The Holy Family

A:Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Col 3:12-21;   Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

God created us in his own image and likeness. To be created in the image of God is to be created for family life. God could not have exalted the family more than he did by joining one. Just as God is a Trinity, a communion of three Persons sharing the divine nature, we also are created to find fulfillment in community, in the intricate network of relationships that makes each one of us dependent on others, and others dependent on us.

Christmas break gives us a great image of what the family can be: Everyone together, in the glow of the birth of Jesus, giving and receiving gifts with each other.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph is put before us today by the Church as a model for our families to imitate. From His birth to the beginning of His public life, Jesus chose to experience all the aspects of human life. If Jesus was to help men, he must know what were men’s lives. He did not come to a protected life, but he came to the life that any ordinary man must live.  He experienced the hardships of the people who are forced to leave their home and kinsmen; he experienced the problems of an ordinary workman, while working as a carpenter in Nazareth; and He experienced the pangs of death when his foster father died. 

In our eagerness and anxiety to provide the best for our children some parents do not give them any chance to experience the world in which they live. we try to provide them the best education, so they ignore the illiteracy around. We struggle to provide them the best food, so they are unaware of the poverty that exists around them. We want to give them the best of everything, so they do not see the suffering in the world. But in our culture, children disappear into their own worlds through devices and individual pastimes, ignoring their parents.

We are human beings, our family life doesn't come ready- made. An old saying goes like this: Everyone's greatest blessing is also their greatest curse. At least sometimes, most of us probably feel that way about family life. Somehow, our greatest joys and our greatest sufferings are both linked up with family relationships.

Our families are not just centers of great peace; they are sources of enormous pain. There are misunderstandings, failings, unkindness and unforgiveness, slights small and large. Families smother us or disappoint us.

The fact that family life is tough, in fact, is paradoxically why that it is so beneficial — our families force us out of our narcissistic focus on ourselves, they solve the twin problems of pride and low self-esteem, and they give us an almost unavoidable way to live out the commandment to serve others before ourselves. This hurts us, then saves us.

The perfect family is not pre-fabricated somewhere and available for purchase on a wedding register. Family life is a task, a calling we have received from God.

Today’s first reading, from the book of Sirach summarizes the relationship of father, mother and children. Sirach reminds children of their duty to honour their parents – even when it becomes difficult. He also mentions the two-fold reward which the Bible promises to those who honour their father and mother - “riches” and “long life”. These are two things we all wish for. 

 The first thing we can do to live a healthy Christian family life is to respect family roles. Just as the natural structure of a tree includes roots, trunk, and branches, so the natural structure of the family includes dad, mom, and children. They all go together and they all need each other in order to bear the fruit of maturity, wisdom, and happiness.

In his book “My Father, My Son,” Dr. Lee Salk describes a moving interview with Mark Chapman, the convicted slayer of Beatle John Lennon. At one point in the interview, Chapman says: “I don’t think I ever hugged my father. He never told me he loved me…I needed emotional love and support. I never got that.” Chapman’s description of how he would treat a son if he had one is especially tragic, because he will probably never get out of prison and have a family of his own. He says: “I would hug my son and kiss him…and just let him know…he could trust me and come to me…and (I would) tell him that I loved him.” Dr. Salk ends his book with this advice to fathers and sons. It applies equally well to mothers and daughters. “Don’t be afraid of your emotions, of telling your father or your son that you love him and that you care. Don’t be afraid to hug and kiss him. “Don’t wait until the deathbed to realize what you’ve missed.”

The Holy Family literally centered their life around Jesus. Let’s put Jesus at the center of our families too. St. Paul says in the Second Reading “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly … singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Besides going to Mass together let’s read scripture together and pray the Rosary every night to make Jesus a part of daily life.