It is 27th December 2020. We celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Wishing all the families every blessings, grace, peace, and joy all throughout the year. May every family be a place of hope, love, mercy, and forgiveness. The readings are from Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3; the second reading from Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; and the Gospel from Luke 2:22-40.
Faith in God makes every family a success story. The presence of the parents and their unwavering faith in God allows them deal with any problem whether it is financial, relational, spiritual, or psychological. The first reading deals with a situation of childlessness in the life of Abram. It was the faith of Abram that moved the heart of God to grant his heart’s desire. Prayerless families waver and toss by the winds of life. Life-sea is not always smooth however wealthy and blessed materially.
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” (Heb. 11:7). The families can sail through any troubled waters by the help and blessings of God. When God blesses our families, there is no one can shut it. By constantly doing good to people around, our families accumulate the fragrance of love and fertilize the family with grace.
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:10
Families are the gifts from God. It is God who has created our families through the instrumentality of humanity. A family that neglects God and the duties to God misses the most vital and vibrant spiritual connection and support which is so crucial for a normal functioning of a family. The socioeconomic and spiritual connections are changing in every family and remodified by every family time and time again. The impact of covid-19, and the economy are very visibly noticed in the lives of the family and its connections with God. There is so much of desperation to survive and swim across the currents of the society with the temporary healing messages offered by the ministers of the religion and emerging prophets. We, the Church need to protect, provide, and empower our families especially during this most challenging times of our times.
East or west, home is best. Yes indeed, when our homes can provide the means of affection, appreciation, and understanding, everyone loves such homes. The sea of feelings cannot engulf the sensitivity of caring and sharing in our homes. Be at home in our families is the one we all need to reach. Because most of us love being in home missing families. As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, it is time to examine the condition of our families. The Most Holy Trinity is family. Just like the family of Jesus on earth, our families need to grow in respect for one another, protecting and shielding one another, and sharing the best of ourselves in every opportunity. There is always a possibility of hatred, division, brokenness in our families when there is lack of dialogue and truth. Forgiveness and mercy are the key for a grace-filled and happy families.
The responsorial Psalm praises, “The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.” (Ps.105:8)
It is time to learn from the Holy Family. Within their means and power, Mary and Joseph were able to bring the Son of God up. Jesus never questioned the condition in which He was brought up. Living our lives within the means is a blessing and brings so much peace into families. Borrowing, cheating, and lying do not bring any blessings into our families. Working smart and doing the best never disappoint us in the long run. The speed we take to go up in our lives is the speed that brings us down if we are not transparent, truthful, and trustworthy. Even though the Holy Family seems an ideal that is too far to reach by the families, yet all families have something solid to emulate in their lives.
Holy Family does not exclude problems. Just because someone is holy does not mean that they are immune to problems. Just like any family here on earth, Holy Family faced all the material hardships. God did not provide wealth and happiness to Jesus just because He was the Son of God. God allowed Him to live in a family that was poor and depending on their meagre income to sustain. God never sent an angel of army to be at the beck and call of Mary. Yet in all the struggles of life, Holy Family relied solely on God. To begin and believe is always struggle and the Holy Family was not exempted. The initial misunderstanding on the conception of Jesus before the wedlock yet they struggled to comprehend the way of the Lord. Joseph even ruminated to divorce Mary.
Visiting and spending quality time with our parents is not only good for us but also enhances our love and admiration for them while they are around. It is not worth visiting graves when we have failed visiting them and shared our love with our parents.
The Gospel presents us with the parental duty in bringing the child to God. What we see today in our families is that the parents have become over-protective, extremely pampering out of reasons of their reflection of their childhood and in most families, the parents over do things that seem to lead the children to be selfish, possessive, dependable and demanding. Children do not belong to the parent alone. The children belong to God and the community. The choices made by parents for children do affect the child and have an enormous impact on the society. The parents need to be mentors, role-models, altruistic, compassionate, and God-loving people that the children can easily emulate them. The parents constantly need to work on their fanatic, traditional and paranoic attitudes and behaviour towards the community and children. Joseph and Mary obeyed the law even amidst their simplicity and poverty. Mary and Joseph demonstrated their faith in God through their prayer life, and married love and being a support to Jesus in discerning and responding the vocation of life in doing the will of the Father.
In one family, only daughter became a lawyer and became so famous and busy. She had no time to talk to her parents. She used to come home and spent all her time on phone talking to the clients and friends and she had no time to talk with her parents. One day, the father asked her whether she would have a time to come for his funeral. She understood the message and started to spend quality time with her parents until they lived.
Finally, it is not mere adjusting with one another makes families to be happy but in accepting the others as they are. It is time to inspire the other families and be inspired by them. The families have to have a close network system to share, challenge, and bear one another’s burden by spiritual, and psychological, material support.
May the Holy family pray for all our families to have courage, calmness, and courteousness in handling the fragile humanity in and around our families. God bless our families. Happy Feast of Holy Family.