At The School Of The Holy Family!

(Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family Yr. A)

          Today the word of God offers us the opportunity to reflect on the Holy Family of Nazareth in particular and on the family in general. The entrance antiphon of this Sunday introduces us well into the context of today’s solemnity: “The shepherds went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in a manger”. The Gospel reading introduces us into the reality of this Family, when they fled to Egypt, their return and their establishment in Nazareth. In a broader sense, the first and the second readings demonstrate that the feast of the Holy Family is an occasion for us to reflect on the reality of the family in general in the light of God’s word. The Gospel insists on the commitment of the parents to their children, for two times Joseph listened to the voice of God, through the angel, who told him: “Rise, take the child and the mother and flee to Egypt”, and Joseph obeyed without delay. The first reading exhorts the commitment of children to their parents; it evidenced the fruits that emanate from that: “whoever honors his father atones for sins” and “whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasures”. St. Paul in the second reading summed up the teachings of Sirach in the first reading and that of Mathew in the Gospel, he emphasized on mutual and reciprocal commitment: wives to their husband, husbands to their wives, children to their parents, and parents to their children. Therefore, we are called to appropriate the values and virtues that characterized the Holy Family: honour, respect, obedience, harmony and mutual love.

          The Holy Family is at the center of our reflection today. And we cannot but affirm that it is a family sui generis! The Holy Family was not a smooth and problem free family, rather it was a family with her numerous problems and internal conflicts, yet they remained faithful to each other. That is why it could be suggested as a paradigm to our Christian families. The Holy Family was a family with special grace but yet a family with trials. We can remember vividly well how sin affected family life in the first pages of the Book of Genesis. After eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:16-17) great tension disrupted the spousal relationship between Adam and Eve. Not too long after that, the sons of Adam and Eve entered in a dispute that ended in the murder of Abel (Gen. 4:1-16). Sin wounded greatly the life of the family. Indeed, Jesus came to heal the wounds caused by sin, including that of the family. As such, God the Father sent his Son among us, and in doing that, He entrusted Him to a father and a mother. And that is the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Holy Family teaches us how to remain calm in the midst of all kinds of existential storms. We remember the uncommon circumstances that surround Jesus’ conception, Mary’s and Joseph’s plan that was abruptly changed by the divine plan, and the challenges that surround his birth: no place in the inn, he was born in a manger and afterwards Joseph received another message to run away with his wife and son to Egypt. Not only that, Mary and Joseph even suffered the distress of not knowing the where-about of their twelve year old son (Cf. Lk. 2:48). Before Jesus began his public ministry nothing again was said about Joseph, we may well presume that he died, here the Holy Family must have suffered the pain of bereavement and separation through death. Jesus in his public ministry faced many oppositions and threats of death. No one could imagine what Mary passed through at the foot of her son’s cross.

          The Holy Family is the model for families because despite their many trials, the family remained faithful and united. Indeed, the Holy family was not an easy Family, not even a very normal family, but they excelled in one thing, and that is where we have to take them as model and paradigm for Christian families; and that is the fact that despite all these odds, they remained faithful to each other. The faithfulness of Joseph to Mary, even though not being the father of the child. The faithfulness of Mary to Jesus, when she heard about his arrest and condemnation, she went to Jerusalem to be with him, she stood by him till death. Mary indeed is faithful like a rock. And Jesus in turn remained faithful to the Mother even at the point of death, for some of his last words were for Mary: “Mother, behold your Son. Son, behold your mother” (Jn.19:26-27). We are called therefore, as families, little churches to appropriate the virtues of the Holy Family, especially that of faithfulness. We are called to be faithful like them!

          The first reading (Sir. 3:3-7.14-17a) calls our attention on the respect and honor that should characterize the rapport among the members of the same family, especially between parents and their children. It serves as a commentary on the fourth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother”, and again there is the emphasis on the respect to the elders, this indeed is to be re-emphasized in our present day society: “O son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as he lives; even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance, and do not despise him all the days of his life”. This invitation of the sacred author requires urgent reflection and assimilation in our society today. The responsorial psalm begins with a beatitude: “Blessed is everyone…”. Thus, it presents the fear of the Lord as the basis of family, social and economic prosperity.

          The Gospel passage (Mt. 2:13-15.19-23) presents the discomforting experience and situation of the Holy Family and its consequences on the children of Bethlehem. The passage begins with the message of an angel to Joseph in a dream inviting him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt because Herod wants to kill him. And when Herod could not figure out the Child-Jesus, and upon realization that he has been fooled by the wise men he gave orders that in Bethlehem and its surroundings all the male children from two years down should be massacred (cf. Mt. 2:16). In his narrative Mathew has to bring Jesus from Bethlehem to Nazareth, but for Luke the Holy Family was domiciled in Nazareth, but only visited Bethlehem for census. It is believed that Mathew might have taken inspiration from the text of prophet Isaiah (11:1) where the Davidic Messiah is described as a branch from Jesse. Also Mathew sees the movements of the Holy Family as the fulfillment of the Scriptures. However, an effort is made in this reflection to view this passage with the lens of the happenings today in our individual families and in the human family at large.

