Fullness in Family

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, challenge us to celebrate and commit to support our family.

Fullness and Family

The Reading from the Book of Sirach recalls Responsibilities to 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. (Sirach, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 128 offers thanksgiving for a fertile spouse and abundant children.

* [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). (Psalms, PSALM 128 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter to the Colossians exhorts us to Renunciation of Vice and support for The Christian Family.

* [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). (Colossians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents the Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt and their Return from Egypt.

* [2:13–23] Biblical and nonbiblical traditions about Moses are here applied to the child Jesus, though the dominant Old Testament type is not Moses but Israel (Mt 2:15).

* [2:13] Flee to Egypt: Egypt was a traditional place of refuge for those fleeing from danger in Palestine (see 1 Kgs 11:40; Jer 26:21), but the main reason why the child is to be taken to Egypt is that he may relive the Exodus experience of Israel.

* [2:15] The fulfillment citation is taken from Hos 11:1. Israel, God’s son, was called out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus; Jesus, the Son of God, will similarly be called out of that land in a new exodus. The father-son relationship between God and the nation is set in a higher key. Here the son is not a group adopted as “son of God,” but the child who, as conceived by the holy Spirit, stands in unique relation to God. He is son of David and of Abraham, of Mary and of Joseph, but, above all, of God.

* [2:18] Jer 31:15 portrays Rachel, wife of the patriarch Jacob, weeping for her children taken into exile at the time of the Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom (722–21 B.C.). Bethlehem was traditionally identified with Ephrath, the place near which Rachel was buried (see Gn 35:19; 48:7), and the mourning of Rachel is here applied to her lost children of a later age. Ramah: about six miles north of Jerusalem. The lamentation of Rachel is so great as to be heard at a far distance.

* [2:20] For those who sought the child’s life are dead: Moses, who had fled from Egypt because the Pharaoh sought to kill him (see Ex 2:15), was told to return there, “for all the men who sought your life are dead” (Ex 4:19).

* [2:22] With the agreement of the emperor Augustus, Archelaus received half of his father’s kingdom, including Judea, after Herod’s death. He had the title “ethnarch” (i.e., “ruler of a nation”) and reigned from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6.

* [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. (Matthew, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Jay Carney recalls his family’s difficult road trip that cannot compare to the deprivations the Holy Family faced.

This Sunday’s gospel reminds us that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were refugees fleeing the imminent threat of political violence. The Messiah may have been a descendant of King David, but the Holy Family was not part of the ruling class. They were not among the powerful, the wealthy, or the influencers. Rather, they were poor, working-class immigrants walking by the light of faith, following their dreams, and seeking to survive in a violent, dangerous world. Like so many of our brothers and sisters on the move today.

I pray this Sunday that our church and world can, in the words of Colossians, turn a face of “compassion, kindness, humility, and gentleness” to migrants and refugees who walk in the footsteps of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. And may we strive to “put on love” with our own families, with whom we are privileged to share life’s journey. (Carney, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes The holy family flees to Egypt, by John Chrysostom, 547-407 A.D.

"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) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Colossians 3:12-21 asserts it is a matter of receiving the grace and mercy God offers so that we can love in ways that we can’t do on our own. It’s a matter of giving away what we’ve received.

Practically, this means treating our family members with the heartfelt compassion and patience that we have received from Christ. It means bearing with our fellow sinners because we know how much Jesus bears with us.

What a relief this is! We don’t have to pretend to be perfect. We could never do it on our own anyway. But we do have to receive from Jesus the forgiveness that can move us to extend the same mercy to our loved ones. And that will make for a holy family!

“Heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy that moves me to show mercy to my loved ones!” (Meditation on Colossians 3:12-21, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that Sirach speaks about respect to be shown within families without resentment and frustration even when the elders begin to have failure. We need to keep trying and view it as a vocation rather than a task. The passage from Colossians presents the virtues we need in family life including compassion, gentleness, and patience. A true family requires supernatural virtues. The wife is presented subordinate to the husband in accord with the norms in the day of the author. It is not so much who is in charge but that we live an ordered life. The Holy Family escapes Herod by going to Egypt. During his reign family and thousands had been killed. They fled to Egypt where more Jews were living than in Israel. Joseph planned to return to Judea but he is warned of an evil governor and the family goes to Nazareth. Friar Jude reminds us of the differing account of the early residences of the Holy Family in Luke and Matthew after their Exile in Egypt.

Fr. Mike Schmitz continues to interpret the symbols within Revelation. He compares the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the woman in Revelation. Fr. Mike provides context to the letter to the Hebrews, a letter that makes the case for Jesus, explaining who he is and the beauty of what he did for us. Today’s readings are Revelation 12-14, Hebrews 1-4, and Proverbs 31:16-18.

Father Richard Rohr writes on what “being salt and light” means for Christians and all people of good will. Christ is the light that allows people to see things in their fullness. The precise and intended effect of such a light is to see Christ everywhere else. In fact, that is his definition of a true Christian. A mature Christian sees Christ in everything and everyone else. That is a definition that will never fail us, always demand more of us, and give us no reasons to fight, exclude, or reject anyone.

If we pay attention to the text, we’ll see that John’s Gospel offers a very evolutionary notion of the Christ message. Note the active verb that is used here: “The true light that enlightens every person was coming (erxomenon) into the world” (John 1:9). In other words, we’re not talking about a one-time Big Bang in nature or a one-time incarnation in Jesus, but an ongoing, progressive movement continuing in the ever-unfolding creation. Incarnation did not just happen two thousand years ago. It has been working throughout the entire arc of time and will continue. This is expressed in the common phrase the “second coming of Christ,” which was unfortunately read as a threat (“Wait till your dad gets home!”), whereas it should more accurately be spoken of as the “forever coming of Christ,” which is anything but a threat. In fact, it is the ongoing promise of eternal resurrection. (Rohr, n.d.)

We invoke the help of the Spirit as we commit to honour our family connections with care, compassion, and commitment. 

References

Carney, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-december-28-2025 

Colossians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/3?12 

Matthew, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/2?13 

Meditation on Colossians 3:12-21. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/12/28/1460730/ 

Psalms, PSALM 128 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/128?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/that-by-which-we-see/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). An Angel of the Lord Appeared to Joseph in a Dream. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Sirach, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/3?2 

Help and Hypocrisy

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to explore how our actions present our love, care and compassion to the people we encounter on our journey.

Psalm 128 Blessing

In the Reading from the Book of Ruth, Boaz Marries Ruth.

* [4:16] Cradled him: the child belongs to Naomi in the sense that he now becomes the redeemer in the family, as stated in 4:14. This tender act by Naomi is not necessarily adoptive and differs from the relationship in Gn 30:3; cf. Nm 11:12. Naomi now has a “boy” to replace her two lost “boys” in 1:5. (Ruth, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 128 declares God blesses with a fertile spouse and abundant children.

* [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). (Psalms, PSALM 128 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew presents a Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees.

* [23:1–39] The final section of the narrative part of the fifth book of the gospel is a denunciation by Jesus of the scribes and the Pharisees (see note on Mt 3:7). It depends in part on Mark and Q (cf. Mk 12:38–39; Lk 11:37–52; 13:34–35), but in the main it is peculiar to Matthew. (For the reasons against considering this extensive body of sayings-material either as one of the structural discourses of this gospel or as part of the one that follows in Mt 24–25, see note on Mt 19:1–23:39.) While the tradition of a deep opposition between Jesus and the Pharisees is well founded, this speech reflects an opposition that goes beyond that of Jesus’ ministry and must be seen as expressing the bitter conflict between Pharisaic Judaism and the church of Matthew at the time when the gospel was composed. The complaint often made that the speech ignores the positive qualities of Pharisaism and of its better representatives is true, but the complaint overlooks the circumstances that gave rise to the invective. Nor is the speech purely anti-Pharisaic. The evangelist discerns in his church many of the same faults that he finds in its opponents and warns his fellow Christians to look to their own conduct and attitudes. (Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

Edward Morse comments that Our Lord warns his disciples against those who “preach but do not practice.”  It was not that the rules were unimportant. Indeed, Jesus tells us to follow their teaching, but not to follow their bad example.

