Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  Recently I have done a lot of reflecting on the impact and importance of family on our lives.   Looking at my own family, I realize that my sisters and brothers are far more important to me now than they were twenty years ago.  Now that our parents are gone, my siblings and their families are all the immediate family I have left.  What holds us together are common memories, experiences and our love for each other.

In addition to our biological families, many of us have created other families for ourselves.  Again, looking at my own life, all my siblings live overseas.  What has made my life in the USA easier are the relationships I have developed here.  I have a family of priests, a family of parishioners and a family of friends all who support me in my ministry in various ways.  These people have made my life richer and fulfilling.  Our immediate families (and I am including adopted families in this instance) nurtured us and helped us to grow into the people we are today.  The families we create for ourselves support us now, where we are and continue to nurture our growth. 

In Biblical times, family lineage was a matter of great importance because it was through one’s lineage that a person could demonstrated that they were true Israelites.  This is true of Jesus and is why Matthew began his gospel listing forty-two of Jesus’ human ancestors.  In fact, the whole Christmas story is built around the importance of lineage.  But in today’s gospel, Luke 2:41-52, something extraordinary happened.   This is the story of the twelve-year-old Jesus breaking away from his family and establishing ties with a different family, the family in his “Father’s house.” 

What is interesting about this story is that it is the last we hear of Jesus until he begins his public ministry approximately eighteen years later.  During those eighteen years all we know is that he was obedient to Mary and Joseph and “he advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”  But in many ways, this story sets the stage for Jesus’ public ministry because once he sets out, he never returns to his family.  His new relationships were built around the people who followed him and included the twelve apostles, all the disciples, special friends like Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Mary Magdalene and many others.   

No matter what our familial relationships are, St Paul instructed the people of Colossae and he instructs us on how to practice the virtues of a new life in Jesus Christ: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.  And over all these put-on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:12-17).  This is what Jesus did and what He expects us to do. 

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