           There is a message of joy and a liberating proclamation in the passage: “Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead” (v. 20). Indeed, this episode of the Gospel describes a well-known historical fact. But reflecting on it in the context of the Holy Family and the family in general, it propels us to think about Herods and other children being massacred. Today, the number of babies being massacred in and through abortion cannot be overemphasized. We are called like Joseph and Mary to defend the life and dignity of every human being, to defend every form of the human life against any form of violence. We cannot but remember the number of children who have lost their lives through war and hunger. And today before the evils of abortion and the human injustices that lead to war and hunger we cannot but frown at the liberalization and legalization of abortion, and the institutionalization of injustice. Therefore, the message of the Gospel revolves not only on the fourth commandment but also on the fifth. Mary and Joseph are therefore the models for those who protect and defend the human life. In the gospel we see the paternal function of Joseph towards the care of their son, his obedience to God, which made him to participate in the divine authority, his readiness to obey faithfully, the prudence in looking for a stable residence for the family, these are all functions of any father or mother. However, there is a new element, and that is the movement of Joseph’s action, in his actions he was moved by the will of God and his desire to accomplish God’s will.

          The passage second reading (Col. 3:12-21) is part of the ethical section or the “parenesis” of St. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians. It begins with a list of virtues that are introduced with the positive imperative “put on”. On the other hand, this imperative is preceded by the negative imperative “put off) followed by a list of vices. This putting on and putting off could be interpreted in the context of Baptism. The first imperative as the candidate comes out of the baptismal font and the second is likened to the stripping of the candidate prior to his /her baptism. In this passage, St. Paul equally introduced what could be termed household code, which has to do with the respective duties and responsibilities of the various members of the family. St. Paul dedicated the third chapter of his letter to the Colossians in explaining the fundamental effect of baptism, which is the new life in Christ. In Colossians 3:17 he says: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus”. This verse illumines the liturgical text of today, referred to family duties in their mutual relations. The respect of the wife towards the husband, the obedience of the children towards their parents and the kindness of the parents towards their children are naturally common values to every family, but Christians have to live out these values “in the name of Jesus”. With this new Spirit, this new exigency parents and children are called to form and build up the family. Indeed as St. Paul described in this epistle, we could say that the Holy Family was characterized by heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (v.12).

          In the light of today’s Feast, in our present day society there are some situations and human conditions that tend disintegrate nucleus of the family and as such require a good dose of reflection. Today we talk about separated parents or broken marriages, many a times their children suffer because of the conflicts of the parents, divorced and remarried parents with children, adoption of a child by a single, be it man or woman, adoption of children by homosexual or lesbian couples etc. These are complex and difficult situations that cannot but make us reflect over and over again. In the realization of the divine plan of God, He needed a father and a mother for His divine Son. Just like in the case of Joseph and Mary, in the education of children, the father and the mother have their roles. This tells us the importance and the necessity of the figure of a father and a mother in the human family. Let us not forget that it is the natural right of children to have parents: father and mother. This original initiative of God should propel us today to make some reconsiderations in our clamour for freedom.

          As we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we need to appropriate the virtues emanating not only from the Holy Family but also from the readings of this day into the reality of our different families. In our society today, where the institution of marriage and family is under serious attack, we need to swim against the currents of this contemporary world that are inimical to the wellbeing of the family. We need to identify these anti-values that are served at the supermarket of our present society and in the means of social communication, ranging from the rebellion of the children, quarrels and confrontations between husband and wife, little or no interest on the children by the parents and excessive interest on the children by some possessive parents to the abandonment of the children by the parents and that of the parents by the children. Conscious of all this, we need to endeavor to construct a family founded on the family values present in today’s liturgy of the word: respect and appreciation, obedience and mutual help, concern and care, prudence and the search for family stability, goodness and reciprocal love. We need to incarnate these values in our families and society today in order to ward of the anti-values that are fast destroying the concept and the commitment of the Christian family. Today we need to insist on the importance of responsible parenthood; else we end up raising drug addicts, delinquents, and violent children because of the absence or irresponsibility of the parents. Some of the challenges facing families today, is that there is no enough time to be together and to pray together. In all we cannot but affirm that the true model of the Christian family is the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph: the Holy Family.

          As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, let us turn our marriages, families and homes from broken marriages, families and homes to united marriages, families and homes. As the Holy Family survived all their crises and storms through love of each other and faith in God, let us earnestly pray during this Mass that our families torn apart by the presages of hatred, separation and selfishness will conquer these storms through love for each other and faith in God.

 (Fr. Vitus M. C. Unegbu)