We reserve special contempt for hypocrisy, in which one merely poses as virtuous or pious without a genuine belief.  But often we simply fail in the execution of what we know to be true or right, whether out of ignorance, weakness, fear, or other infirmity.  In that sense, we are not hypocrites but merely common sinners. 

Love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8).  We can all do with more practice in loving, forgiving, and living upright and holy lives in the manner to which we are called. Ruth and Boaz gave us wonderful positive examples to follow.  Faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and generosity often return to us in blessings beyond our wildest dreams.  Thanks be to God. (Morse, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “God is our father and teacher,” by Jerome (347-420 AD).

"No one should be called teacher or father except God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the Father, because all things are from him. He alone is the teacher, because through him are made all things and through him all things are reconciled to God. But one might ask, 'Is it against this precept when the apostle calls himself the teacher of the Gentiles? Or when, as in colloquial speech widely found in the monasteries of Egypt and Palestine, they call each other Father?' Remember this distinction. It is one thing to be a father or a teacher by nature, another to be so by generosity. For when we call a man father and reserve the honor of his age, we may thereby be failing to honor the Author of our own lives. One is rightly called a teacher only from his association with the true Teacher. I repeat: The fact that we have one God and one Son of God through nature does not prevent others from being understood as sons of God by adoption. Similarly this does not make the terms father and teacher useless or prevent others from being called father."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 23:1-12 comments on the contrast between Ruth and the scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel! Jesus rebukes them for being more concerned with their prestige than with easing other people’s burdens (Matthew 23:3-7). And he ends with words that continue to speak to us today: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (23:12).

Ruth shows us that pleasing the Lord doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t take a soaring intellect or a superhero’s strength. It just takes trying our best to honor him in prayer, caring for the people around us, and choosing the path of humble service. And when we fall short, it just takes a simple confession of our sins and trust in God’s mercy. It just takes humbling ourselves—and God will exalt us.

“Father, help me to imitate Ruth’s humble trust in you.” (Meditation on Matthew 23:1-12, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts of today. Naomi kinsman Boaz has a field where Ruth gleaned and they need a man in the family and the goel has given up his right. The ancestry of David includes a Moabite woman. Jesus says the Pharisees are hypocrites looking for recognition and status with elaborate signs of their different religious devotion. Friar Jude comments on the title “Father” and the use of Jewish exaggeration by Jesus to encourage religious leaders to be humble.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Psychologist Hillary McBride who describes the impact of suppressing emotions. Growing up, we might have learned that some feelings were dangerous or untrustworthy, would cause us to be alone, or would create distress in others. We learned ways of expressing feelings that suited those around us, or we learned to defend against the feelings to protect ourselves and others from the pain of them.

But our unfelt feelings, like any other essential bodily processes, do not go away even if we try to repress them. They eventually catch up with us and get our attention somehow, sometimes in the form of disease, mental health issues, illness, burnout, addiction, or pain. To get back to our core self, the wise, creative, steady, compassionate, and connected present-day self, we need to learn to be with our feelings as they happen and to trust that our bodies know what to do with them, as long as our mental and cultural stories do not get in the way.  

McBride offers several journaling prompts to explore our relationship with our emotions: 

Growing up, the feelings I was allowed to feel were …  

I learned that it would be dangerous to feel …  

The feelings that I have learned to label as negative are …  

I am afraid that if I feel ______ (fear, sadness, joy, disgust, excitement, anger, desire), then I might …  

When I was little, I needed to learn that feelings … (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the nature of hypocrisy and seek the guidance of the Spirit to help us align our presentation and purpose as a sign of our humility as followers of Jesus.

References

Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23?1 

Meditation on Matthew 23:1-12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/?utm_content=buffer5c902&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer 

Morse, E. (2025, August 23). Daily Reflection August 23, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-23-2025 

Psalms, PSALM 128 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/128?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Emotional Equilibrium: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/emotional-equilibrium-weekly-summary/ 

Ruth, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ruth/4 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Whoever Humbles Oneself Will Be Exalted. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 23, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug23