HOMILY FOR FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY--12/26/10--THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD

 

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY–12/26/10

 by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

　

READINGS: SIRACH 3:2-6,12-14; COLOSSIANS 3:12-21; MATTHEW 2:13-15,19-23

 

 I. The Flight Into Egypt

A. Joseph was dreaming again. Like his Old Testament namesake, Joseph of Egypt, Joseph of Nazareth was blessed with the gift of dreams and the ability to understand what they meant. And he clearly understood the meaning of this dream and it filled him with fear. It was the Angel Gabriel speaking to him again. This time there was no joy in his voice, no smile on his angelic face. Instead, the angel looked every bit like one of the angels that stand before the face of God--powerful, beautiful, awesome and majestic. And the angel's voice carried compassion and concern and urgency, "Take the Child," said the angel, "take the Child and his Mother and flee to Egypt, for Herod is searching for the Boy and means to kill him. Go now, go this very night, and stay there until I come to you again and tell you it is safe."

B. And Joseph awoke, took Mary and the Child and fled in the night towards Egypt. While Herod was slaughtering the babes of Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary and Jesus, the Holy Family, were fleeing in the night towards the safety of Egypt, where Herod's soldiers could not reach. The trip is shrouded in mystery and dimmed by time, but we must try to recall what it was like. Think of the worry, the fear, the tension and stress on the shoulders of Mary and Joseph. But also, think of their strength. Neither Mary or Joseph complained. Joseph never said to Gabriel, "Where is your promise of greatness for this boy--why the danger now? How can I trust you?" Joseph's days of mistrust and confusion were over. The night the angels sang over Bethlehem convinced him that he was part of the Greatest Story Ever Told. Now he simply trusted and obeyed. By his strength and courage, he saw Mary and the Child Jesus safely to Egypt.

C. And time passed, and Herod died, and in a dream, Gabriel appeared again and said it was time to go home–not to Bethlehem but to Nazareth. The most incredible years of Joseph’s life were over, but the most important years were yet to come.

II. Authority And Tenderness–The Father’s Gift to Families

 

A. For when the Holy Family went back to Nazareth, they settled down to ordinary life, not much happened and yet everything happened. What is famous is not always the most important. For Joseph and Mary set out to make a home for Jesus, a place of stability and love, a place of faith and family. Joseph had learned a lot about what makes for a good family. His experience of God as Father taught him that authority and tenderness were two of the main qualities that held family life together. Had Joseph not obeyed God the Father instantly, Jesus would have been killed by Herod. Had God not sheltered the Holy Family from harm, they would have crumbled in adversity. And so Joseph applied those same traits he learned from God the Father to his own home. 

B. Jesus grew up in a home where parents and authority were respected. He obeyed his foster father and his mother. And authority was not a burden on Jesus. Through cheerful obedience, there was peace in that family. Joseph exercised authority carefully but firmly. He gave the young Christ a structure to home life that enabled Jesus to grow in wisdom and knowledge.

C. And yet, Joseph could be very tender as well, as could Mary. Jesus learned his trade as a carpenter from the gentle yet strong hands of Joseph. He learned how to walk and talk and play from his mother. As his mother and father told him stories of their faith and the folk wisdom of their experience, he learned the little phrases and examples that would come out in his own stories--the parables--that he would tell in later life. He learned to pray from his mother and father. Loving tenderness was also a main feature of the Holy Family’s household.

D. From their own experience of the Fatherhood of God, Mary and Joseph were able to put together a family life that was ordinary and holy. They did not become famous, but they did become very close to God because they modeled their parenting after their experience of God.

E. Today, we need to ask ourselves how we can form our families to be more like the Holy Family. They centered themselves on trusting their experience of God. Do we have God at the center of our family life? Do we pray as a family? Do we talk about God?

F. Joseph took the role of fatherhood seriously and insisted on a family structure where parents were respected and authority was practiced with wisdom. Jesus was content to let his parents teach him and he himself obeyed them. Do we have an atmosphere in our home in which parents are respected and obeyed in a spirit of love? Parents, do you insist on respect and do you exercise your authority with firmness but with wisdom and fairness?

H. Mary and Joseph made sure that the environment of the home was one of peace and prayer–loving tenderness filled that household. Is our home peaceful, where children can develop their talents and personalities, or is it chaotic and unsettling with much tension and argument?

G. Authority and loving tenderness–a recipe from God the Father for strong family life.

Comments

[Polly]

Want to find a copy of this Holy Family picture.