THE HOLY FAMILY, A MIGRANTS’ FAMILY.
December 29 2019: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph - A
A Ghanaian proverb says, “The family is like the forest: if
you are outside, it is dense; if you are inside, you see that each tree has its
own position.”
The Catechism, quoting Paul VI in his address at Nazareth on
January 5, 1964, states, “The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to
understand the life of Jesus - the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson
of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition
of mind, revive in us… A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what
family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its
sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the
"Carpenter's Son", in you I would choose to understand and proclaim
the severe and redeeming law of human work…” (CCC 533).
This long introduction pitches us in the deep of today’s feast,
the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Family is Holy! Family is life!
Family is love! Most of all, family is a place of comfort, protection and
security. Human family is the place where, husband and wife and children find
their haven of peace in the most common environment. We won’t lack of attributes
to describe family. Simply, because, family is all and without family there won’t
be anything. Society, church and all exist because of families and for family.
Speaking of human family, the Church has thousands of words
to describe it. Among all its teaching, “Familiaris Consortio” of John Paul II
stands as the Vademecum of the magisterium of the Church. From it, we can
complete the list of attributes and outstanding reflections on the family. For example,
Familiaris Consortio strongly affirms that, human family is based upon marriage
between a man and a woman. This is the foundation, the corner stone of family
life (Cf. FC 11). Then the document will present family as a community of life
and love; family as the first living cell of society (FC 42); Family as
domestic church (FC 59); Family as sanctuary of life (FC 55); Family as a
structure with its own rights and duties (FC 44-46); and lastly, but not the
least, a call on family to become what it is: Holy (FC 17).
The feast of the Holy Family is a call to reflect on our
different families in all their components: Father, Mother and Children. Can we
pattern our human families on the model of the family of Joseph, Mary and
Jesus? Joseph, from biblical sayings, is a holy and just man. Of Mary, more is
said of her fidelity and obedience to God's will. And Jesus, the Son, being God
himself, is irreproachable in virtue. What then about our families? Are we
schools of virtues and examples of holiness?
Human family is a composite cell where each member has a
specific role to play and a mission to fulfill for the betterment and wellness
of all. In that sense, the 1st and 2nd readings of our
today’s celebration come as exhortations to each component of the family cell.
Sirach in his wise address invites children to seek how to fulfill the fourth
commandment for their own good. He says, “Whoever honors his father atones for
sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up
riches who reveres his mother.” It is obvious that, the first beneficiaries of
obedience and kindness to parents are children themselves.
The second reading them comes as addition of advices. These
are open to the entire family. Paul distinctly addresses fathers, mothers and
children on what they should do for the good of the family. These exhortations
bind parents and children to set as priority their family, their life together.
Because family is all about love, and because it is love that creates and sustains
the family link, Paul can encourage, “Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and
beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing
with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against
another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these
put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.” These Paulinians words are but
principles of a holy living. In these he invites wives to submit to their husbands;
husbands to love their wives, and never treat them harshly; children to obey
their parents; parents, and mostly fathers, to not exacerbate their children. All
these are, as we said before, for the good of the family cell.
The human family, however, being a cell is inserted in a
wider cell which is the society. As a result, it happens that it faces some
social situations and difficulties. The gospel put us in confront of one of
those difficulties: the problem of immigration. The Holy Family of Joseph,
Jesus and Mary is a family of migrants, even more, a family of refugees.
The scene of the fleeing in Egypt describes the sad situation
of many families in our today’s world, where, husbands, wives and children are
obliged to flee home either to have life safe from wars, from persecutions,
from famine, or for a better life. Immigration is one of the real plagues that
threaten many families today. Family itself is not a problem. But sadly,
families are exposed to so many problems.
We will like in this day, where we celebrate the
Holy Family of Nazareth, to invite for a special prayer for migrant families. Immigration
is one of the many causes of broken families, besides the others that we often
provoke by our choices. May Sts. Joseph, Mary and Jesus watch over our human
families and intercede for us. That the Joy of love experienced by families may
always be our joy, the joy of the church and the joy of the society (Amoris Laetitia
1). Because when family goes well, all go well, the society and the church as
well.
Comments
Post a Comment