The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today celebrate the Holy Family and invite us to ponder how their faith was expressed in trust that God’s will for them would be our example for the path to full life.
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| Celebrate family |
The passage from the Book of Sirach reminds us of our responsibilities to parents including helping your father in his old age.
* [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).1
Psalm 128 is a hymn describing the happy home of the faithful.
* [Psalm 128] A statement that the ever-reliable God will bless the reverent (Ps 128:1). God’s blessing is concrete: satisfaction and prosperity, a fertile spouse and abundant children (Ps 128:2–4). The perspective is that of the adult male, ordinarily the ruler and representative of the household to the community. The last verses extend the blessing to all the people for generations to come (Ps 128:5–6).2
In the reading from the Letter to the Colossians, Paul declares that compassion and patience are among the rules for Christian Households. The Christian Family extends the Stoic sense of duty to practice love.
* [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).3
The Gospel from Matthew details the escape to Egypt and the return to Nazareth for the Holy Family.
* [2:23] Nazareth…he shall be called a Nazorean: the tradition of Jesus’ residence in Nazareth was firmly established, and Matthew sees it as being in accordance with the foreannounced plan of God. The town of Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and no such prophecy can be found there. The vague expression “through the prophets” may be due to Matthew’s seeing a connection between Nazareth and certain texts in which there are words with a remote similarity to the name of that town. Some such Old Testament texts are Is 11:1 where the Davidic king of the future is called “a bud” (nēser) that shall blossom from the roots of Jesse, and Jgs 13:5, 7 where Samson, the future deliverer of Israel from the Philistines, is called one who shall be consecrated (a nāzîr) to God.4
Thomas Lenz comments that if we are open, God communicates and moves us in many ways. Sometimes it is through song, other times through the actions and words of others, and sometimes it is a feeling in the depths of our stomach.
For Joseph, it was an angel that came to him in a dream. The part that struck me was how Joseph responded. He trusted the message and acted. What a great example of being a “contemplative in action!” I bet that St. Ignatius of Loyola loved this story.5
Don Schwager quotes “The holy family flees to Egypt,” by John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D., who addresses being a fugitive or refugee like the Holy Family.
"But why was the Christ child sent into Egypt? The text makes this clear: he was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, 'Out of Egypt have I called my son' (Hosea 11:1). From that point onward we see that the hope of salvation would be proclaimed to the whole world. Babylon and Egypt represent the whole world. Even when they were engulfed in ungodliness, God signified that he intended to correct and amend both Babylon and Egypt. God wanted humanity to expect his bounteous gifts the world over. So he called from Babylon the wise men and sent to Egypt the holy family. "Besides what I have said, there is another lesson also to be learned, which tends powerfully toward true self-constraint in us. We are warned from the beginning to look out for temptations and plots. And we see this even when he came in swaddling clothes. Thus you see even at his birth a tyrant raging, a flight ensuing and a departure beyond the border. For it was because of no crime that his family was exiled into the land of Egypt. "Similarly, you yourself need not be troubled if you are suffering countless dangers. Do not expect to be celebrated or crowned promptly for your troubles. Instead you may keep in mind the long-suffering example of the mother of the Child, bearing all things nobly, knowing that such a fugitive life is consistent with the ordering of spiritual things. You are sharing the kind of labor Mary herself shared. So did the magi. They both were willing to retire secretly in the humiliating role of fugitive." (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 8.2)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Colossians 3:12-21 asks us to name just one quality that makes a family holy.
You might say love, or any of the other virtues that St. Paul lists in today’s second reading. And you may well be right. But what do you think keeps a family holy? What keeps them together for the long haul? Forgiveness…The ability to forgive one another, even for the minor offenses that happen in daily life together, is the oil that makes family relationships run well. Saying “I’m sorry; will you forgive me?” and “I forgive you” should roll off our tongues as readily as the words “I love you.” Because without forgiveness, bitterness can grow and love can wither.
So make forgiveness a goal for your family for the coming year. Show your children and grandchildren how to forgive by modeling it yourself. It’s not a concession to say you’re sorry to another person; it’s a grace—one that the Holy Family will give you for the asking!7
Friar Jude Winkler mentions the history of the discovery of the Book of Sirach as he notes the wisdom of caring for parents. The idea of subordination and duty in Stoic philosophy is amended in Collossians to emphasize love in family relations. Friar Jude notes that the terrible reign of Herod's successor made the Holy Family choose Nazareth as home.
Dr Anthony Towey, who teaches St. Mary’s University, Strawberry Hill, asks what became of these broken-hearted asylum seekers?
Let’s be thankful that they didn’t fall foul of UK immigration. An age-gap couple with a dependent – Egypt was clearly more welcoming than we might be and the rest, as they say, is history. It goes without saying that though they didn’t exactly live happily ever after, Mary and Joseph have stayed in the religious and artistic imagination ever since. But if I have a Christmas wish for the Holy Family, it is that the artists and poets among us will continue to explore their story. I would love a statue of Joseph where his lily is replaced by a hammer and his shoulder has a smattering of vomit. I would love to see more iconography of a pregnant Mary, not least to encourage the scared young mums of our day. Lastly, I would love to hear more poems of the Holy Family that go beneath the glitz, through the turmoil and fathom the depth; poems that in turn could become prayers that capture their hope, that capture their faith, that capture their love.8
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the New Testament has a clear sense of history working in a way that is both evolutionary and positive. For example, Jesus’ many parables of the Kingdom lean heavily on the language of growth and development. His common metaphors for growth are seeds, sprouting and ripening grain, weeds and wheat growing together, and the rising of yeast. [1] His parables of the “Reign of God” are almost always about finding, discovering, being surprised, experiencing reversals of expectations, changing roles and status. None of these notions are static; they are always about something new and good coming into being.
Why do I think this is so important? Frankly, because without it we become very impatient with ourselves and others. Humans and history both grow slowly and often move three steps forward, two steps back. We expect people to show up at our doors fully transformed and holy before they can be welcomed in. But growth language says it is appropriate to wait, trusting that change of consciousness, what the Bible calls in Greek metanoeite, can only come with time. This patience ends up being the very shape of love. Without an evolutionary worldview, Christianity does not really understand, much less foster, growth or change. Nor does it know how to respect and support where history is heading.9
Faith is that trust that grows love based in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
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