Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – Year A (2025)
Sunday, December 28, 2025
The world has been celebrating “Christmas” for over a month, but on this weekend after Christmas, with holiday wishes traded and presents already exchanged, let the faithful keep the lights twinkling and trees aglow a little longer. Christmastime dawns on the holy night of December 25th, and stretches for twelve blessed days until the eve of the Epiphany on January 6th, when the wise men first adored our Lord Jesus in the arms of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. So let us immerse ourselves in the warmth of the Incarnation this Christmastime!
Today, in the joy of Christmas, the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and invites us to gaze deeply into their hearts, not as distant icons but as our models for living the faith every day, especially amid trials. The flight to Egypt is not a fairy tale but the raw reality of Joseph, Mary, and the Child Jesus, teaching us that true family holiness blooms in obedience, humility, and unwavering trust in God. Today’s readings, first from Sirach, remind us that God established the family structure with a plan for it and offers practical advice on how to live according to His will so that we might be happy. Saint John Paul II described “family” as the “domestic church.” He spoke of the family as where we first learn to love and serve one another. In today’s New Testament reading from Colossians, Saint Paul gives us a practical blueprint for donning Christ-like virtues and fostering harmonious relationships within the Christian household and community. As God’s holy and beloved, he urges believers to actively put on, “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” — Colossians 3:12-17.
Let us consider our daily interactions with our own family in the light of this passage! Do we listen with kindness and show compassion? Do we readily forgive, acknowledging that we too are not perfect? Do we love without judgment? Are we openly thankful to God and glorifying Him in our home? This Christmas season, as we rejoice in the birth of our Savior, let us remember that His coming into our lives invites us to build a family life enriched with sacrificial love, echoing the Holy Family’s example. In our hearts, we should ask how we can better model Joseph’s unwavering commitment, Mary’s openness to God’s will, and Jesus’ obedience and humility. Each of us, through our actions and prayer, can strive to create an environment of love, understanding, and growth that honors God.
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.