FEAST OF THE
HOLY FAMILY
(Sunday after Christmas)
Readings:
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Colossians 3:12-21
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
"Joseph rose and took the child and his mother…”
Christmas
is always a season of joy. This is perhaps the reason
why we want to coincide other happy occasions and celebrations during Christmas. Hence, it is not surprising that in
most cases we hold our family reunions at this part of the year. Similarly,
this is also the case of the big family of
Christians. As we celebrate today the feast of the holy family, as if we also
hold a grand reunion of all believers. But the liturgical spirit of the
celebration invites us that while we remember with joy and gratitude the holy family as the "origin of
our family tree," we too meditate on
how far have we been able to imitate that lowly family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as the model of every Christian
family.
1. In a family, we identify roles
and relationships. We have the head of the
family who is the husband and father. We have the wife and mother. We have the child or children. Thus, we
have the husband and wife relationship, and
the parents and children relationship. When there is
unfaithfulness to roles and relationships, we usually end up with a broken family. But when there is faithfulness, we
surely have a happy family, a family that
builds a healthy home. This is what we see in the holy
family of Nazareth. It is just a humble family. But certainly, it is a family that makes a home. It is the home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Let us get a closer look at Mary and Joseph since for
the whole year, we shall be meditating on
Jesus: Let us meditate on how Joseph as a responsible
husband and father, and Mary as a responsible wife and mother have molded Jesus in order to become a responsible
son.
a. Joseph is the husband and father. To him has been entrusted the role of the head of the family. Being so, the
destiny of his family rests upon his care,
and he shows his faithfulness to his role by being a man of God and a man of principle. As a man of God, the
gospels depict him as an obedient servant of the Lord. For three times in
today's gospel episode, Joseph takes the
divine instructions without question or doubt. In the
middle of his rest, he rises at once and braves the darkness and
coldness the night just to be the guide, the shield and the safety of the child
and his mother. So responsible is Joseph that the life of the child is spared
for many times. Clearly, he raises his family right from the start in the holy
fear of God, in the obedience of his will.
The faith and faithfulness Joseph to God and his untiring cooperation to God's divine designs would soon be reflected in the
holy child.
But not only that. As a man of principle, he strives to meet the
demands of life honestly by being a responsible breadwinner. In his little
carpentry shop, he shows his indelible traits of industriousness and
hard work. And although lowly is his way of earning their livelihood, he always
takes pride to raise his family by the sweat of his brows, No wonder, if Jesus
would learn to embrace a life of poverty and simplicity and later announce with
evangelic fervor the Lord's year of favor to the poor, it is because Joseph has taught him the great dignity of labor and
inherent the value of hard work.
b. Mary is the wife and mother.
Mary's faithfulness to her role has been a consistent
fact. And this is because she has all the virtues being the woman who is
full of grace (cf Lk 1:28). But it
seems that two outstanding virtues make her marriage and family life successful,
trust and simplicity. Right from the start and even amidst uncertainty and
trouble, she is always ready with her "fiat.” That is how she
manifests her total trust in God. And this
trust goes through and through not only on God but also on her husband Joseph and her son Jesus. In good
times and in bad times, Mary abides with the
decisions of her husband and supports the affairs of
her son. Her trust enables her to keep all things in her heart, even
the most trying and difficult ones.
The
other virtue that accompanies her trust is her simplicity. Many great leaders
in history fall because of the unparalleled ambitions of their partners. Mary
is not an ambitious woman She is no opportunist either. She never takes advantage even with the fact that she is
the mother of God. She does not grab leading roles in public but always
maintains a very low profile. She is content with what Joseph could afford and
never demands whatever is beyond her husband's means. If Joseph himself feels
comfortable with his lowly livelihood, it is because Mary is always there to console him with her simple aspirations in life.
“Behind every man’s victory is a woman,” so goes the saying. And this is the case of
Mary. In her trust and simplicity, she is always behind
Joseph as a wife and behind Jesus as a mother.
2:
A happy home is irreplaceable. All of us want a happy home, but not all of us share the same convictions and
ways to achieve. Some believe that happiness flows automatically when there are
comforts to life. Others equate happiness in the home with success and honors.
But others, perhaps due to despair, think
that happiness in the family remains an
ideal thing but is never achievable.
What the holy family of Nazareth depicts is a
life of a simple yet a happy home. Jesus, Mary and Joseph know that a happy
home is most ideal, but they indeed become a happy home because they always
strive to live out to that ideal. To them, comforts and other material possessions are indeed necessary in order to live a decent
and human life, but they also believe that
these do not guarantee true happiness in the home. Success and honors
supplement man's natural desire as persons in community,
but happiness in the home is achieved when each and every member of the family is at the same time open to
failures and frustrations in life. In other
words, the holy family acknowledges every
human value but they found and build their home upon the real values that do
not fade nor perish in time. Thus, they do not live on big dreams and venture
on large projects. Rather, they nurture
their simple and humble aspirations by honest
human efforts and total confidence on Divine Providence. Staying together,
working together, praying together are no big deal undertakings.
They are just the simple and basic values the holy family keeps. But
paradoxically, it is upon these no big deal ventures that big projects are born and made
We must not think that they are able to make
it through because they are superhuman nor because heaven has lifted their
humanity beyond the ordinary. Rather, we must be convinced that their happy
home is the fruit
of being truly human And if ever the favors of heaven have fallen upon them, it
is all because they are just that faithful to the true meaning of their own humanity.