Cycle C - Year I:  

30 December 2018: Feast of the Holy Family

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14

Second Reading:   Colossians 3:12-17

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 2:41-52

The joy of family......

 We come into this world through a family. Because family is where life begins and love never ends. Incidentally, the word FAMILY is an acronym for Father And Mother I Love You.

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. The Lord of lords and King of kings chooses to be born in a human family, with Mary as His mother and Joseph as protector. The reality of the Holy Family speaks loudly how God regards family life.

Does the Feast of the Holy Family  have any relevance to us today?

Now believe that family life is challenging and never easy. This was no different for Mary and Joseph who experienced difficulties too as a family. They had to work through, with a little divine intervention perhaps, the circumstances of Jesus' conception. And Mary had to give birth to Jesus 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.  We can learn something from the examples of the Holy Family on their unwavering trust in God to face trials and difficulties.

For God loves the family. By the incarnation of the Son, God unites Himself with everyone through the family. Saint Mother Teresa wrote: "The family that prays together stays together, because such a family learns something about how God loves each one of us."

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

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

Now the Gospel narrative from St. Luke is about the Fifth 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. After three days they found Him in the Temple, conversing with the elders.

In His answer to Mary's anxious inquiry, Jesus took the name "father" from Joseph and addressed it to His Father in heaven: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" 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.

At the end of the Gospel narrative, Jesus went home with His 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 Joseph and Mary and waited for His time when His call or mission would be fulfilled.

In reflection, we too are called by our heavenly Father to a unique task or mission in this life. Sometimes we may not discover or understand it fully, but if we trust in God and cooperate with Him, God will use us to His purpose and plan. Because we know and believe that with the call for mission God also gives grace-- grace to say "Yes" to God's will and grace to persevere through obstacles and trials in doing His will.

Do we recognize God's will in our life, and do we trust in His grace to do 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 wisdom and plan for our respective families. And may the Lord Jesus, Who has come to be part of the human family, bless and protect all our families from all dangers. Amen.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!