Sunday, December 31, 2023
We celebrated the birth of Jesus a week ago but if you look around, you’ll notice that Christmas decorations are gone in most places. Christmas movies and specials are no longer on TV and you’ll have trouble finding a radio station that is still playing Christmas music. That does not mean that the Christmas is over! The church is still in the midst of the Christmastide, a season that began on Christmas Eve and will end next weekend with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. So leave your decorations up, or at least leave the nativity set out until at least next Monday, January 8th, the Baptism of the Lord. Another way to celebrate Christmastide together with your family is to do something special that will keep the joy of Christmas in your home.
Today the church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. There is not much written in the Bible chronicling the life of the Holy Family as a unit. We know that they loved each other, made sacrifices, and above all else, they loved and obeyed God. We know that Jesus and Mary were without sin. But for Mary and Joseph, accepting God’s will and having God take the form of a child to come into the world did not translate into a life without struggles. Did they ever imagine that they’ll have give birth to the Son of God in a stable? Did they ever imagine having to flee to a foreign land to save their newborn child from being murdered? And in their encounter at the temple that we read in today’s Gospel, did they expect Simeon to foretell of the hardships they would face saying that people will speak against their Son, and sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break Mary’s heart?
The concept of family is central to our faith. Family is an institution that God created with Adam and Eve. Commandments to maintain a loving and cohesive family are in today’s Old Testament reading, the Ten Commandments, and also in the New Testament. God could have come into the world in many glorious and spectacular ways but He chose to come as a child to a family.
So, on this Feast of the Holy Family, let us remember and continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Let us remember the holiness of Mary and Joseph and the example they set for us. Let us pray in thanksgiving for the lives of Simeon and Anna and for their faithfulness. They were present in the temple when the Holy Family arrived and they greeted Jesus and testified that He is the one sent by God. Let us also bring to God our prayers and petitions for our own families.
“Love is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to grow in faith.” Pope Francis
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.