Mt 2:13-15, 19-23 Holy Family

Feast of the Holy Family
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When the Magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.  Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."

Yesterday, I had a family stop by to wish me a Merry Christmas.  I invited the family to come in and to take a look at our Christmas tree.  The children loved it.  As the children were looking around, one of them came up to me and said, "Father, I wish I had a house like yours."  Immediately I replied, "I wish I had a family like yours."

Sometimes we wish for certain things because we take for granted other things.

Examine the crèche.  Once again, the Church invites the people of God to profoundly meditate on the crèche.  Take a good look.  What do you see?  For me, I see not only a stable made out of mud and straw, but a family inside it that considers themselves blessed.  I imagine Mary saying to Joseph, "I feel so blessed to be here" and Joseph replying:  "I do too."

I wish I had a house like yours.
I wish I had a family like yours.

To me, the exterior features of this simple dwelling place are just a carefully crafted façade created to avoid capturing any dangerous person's - or VIP's - attention.   Herod was searching for the child to destroy him.  He never imagined finding a king inside a cave.

What is discernible, even if highly invisible, is the energy inside this holey house.  It is the energy that comes about when human and divine LOVE are mixed together.  It could easily be overlooked by the clumsy or materialistic observer, but never by the observant and faithful follower.   

Joseph loves Mary.  Mary loves Joseph.  They both love God.

I wish I had a house like yours.
I wish I had a family like yours.

The Holy Family.  Today is the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Notice, the Church does not call this feast "The feast of the Perfect Family."  Thank God!  Unfortunately, far too many of us consider Joseph as being the spoiler of an otherwise perfect family.  He isn't.  Holiness has nothing to do with perfection but with replacing; that is, replacing our will with God's Will. 

Joseph is just as much a part of Christ's life as Mary is.  In fact, he is the first sinner to accept his Savior. 

What makes a family holy is not individual perfection but joining hearts and minds together to accomplish God's Holy Will.  The family that prays together sticks together. 

Our family.  Today's feast is an open invitation to all Christian families to holiness.  He wishes to invite all husbands and wives to love one another and to pray (together) for their children. If you think about it, when Jesus, Mary and Joseph spoke to and listened to one another, they were actually praying to/for/with one another!

Are you doing the same?    

From the book of Sirach:  "When [a father] prays, he is heard"  (Sir. 3:2-6).  When you speak to your spouse and children, are you praying?  Are your spouse and children listening to you?

In his beautiful letter to the Colossians, St. Paul invites all husbands and wives to "Put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another...And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection." 

I wish I had a house like yours.
I wish I had a family like yours.