Martin Madalai Muthu csc –
Readings: Sir 3: 2-6; Col 3: 12-21; Mt 2: 13-15, 19-23
Today the Church commemorates the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Family is a gratuitous gift of God. It is a small Christian community where we first receive love and faith in Jesus Christ. Today’s Gospel highlights how the family is united and supportive of each other in the face of danger. The book of Sirach reminds us that honoring and respecting the parents guarantee a life of gladness and reward from God. St. Paul in his writings to Colossians lists the important virtues, highlighting the virtue of love which adorns the life of every member of a family. He also stresses upon keeping Christ as the focal point of our family. The Holy Family at Nazareth is a model for our families. They would have related together, talked, had fun, disagreed, worked, eaten, dealt with problems, and encountered everything else that makes up daily family life.
However we could say that what makes them stand firm together to overcome all the problems and difficulties are their mutual love, prayer, obedience to God’s word and their total surrender and trust in the providence of God even in times of difficulties. The holiness of the Holy Family reveals to us that every family is invited to share in God’s divine life and to encounter ordinary daily life with grace and virtue. All families are called to be holy like the Holy Family of Nazareth. What makes a family holy is its God centered life. Our family becomes holy when we allow the Word of God and the peace of Christ to rule and dwell in our family. Let us strive to make our family holy by imitating the example of the Holy Family at Nazareth.
As we reflect upon the families we could see some families are strong in virtue, some struggle with basic communication. Some are faithful day in and day out; some are broken and deeply wounded. No matter how imperfect we are, let us know that God wants to enter more deeply into our family life and he desires to give us strength and virtue to live as the Holy Family. Surrender ourselves and our family and invite the Triune God to make our family a holy family.