Chapter Chaplain's Homily Reflection - THE HOLY FAMILY (2023)
THE HOLY FAMILY A family is a basic social unit consisting of parents and children – it can be by consanguinity, affinity, adoption or common faith as in St. John XXIII Church family. A family can be said to be wealthy if economically buoyance or poor; happy or unhappy, good or bad, peaceful or dysfunctional, loving or holy as in the case of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What made the Holy Family holy is not only the presence of the Godman but the way Mary and Joseph practiced their faith? One thing common with every family is life’s challenges. The way we respond to such challenges shows the stuff on which our family is built and engineered. Our perspectives on family challenges determine the dynamics on which our faith is built: either on religious values or on worldly standards. Joseph’s family is holy because they allowed their faith in God to determine how they responded to the challenges of their family. The first reading tells us that a holy family is one in which respect and honor guide parent-child relationships. The second reading tells us that a holy family is governed by love. The Gospel tells us that the holy family is guided by love and respect. Right from the day Joseph and Mary accepted God’s will in lives, they were filled with joy as a faithful family but not without problems. Mary took in and became a disappointment to Joseph, her husband, Mary’s child was delivered not in the inn but in the manger, Herod, the then head of State of Israel picked up quarrel with Mary and Joseph to kill their baby. They ran and were forced to become refugees in faraway Egypt. But they patiently went through all these challenges with success because they had great faith in God and the Messiah, Jesus, was with them. Mary consented to God’s will with respect. She and Joseph responded selflessly to challenges of the formation and growing of Jesus with patience and long suffering. Jesus, in spite of being God, stooped low to obey parents and live at their level by applying himself and talents. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Lk 2:52). As Christians who have Emmanuel, who is God with us, we often have our family fuse: we want to take a family picture, the husband looks around and groans because his daughter is engrossed in a video game he cannot seem to leave. The clothes you are wearing clash with what your spouse has on; the teenage son is wearing a ragged T-shirt, and his face is dirty and hair dangling. For such a family to function, Paul admonishes us today to put on love and compassion. Love knows it is not perfect yet, so it makes allowances for other’s mistakes and forgives their wrongs. Love knows that its understanding and knowledge is limited, it puts on humility. Love knows that the world is full of hurtful words and deeds, so it tries to make the home a haven of kindness and gentleness and respect. Love realizes that growth takes time, so it practices patience. Love gratefully welcomes and treasures every family member, looking for the good in them. This is the only way to realize the Messiah who is born in our family, Emmanuel, who is God with us. So, in the spirit of the Feast of the Holy Family that we celebrate today, we acknowledge that there is no better way to celebrate the daily spirit of Christmas than by sharing love and visits with family, friends, and the poor and needy. There is also no good way to celebrate today than to emulate the life and love of the Holy Family. Fr. Imo Chaplain Arrowhead Desert Valley Chapter |
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