FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY
This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, and it is a good time to stop and reflect on the meaning of the Family. As we reflect on the family with the continuing COVID19 pandemic we remember those families who are struggling at this time. We also remember those families who have lost loved ones this year for whatever reason and we say a prayer for all of them.
This Sunday, we commemorate a family in deep stress because their Son is seen as a threat to a jealous king as Joseph and Mary are running for their lives from Herod the Great. Tradition says that after three years in exile, another angel informs Joseph that Herod is dead. The Holy Family returns to their homeland, not to Bethlehem, since the new king who reigns in his father’s place is also a barbaric ruler. Joseph brings Mary and Jesus to his native town of Nazareth in Galilee. There, they lived a simple ordinary life, Joseph as a carpenter, and Mary as his wife and mother of Jesus.
Jesus grew in holiness and in knowledge of God’s will in the same ordinary ways that families do in our day. We also remember the care that Mary and Joseph gave to Jesus. We recognize the sacrifice they made for Jesus, in the same way as we recognize the sacrifices our parents made for us and many more are making for their children today in our I want I get world. For us who have come together to celebrate the Holy Family of Nazareth, the feast is a reminder of all that the Christian Family has means to us. We remember that we have come to know Jesus through the guidance and the love and support, of our parents! In this Sundays Gospel reading Simeon makes his prophecy about Christ’s destiny and as it says, ‘the child’s father and mother stood there wondering about him. Every parent wonders about their children and every parent is full of hope for their children. Over a period of time this might turn in to fear and anxiety, but the fundamental feeling of hope is still there.
We hope that everything will turn out well for them; we hope that they will make a success of life; we hope that they will be safe and keep out of trouble; and that they will be happy. As we think about family life and what it is now we pray that the great ideal of the Family will continue to be cherished and that we will celebrate it in our own lives and the lives of our families especially during the COVID19 pandemic.
Fullerton T 