Merry Christmas to all of you. We find ourselves inside of this sixth day of the octave of Christmas where liturgically we continue to find ourselves on Christmas Day itself until the end of this octave which comes to its conclusion with the celebration of Mary the Mother of God on January 1st. We also continue to find ourselves within the season of Christmas until the conclusion of our celebration of the Baptism of The Lord on January 13th. The season of Christmas reminds us of the importance of "the word made flesh," and today we have the opportunity to celebrate the very fabric of our society which is the family. Today we celebrate the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus which gives great direction to our families amidst the many voices that come to us from our culture. This family shows us our need to love and our need to do so through being informed by the faith that we share. If we can allow the Holy Family into our own families during this Christmas season we will see great transformation take place.
Gadium et Spes, a document of the Second Vatican Council, was concerned with speaking about the role of the Church within the modern world. Within this document time was spent to dwell upon the gift of married life and the family. This section reflected upon the importance of a man and woman giving to each other mutually out of love. In this mutual giving of self the man and woman can achieve holiness through their vocation and bring forth new life. It also reflected upon the necessity that exists for the parents to hand on the faith to their children. The children also have a role to play in helping to aid their parents in holiness. They can achieve this necessary role by obedience and by standing by their parents during hardships and the reality of old age. All of these attributes of the family should be common sense to us, but of course they are not always respected and lived out within our culture and even within our own families.
On December 8th in the year 2009 Pope Benedict said: "Every day, in the newspapers, television and radio, evil is told to us, said again, amplified, so that we get used to the most horrible things and become desensitized... In a certain way, it poisons us, because the negative is never fully cleansed out of our system but accumulates day after day. The heart hardens, and thoughts become gloomy." I believe that these attitudes that Pope Benedict was pointing towards can be found within our own lives and within our own families. In some way we have all become desensitized through the use of media. We are constantly being shown images which clash with the Church's understanding of the family. We are told that the family is an unstable entity where the bond of marriage is not necessary. We are told that marriage itself has been separated from the creation of life and therefore nothing is more important then our own self gratification. Even children are expressed as being radical and thus not needing to be obedient to their own parents.
The Holy Family challenges each of us here to something more. Through the relationship that is found within the lives of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus we are being challenged to allow our lives to circle around our relationship and trust in God. In the Holy Family proper respect and love for each member of the household is found. Joseph respected his wife because he trusted in the gift that was given to her by God and did cast her off from his midst. Mary gave of herself fully to the point of having to watch her own son suffer upon the wood of the cross. Christ continually showed his respect and obedience for his family through his words and deeds. We must remember that following our Gospel reading from today that he went home and remained obedient to his family for eighteen more years before beginning his public ministry. The Holy Family shows us the proof that we can strive for love, patience, forgiveness, humility, compassion, obedience, and all other virtues within our own homes.
Instead of allowing the voices of the media to be the formators of our homes we should turn towards the Holy Family for this assistance. Fathers should turn towards Saint Joseph to receive their example for fatherhood. Saint Joseph was chaste, prudent, just, obedient, and faithful in his life which all make up the attributes of a good husband and father. Mothers should turn towards the Blessed Virgin Mary as their example for motherhood. We know that she was pure, had a loving heart, was obedient, was faithful to God, and loved her son dearly. These are the attributes that are important for both mothers and wives. Children should also look to Christ to receive their formation because he was obedient and loving towards his family. With so many shows and attitudes that exist which attack the true relationship of the family we should be on our guard to protect our own family. We should realize that many of these images that come to us are contrary to what is seen in the perfect model of the family found in Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. It was no mistake that Jesus was found by his family inside of the temple because it was here that his Father dwelt and he realized his own divinity. In our own homes may we also go to God instead of reaching out to the many other things which always come up short in filling the void found in our hearts.
Through the intercession of the Holy Family may we allow our families to be transformed. May we allow our families to be informed by faith instead of being informed by popular opinion. May we take time within our own homes to grow close together through the use of prayer instead of racing after the unending list of things that we must do that constantly pulls us away from our family. May we realize our need to be true fathers, true mothers, and true children by living out the example that has been given to us by the Holy Family.
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