FAMILY LIFE IN THE LORD, CONCERN FOR EACH OTHER.
December 31, 2023.
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
“The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said
about him…” Luke 2:33
A Kiganda proverb says: “A united family eats from the same
plate.” A Russian proverb adds: “If the family is together, the soul is in the
right place.”
There is a quote from Patrick Peyton, also known as
"the rosary priest", which has become very popular and famous: “A
family that prays together stays together.” It is so because family prayer is
the sacred time to express our gratitude for all the blessings we have received
and continue to receive from God. Through family prayer, each member united
with the others, and invite God's love and protection into our home. And, in
praying together, we teach our children and the young generation the importance
of faith and trust in God. Prayer is the oxygen of Christian life. Family
prayer is the cement of fidelity, enduring love, and concern for each other.
Family in se is sacred. Because when God the Most High chose
to become a man, he made himself a member of a human family. From the very day
of the Incarnation of Christ the Son of God in the family of Joseph and Mary,
every human family has become the home of God, a beacon of love.
"The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter
into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life: 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... To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up
to them their great pattern their brother who is God." CCC 533. This
article of the Catechism enlightens many elements every human family should
cultivate in order to become holy families and places where God is daily incarnated
and welcomed.
For God's daily incarnation in our families, each family is
summoned to make room for the Word of God, to listen to it with attention and
elation, and to live it. Today's readings, as we celebrate the feast of the
Holy Family of Nazareth, present the example of a family that is always led and
enlightened by the Word of God, a prayerful family. It is a family where
obedience reigns as a key value. Children obey their parents and care for them,
even in their old age.
In the second reading, we are suggested about what should be
the attitudes of each member of a family. A clear orientation is given about
the constitution of a normal and God-wished human family, a family born from
the matrimonial union. It speaks of husband (a man), wife (a woman), and
children, the fruit of the union between man and woman. After instructing that
God should be the pivot and central element of every human family, Paul
addresses individually each member of the family about their obligations and
relationships with other members. To the wives, he exhorts them: "be
subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord." Because family
life is a cocoon of love, this love should be expressed in obedience and
subordination. To the husbands is asked the greatest of all: "Love your
wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them." To love is to be able of all
needed sacrifices. The model of perfect and sacrificial love is Christ. So, St.
Paul exhorts husbands to love their wives after the model of Christ's love for
the Church his spouse. (Ephesians 5:26–27)
To the children, the recommendation is about obedience,
exactly what Sirach, in the first reading, insisted on. It is all about
complying with God's will expressed in the 4th commandment: "Honor your
father and mother..." We owe our respect and honor to our parents because
they are God’s representatives to provide for us shelter, food, clothing, and
education. They fulfill all our needs related to our physical, spiritual, and
intellectual growth. Hence, they are our greatest benefactors. Our parents are
our gods on earth honoring and obeying them means honoring and obeying God who
sets their duty and responsibility on us. Refusing to obey or give the rightful
honor to our parents means opposing God's will and this exposes us to the
consequences of the divine rule.
Regrettably, many people live without any respect for their
parents. And as if it was not enough to despair and disrespect their own parents,
they also have no respect for the elderly and people in authority. Some have completely
forsaken their parents, even when they are going through difficult situations.
I saw recently a short video on social media of a mother, an old lady appealing
to her daughters who deserted her some 37 years ago. She begged them to come
and see her before she died, and that was her Christmas wish. The question we
could put is, what could be the reasons for children to forsake their parents?
Parents are our gods on earth, may we not forget it.
Paul ends up inviting parents to care about their
relationship with their children and this is also vital for their education and
their future. Today, unfortunately, the education of children is left in the
care of social media and the society, if not the street. Many parents have
deserted from their responsibilities as educators. And even teachers and
schools are no longer sound grounds for education. Children go to school only
to get grades and degrees, and not to be educated. The consequences of this
lack of education are felt in the society.
Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and the secret life of the Holy Family of Nazareth should call upon our attention. How are our families? What do we give as models to each other? Are obedience, humility, prayer, and subordination, virtues dear to our families? Is your family a school of love and a house of prayer? Could every one of our families make this a challenge, not only to pray together but also to come to mass together? May the Holy Family of Nazareth come to the help of your family in every situation you go through.
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