Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. We must also remember our own families and for us to consecrate all the members of our family to God. God gives and sustains family life because it is the sacrament of His holy presence by the manner of how the love, respect and honor is shown by children to their parents and for parents to be the first teachers of faith to them.
In the gospel passage from St. Luke, Jesus manifests His Jewish culture and humanity of His time to unfold the importance of family relationships. They come together to keep their religious traditions by relating to the supremacy and holiness of God. Through a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the feast of the Passover to recall God’s saving Israel from the slavery of Egypt is their sacred past.
After the celebration of Christmas, we are invited to focus on the Holy Family and learn from them. Luke gives us a glimpse of how Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived their faith and love.
First, Jesus, Mary and Joseph went to the Temple in fulfillment of the Jewish traditions worshipping and honoring God. It is God who is the center of their relationships. At His early age, the young Jesus was familiar with the festival and how He would spend His time at the temple. He engaged in the sharing of the word with the experts of the scriptures, questioning the religious leaders and observing His religious tradition of family reverence and authority.
Second, after three days, Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus, the twelve-year-old lad, was not among the returning caravan. They could not find him with other relatives, and they must have panicked. This event is an experience of being troubled and anxious, and they needed to move quickly to find the lost child. Life for Mary and Joseph was not a bed of roses, and life was not perfect for them either. Instead they had been through rough times in their life just like any other family we know; however, what stands out is their perfect and total faith in God as they walked into the mystery with their questions and with their aspirations to let the child grow and to watch over Him with their loving care.
Third, Jesus was found inside the temple surrounded by religious elders and discussing things of the law with the teachers. He had a short conversation between His parents and Himself, and then Jesus returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, faithful to the customs of the family and being obedient to them.
I personally thank my parents for guiding me to the basic Christian principles of giving value to friends and family relationships. Today, it’s my birthday, and I thank God for the gift of life which I am extending to you the joy of having a spiritual family. My siblings, with their coordination with my relatives and friends in Reno, are planning a surprise birthday party late this afternoon. Somebody told me accidentally, and that’s how I learned it. How I wish to invite you all to that party.
Our purpose for living is to be an instrument to reverse the human experience from shame and sin to holiness of life. Jesus apparently saves us from death so as to redeem us for God. Almost every person, family or group Jesus would eventually meet was so we would know Him better for our change and transformation. Our human relationships, either family or church community, belong to a family of God which reminds us of our constant conversion. Holiness has to do with being so human that each of us knows our need for forgiveness and for forgiving.
Husbands and wives are bound together to confront themselves of their weaknesses and strengths and accept themselves by relating to each other in faithfulness and love. Children should enter the process of support, respect, and love of their parents with gratitude by way of their good manners and humble attitudes, promoting each member of any family who lets God’s grace form its ways. Living with Jesus’ peace in our hearts will make it much easier to be compassionate to all family members, especially families who are struggling right now.
We belong to a family, and we are not alone. Let us trust God to learn our worth which begins with our own family. The family that knows how to love knows that love heals, and then comes our strength to face the demons that destroy us because when we call, God answers us because God exists amongst us. When we open up to God, our labor of love flourishes from our family, church, and country. Surely, we cannot tolerate the “culture of walls” that divide us because it rejects love itself. Let us allow ourselves to be open and available to accept the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us.
Fr. Arlon, osa
