Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Psalm 105:1-6, 8-9
Hebrews 11:9, 11-12, 17-19
Luke 2:22-40
This weekend Mother Church
celebrates the feast of the Holy Family, holding up for us the most perfect
models of Jesus, Mary & Joseph. These giants of holiness are examples of
every virtue we can name, which can easily lead us to discouragement and to
question how in the world we can even look to them as models when we ourselves
fall so far short of their example. In celebrating this most holy of families,
it is important to remember that God doesn’t require of us the holiness of
Jesus, Mary & Joseph but rather the holiness that we ourselves are called
to and able to attain. And so we turn to this family to contemplate how it is
that they lived and seek some encouragement in living our own lives. In a
pastoral visit to the Holy Land, Blessed Pope Paul VI spoke of his desire to
become a child once more and grow up learning in the ‘school of Nazareth’ where
the Holy Family dwelt and where Christ grew in grace and wisdom. And so today I
want to take a few moments and speak to the reflections he offered on that trip,
that they might continue to bear fruit with us today.
Of the many things that the
‘school of Nazareth’ offers to us, we begin first with the aspect of work.
Every one of us has some ‘work’ that we seek to accomplish in the course of our
days. Some have 9-5 type jobs, others do shift work, some are out in the
fields, some working in the home, students work on their studies, and those
without work still have hobbies or some other task to accomplish in the midst
of the day. These things are valuable in themselves and have a great dignity.
They provide us opportunities for self-discipline, cooperation with God in some
manner of creativity, service to others, and a means by which to sustain
ourselves in this life. This work, however, can seem to be at time anything
other than good and dignified, turning out to be something that consumes us
rather than something that serves us and others. Admittedly this consumption
takes place in certain situations or times of the year, but it should not be
the norm and the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth helps us to focus all
of that work towards it’s ultimate end: God. Catherine Doherty once said that
“Every little thing should be done perfectly, completely connect to God. ‘This
also, Lord, for love of You.’” When I read it initially, it seemed that it was
saying to do everything perfectly and completely connected with God, but it was
a call to do everything perfectly connected to God, completely connected to
God. It is a call to give our best in the work that we do, knowing that
sometimes it is rough to make things work as we desire, but doing all for love
of the Lord. With each task we do, to look far off in the distance and see how
it can benefit yourself and others and do it for love of them and God.
The second aspect we can
contemplate in Nazareth is that of the family. In the Holy Family we see the
perfect model of love and community, virtue and compassion, a strong foundation
and a place in which children can grow into healthy adults. We see this
clearly, but what strikes me even more for us today is the impact a family can
have. In my office I keep a little bookmark that was given to me that says ‘One
good priest can change the world’ and it includes a picture of Fr. Michael
McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus. It drives home how one
priest’s work has literally changed the world through the ministry of the
Knights. But if one priest can change the world, how much more can a whole
family accomplish? We don’t have to look just at the Holy Family to see the
effects. We can look to St. Augustine and Monica, who are known world-wide. Or
St. Therese of Lisieux, who has millions invoking her intercession daily, and
her family that didn’t do great acts of holiness but simply tried to live their
particular call to holiness in their little town. And the world has changed. We
can say the same for most of the saints as they most often came not from pagan
origin but good Christian families trying to become holy people. Abraham and
Sarah received the promise of generations as numerous as the stars of the sky
and because of their faith it happened. And God isn’t done working with His
people; what might happen if we decided today to become holier husbands and
fathers, mothers and wives, children and siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles?
What might happen if we try to be holy people making up holy families today?
This presupposed the last piece
for reflection: silence. Silence is where the Lord speaks to us and silence is
almost impossible to find today unless we intentionally seek it out. When we
content ourselves to be always entertained by electronics, caught up in
distractions, and working on todo lists, we miss that most necessary piece of
our day in which the Lord of Creation wants to speak to us of those things and
much more. The invitation, then, is to be people of faith just like Jesus, Mary
& Joseph and to spend some time daily in prayer and reflection, pondering
these things in our hearts as we await the voice of the Lord to make Himself
known to us. I want to encourage you, if you aren’t already doing so, to spend
at least 5 minutes a day in silence. You’ll be amazed at what God can
accomplish in 5 minutes. But if we all spend those few minutes with the Lord it
will permit us to follow Him and grow in grace and wisdom just as Christ did.
Another fruitful activity might be the daily examination of conscience – the
reflect back on the day with the Holy Family and see how the day went. To focus
on a crucifix or other image of the Lord, Our Lady or St. Joseph and question
ourselves. How did I love like You today, Jesus? How did I have faith like you
Mary, Joseph? Where did I do well in serving others as I am called? Did I do my
work well for the Lord or did I do it out of frustration? Where did the Father
speak to me today? These and many other questions can give us ample opportunity
to reflect on the ways in which God is acting daily in our lives and inviting
us to journey with Him to heaven.
May the Holy Family be not only
for us a model to follow but intercessors to fill us with the grace fo God and
indeed make us holy people, holy families, to the glory of God and the Kingdom.
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