Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Today's Mass Readings

When we imagine the Holy Family, we could imagine an idealized family – the first century version of Leave It to Beaver with unpleasant episodes being nothing more than worrying if Jesus prayed a little too much! The sweetly beautiful paintings and statues of a placid-faced Virgin Mother, wise-beyond-His-years Christ Child, and rock-solid St. Joseph might strike as naïve.

And yet, for all the pooh-poohing of what the Holy Family is portrayed as, the gospel reveals a different truth. The account of losing and finding the 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple could conjure up images of school shootings, and what it must be like to be parents desperately waiting to find out if their child was spared. We understand Mary’s exasperation: “Son, why have you done this to us?” And yet, the Christ Child is nonchalant, revealing His divine Sonship and proclaiming His obedience to the Father before returning to Nazareth to be obedient to his parents.

The Holy Family was a real family. The hidden life of Jesus before His public ministry was necessary. It’s a model for what we call the Domestic Church. When we gather from everywhere – different families, single persons, priest – we represent our local church, and are representative of the institutional Church. The family at home, though, is a real type of church too!

As the Baptismal Rite instructs parents: “In asking to have your child baptized, you are accepting the responsibility of training him in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor.” Thus, the Domestic Church is the first school of Christian faith and charity. But, of course, the family as church, the family as school is not one with desks and books. The classroom is everyday life. While we don’t necessarily enjoy it, we know we learn best by mistakes. And life is full of surprises. 

Again, this is the reality unidealized into which God is present. When a marriage begins, the bride’s eager to show off the engagement ring, the couple are proud to show off their marriage rings – but how eager are they to embrace the suffer-ring? And yet, the saints show us the greatest joys only come passing through suffering. 

Maybe you’ve heard of the Seven Sorrows of Mary? One episode is losing Jesus. But there are also the Five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, of which the fourth one is this: The FINDING of Jesus! The incident teaches Mary to ponder the mysteries of God in her heart, reserving judgment and hysterics, to discern God’s handiwork.

The Domestic Church prepares us for the other forms of Church, especially this important larger Church that is enriched and made by the Eucharist we celebrate. A holy family we do see – like that of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – prepares us to be a part of God’s family in heaven we long to see.

Reflection Question: So many parents suffer from watching their children stray from the practice of the Faith. What are the concrete ways that you deliberately express your own relationship with the Lord Jesus so that your family, friends, and colleagues may have your witness?

Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB