CHRISTMAS: FEAST OF FAMILY
Christmas is a feast of the family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We all are from a family. We all belong to a family. The family is the most important nucleus of our neighbourhood, community, society, church, country, and world.
A sick family system produces a global epidemic of disorder, pains, hatred, and evil and above loveless children with an endless chain of lovelessness. Yet, there is no perfect family anywhere. There are always ups and downs in the cycle of life.
HOLY FAMILY MODEL OF ALL FAMILIES
The feast of Christmas is a celebration of a family. A holy family model of all families that is a shining example to all human families. A holy family who decided to do the will of God and brought about the salvation of the world. The family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is a family that brought much-needed hope, joy, happiness, peace, and love to the troubled world.
The family is the most important nucleus of human society. We all exist because of family. This is why God chose to come into the world through the human family. This is also why the family is under attack from the evil one. The destruction of humanity and its society is only successful with the destruction of the human family. Today, the family is under siege from all sides and angles: – religious, cultural, social, moral, ethical, and economic.
ORIGIN OF HUMAN FAMILY
One of the strongest and indisputable facts of our Christian faith is that God in creating the creational family also created the human family through the institution of matrimony. As if that was not enough on coming to redeem the failing human race came through a family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This is the feast of Christmas.
Any form of association can become a family of ties, interests, or goals. What makes a Christian family unique is faith and its relation with God as its Author, Sustainer, and Finisher.
OUR THEME
The readings of this last Sunday of December and the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph remind us of the essential elements of family. The family though procreation is the second most important stage of Christian marriage besides conjugal love. Marriage and family have the origin and goal in God.
Marriage and family are acts of faith, trust, and confidence in God. The begotten or procreation of children is through faith and equally surmounting familial difficulties is also through faith.
Family tradition and spirituality are also anchored in parental responsibilities and obligations to instil in the children virtues and guidance not only societal or cultural matters but spiritual matters, growth, and development.
The feast of the Most Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph calls and invites us to reflect on our family system and values.
The first reading from the book Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 and the second reading from the letter to the Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 are central to the person of Abraham, his faith, trust, and conviction in god a family for him and of him. A conviction that defies all odds.
FIRST READING: GENESIS 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Abraham received a calling from God with an eternal promise of making him great with countless children. This promise was delayed but he was hopeful that God was faithful to his covenant with him. And indeed, it was realized despite his age and that of his wife Sarah, God blessed their marriage with the gift of Isaac. Children in marriage and family are gifts and blessings of God.
In Psalm 104, the psalmist reminds us of God´s faithfulness and remembrance of his covenant and promise to Abraham and his descendants forever. A reminder for us to be patient and wait on God for his generous blessings upon us and our family.
SECOND READING: HEBREWS 11:8, 11-12, 17-19
The author of the Book of Hebrews praised the trusting and waiting faith of Abraham our Father in faith. In faith, he trusted in God even when there was a delay in the fulfilment of God´s promise. It was with faith he overcame familial and generational obstacles. The conception and sacrifice of his son Isaac were all surmounted through living, practice, and patient faith.
THE GOSPEL: LUKE 2:22, 39-40
The gospel of Luke 2:22-40 presents us with the model of a faith and spiritual family whose desire was not only to fulfil the laws but also cooperate with God to bring about salvation.
Equally, the Christmas story of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph continues. It is not just a question of collaborating with God´s salvific plan. They are model for a Christian family to live within God´s plan and design.
As well as, spiritually and parentally fulfilling their responsibilities and obligations to faith education, values, and virtuous teaching. Remarkably, the Holy Family faithfully obeys God’s law given through Moses concerning the purification of the mother and the redeeming of the child by presenting Mary and the Baby Jesus in the Temple.
The celebration of this feast of the Holy Family invites us to reflect on our family virtues and values:
1. To model our family after the lowly, humble, and simple family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph full of love, grace, and peace.
2. A model of family that makes their home and family the first domestic Church of God´s dwelling presence.
3. It is the model of mutual respect, understanding, and acceptance of every member of the family.
4. It is also the model of parental responsibility to educate and enrich their children’s lives both in human knowledge and divine or godly knowledge as well as spiritual growth and development.
5. The Holy Family is a perfect model of an exemplary lifestyle and living, the best Christian testimony of a Christian father and mother as well as a godly husband and wife in holiness, sanctification, and faithfulness to God and each other.
6. A model of family that learns to rely on God´s divine providence, intervention, and guidance.
7. Model of forgiveness, love, and patience that makes their home a place of fraternal correction rather than a courtroom of fighting and settling disputes.
8. The Holy Family teaches us that marriage and family are correlated to fulfil God´s divine purpose.
9. God is at the centre of the Holy family and must be the centre of our family too. In a truly holy family, all members are respected, cherished, nurtured, and supported, united through the bond of love.
10. Finally, forgiveness is the lubricant of daily family life amidst tension, difficulties, conflicts, failures, pains, disappointments, differences, misunderstandings, and misjudgment.
WITHOUT VALUES FAMILY FAILS
The desire of many Christians to imitate the family of Nazareth has favoured the ideal of a family bound together in harmony and happiness. Yet, in a Christian family, there is a need to promote the authority and responsibility of parents, the obedience of their children, family dialogue, and solidarity. Without these values, the family fails.
It is only through a family that we can live and develop to the full maturity of our potential as human beings. We learned the sense of duty, responsibility, obedience faith practice, and faith living through our families like Jesus did in his family of Nazareth.
All this was possible through Joseph, the PROVIDENT AND CARING FATHER, AND HOLY AND DEVOTED MOTHER MARY. Therefore, let us pray of the Holy Family Sunday that the example of You, Mary, and Joseph will help families under the attack of modernity to have recourse to them at every moment!
OUR PRAYER FOR OUR FAMILIES
Lord Jesus Christ, our families are in deep crisis because, we have deviated from the divine, natural, and traditional god´s giving purpose of the human family. The feast of the holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph invites us to meditate and imitate their faith journey and experience. Help us, Lord, hold our families together in difficult, crisis, and challenging times through love, trust, and forgiveness. May our human families always be a place of peace, love, harmony, mercy, grace, forgiveness, growth, and development humanly and spiritually! Amen
