus’ youth is unique in the canonical gospel tradition. It presents Jesus in the role of the faithful Jewish boy, raised in the traditions of Israel, and fulfilling all that the law requires. With this episode, the infancy narrative ends just as it began, in the setting of the Jerusalem temple.3

Maureen McCann Waldron reflects on the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family, remembering how Jesus grew up in the normal busyness of family life, how he was shaped as a person by both Mary and Joseph.

 Our faith lives and our family lives converge in the most ordinary places.  Sacred times happen around the kitchen table, putting our children to bed for the night, or perhaps if they are grown, in phone calls to catch up with each other’s lives.  Jesus is present and joyful in the family traditions and rituals we have developed, in our prayers together before dinner, and even in special new customs we may have created for our adult children and their families during the holidays.
The laundry room, the kitchen table, a casual stroll together around the neighborhood are all places to recognize God present and active and drawing us ever closer to God’s own heart.4

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus' humility shows us his divinity,” by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.

 "The Lord's coming every year to Jerusalem for the Passover with his parents is an indication of his human humility. It is characteristic of human beings to gather to offer God the votive offerings of spiritual sacrifices, and by plentiful prayers and tears to dispose their Maker toward them. Therefore the Lord, born a human being among human beings, did what God, by divine inspiration through his angels, prescribed for human beings to do. He himself kept the law which he gave in order to show us, who are human beings pure and simple, that whatever God orders is to be observed in everything. Let us follow the path of his human way of life. If we take delight in looking upon the glory of his divinity, if we want to dwell in his eternal home in heaven all the days of our lives (Psalm 27:4), it delights us to see the Lord's will and to be shielded by his holy temple. And lest we be forever buffeted by the wind of wickedness, let us remember to frequent the house, the church of the present time, with the requisite offerings of pure petitions." (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.19)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Sirach 3:2-6,12-14 notes that many of us are already living out Sirach’s exhortation caring for ill, disabled, or aged family members.

 If you are currently caring for an elderly loved one, take heart! God is pleased by your efforts and is pouring out grace on you. If you are on the receiving end, know that you are a blessing to your loved ones. If you anticipate a time when you will need to do more for your parents, don’t worry. Everything you do to honor and care for them will bless you.6

Friar Jude Winkler hears Sirach proclaim that God established the family and the responsibilities of members with it. The Letter to the Colossians shows Stoic philosophy of establishing order in relationships even as the author goes beyond the culture of the time by including mutuality. Friar Jude connects the dots for the expression of a foreshadowing technique by Luke in Jesus 3 day absence from his family.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces the theme for his 2019 teaching, Treasures Old and New, by presenting the statement that Christianity is supposed to heal suffering and mend divides, yet it has often exacerbated the problem. Is such a religion even worth saving?

 Jesus revealed a God who is in total solidarity with humanity, even and most especially in its suffering. Shane Claiborne writes, “Jesus came to show us what God is like in a way we can touch and follow. Jesus is the lens through which we look at the Bible and the world; everything is fulfilled in Christ. There are plenty of things I still find baffling, . . . but then I look at Christ, and I get a deep assurance that God is good, and gracious, and not so far away.” [2] Let’s be honest: that is all we need to move forward 7.

Living out our responsibilities in family is the foundation for the happy home described by the psalmist and provides a buffer to survive the difficulties that are also inherent in our relationships.

References

1	(n.d.). Sirach chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/3
2	(n.d.). Colossians, chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/colossians/3
3	(n.d.). Luke chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from http://usccb.org/bible/luke/2
4	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 30, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Feast) - Mass Readings .... Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
7	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 30, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/