Today's readings for the Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph focus on three families, The Holy Family, the family of Samuel, Hannah and Elkanah and finally the family of God of which we are all a part. Mary, Joseph, Hannah, and Elkanah were devout, prayerful, faithful and trusting people who were obedient to God. Worship was a regular part of their daily lives. They loved God and God clearly loved them. They took their responsibilities as parents seriously and they nurtured two extraordinary children. Hannah and Mary recognized that their children were gifts from God, that they belonged to God and both realized that ultimately, they had to return their children to the Lord to serve Him.
As I reflected on the readings, one phrase, from 1 John 3: 1-2, captured my attention, "Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. And so, we are.... We are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Because we are children of God, we try to keep God's commandments: to believe in Jesus Christ and to love one another. By keeping the commandments, we remain close to God and are a vital part of God's family and God remains with us and in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What this scripture passage from John says to me is that each one of us is a child of God. Each one of us belongs to a Holy Family. And each one of us has the responsibility to encourage holiness in the people closest to us – the people in our earthly families especially our children. God has a plan for each one of us including our children. Like Mary, Joseph, Hannah, and Elkanah, we must recognize that our children are a gift from God and they are not ours to keep. While we have them, we should provide them with a loving, nurturing and faithful environment so that they, like the child Jesus, can advance “in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Luke 1: 52).
God our Father,
we give you all thanks and praise
that you chose for your Son a human family.
Through the prayers and example of Mary and Joseph,
may we too learn to make room for Jesus in our lives,
that he may grow up in us day after day and make us more like him.
Teach us to rely on your word,
that in our trials as in our joys we may
be clothed in gentleness and patience and united in love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Amen
