Homily (Reflection) for the Feast of
the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (C) (30th December, 2018)
on the Gospel and the Feast
Sir
3:2-6.12-14 or 1Sam 1:20-22.24-28;
Ps
127:1-5. (R. v. 1) or Ps 83:2-3.5-6.9-10. (R. v 5);Col 3:12-21 or 1Jn 3:1-2.21-24;
Lk 2:41-52.
Holy Family
consists of Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph.
Veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of New France, who founded a Confraternity.
And the Feast of the Holy Family
is a liturgical
celebration in the Catholic Church
in honour of the trio. Since the 1969 revision of the General Roman
Calendar, the feast is celebrated on
the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's Day
(both exclusive), or on 30 December when both Christmas Day and New Year's Day (the Solemnity
of Mary, Mother of God) are Sundays[1].
Topic: Model Christian Family.
The primary purpose of this feast is
to present the Holy Family as a model for Christian families. I therefore consider
it important to look at some aspects of family life through this model family.
In today’s gospel, we see one of the
few pictures of the holy family as recorded in the bible. The gospel reads in
part,
...every year his parents went to
Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old,
they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they
started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents
did not know it (Lk 2:41-43).
Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph were not
only truly religious as manifested in their yearly observance of the Passover
but they understood also the passage, “Train up a child in the way he should
go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov 22:6). Hence they did not just observe the Passover but also took
Jesus along with them. But today many parents have forgotten everything about
God who builds and sustains the family, cf. Ps 127:1-2. Among those who still go to church and other religious
activities many do not consider it important to take their children along.
And when they noticed that Jesus was
not going back with them, both set out immediately in search of him which took
them a whole three days. Yet the bible did not tell us that there was any rancour
between them. I still remember one day a catechist taught the children preparing
for the First Holy Communion the importance of peacefully coexisting with each
other. He used the relationship between different political parties in Nigeria as
an example. He then asked the children to give other examples of people who are
not living peacefully. One little boy told the catechist that no other example
will be better than his parents. The boy went on to tell the catechist that they
lived like cat and dog and hardly agree on anything. And no one supports the opinion
of the other.
Many parents resort to apportioning
blames to each other without achieving anything positive. Mary and Joseph on
the other hand did neither apportion blames to each other nor grumble for the
disappearance of the child Jesus. Yet they searched for him with great anxiety
expressed thus through his mother, “Child, why have you treated us like this?
Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety” (Lk 2:48). Parents ought to look for their
children and the solutions for the evils that bedevil our families today.
Children must remember always that
obedience to parents is not a privilege but their right, cf. Matt 15:4; Ex 20:12; Col 3:20; Eph 6:1. In today’s gospel, Jesus
obeyed his parents and went down with them to Nazareth and was obedient to
them, (cf. 2:51a) where he grew in
wisdom and in years.
May we all emulate the Holy Family of
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Bible Readings: Ps 127:1-5; Eph 6:1-4; Col 3:18-22; Jas 5:7-9.
Silent Prayer:
Fulfilling your responsibility in the family.
Let us pray: May the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph help us transform our
individual families into model Christian homes
– Amen.
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