Cycle C - Year II:

26 December 2021: Feast of the Holy Family

Readings:

First Reading: Sirach 3:2-7, 12-14

Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-21

Gospel: Please Read Luke 2:41-52

God loves the family!

In that BIG event that is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is that one important message that we cannot overlook: the Lord of creation chose to come into our world for the first time in a human family, from the lineage of His great ancestor King David. Our Lord could have come in power and splendor accompanied by His subjects. Yet, He actually came as a helpless infant Child born to the Holy Family of Mary and Joseph. And this speaks loudly how God values the family in His whole creation.

This Sunday the Church honors the Feast of the Holy Family. What is the relevance of the Feast of the Holy Family on us today?

We all come from a family, and so we know and experience that family life is challenging and often times it is not easy. This was no different for Mary and Joseph who experienced difficulties too as family with the Infant Jesus. They had to work through the circumstances of Jesus' conception, with a little divine intervention perhaps. Mary had to give birth away from home in the town of Bethlehem in the most unlikely place in a manger where animals feed. And soon after the birth of Jesus the Holy Family had to flee to Egypt to avoid King Herod who wanted to kill the infant Jesus. Now, we can learn from the examples of the Holy Family on their parental roles in the family and their unwavering trust in God to face trials and difficulties as a family.

In His great plan, God loves the family. By the incarnation of the Son, God unites Himself with everyone through the human family. And here's something from Saint Mother Teresa on the family: "The family that prays together stays together, because such a family learns something about how God loves each one of us."

It is in His human family, though fraught with trials and challenges of everyday living, that Jesus grew in wisdom, age and grace as He prepared for His saving work for humanity. In much the same way, God intends to prepare us for the many challenges in life in the environment of our own family to make us strong through ups and downs of family life through God's grace.

So, it is important for both parents to be close to God in fulfilling their roles to care and sustain their respective families entrusted to them by being prayerful and with obedient spirit so that they can hear God speak and then follow His plan for the family under their guardianship.

The Gospel narrative is from St. Luke which is about the Firth Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary, the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple.

The boy Jesus was separated from His parents as they went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. For parents, a missing child is their worst nightmare, panic leading to a frantic search. It would have been the same for Mary and Joseph as they frantically searched for the missing Jesus. Then the exasperation of discovering Him in the Temple after three days of frantic search.

In His answer to Mary's anxious inquiry, Jesus said: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" Note that Jesus took the name "father" from Joseph and addressed it to His Father in heaven. Thus, even in His youth Jesus recognized that He has been given a call by His heavenly Father. And He shows His trusting faith and confident determination to pursue the will of His heavenly Father.

But at the end of the Gospel narrative, Jesus went home with His human parents to their home in Nazareth and became obedient to them. So while Jesus was fully aware of His real mission from the Father, He submitted Himself with love and obedience to Mary and Joseph and waited for His time when His call or mission would be fulfilled.

And so while we grow up in a family of our own, we too are called by our heavenly Father to a unique task or mission in this life when it is our time. God will use us to His purpose and plan for humanity. And we know and believe that with the call for mission God also gives grace to say "yes" to His will for us so that we can persevere through obstacles and trials in doing our mission in this life.

Do we recognize God's will in our life, and do we trust in His grace to accomplish it?

Let us pray: Lord, in love you have called each one of us in the family to live for Your praise and glory. May we always find joy in Your presence and trust in Your grace and in Your mission and plan for our respective families. And may our Lord Jesus, Your Son, Who has come to be part of the human family, bless and protect all our families from all dangers. Amen.

A blessed Feast of the Holy Family to all of us. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!

4Au Villamor and 3 others