The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph A
Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6, 12-14 Psalm127:1-5 Rv1 Col. 3:12-21. Matthew 2:13-15. 19-23
My son support your father and mother in their old age.
Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
You are God’s chosen race, his saints.
Get up, take the child and his mother and escape into Egypt.
After the magi had left, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.'
14 So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt.
20 and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.'
21 So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel.
22 But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the region of Galilee.
23 There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.
Where love was supreme
We know little of the Holy Family. We can however pick up some gleanings from the Gospels. Joseph was her husband and devoted to Mary. After their betrothal but before they lived together, Mary was pregnant. Joseph knew one thing for certain: he was not the father of her child. He could have had a public enquiry. But he was unwilling to cause Mary distress and so decided to let her go quietly. Then at the angel’s word he takes her to his house and names her child, thereby publicly accepting Jesus as his son. According to Luke he takes his wife Mary with him to Bethlehem. He is with her when she delivers her first born. He goes with Mary to the Temple to present Jesus to the Lord. Luke tells us that each year Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover. With her he searched for Jesus when he was lost. Both were amazed at the words of Jesus. With great love he cares for Mary and Jesus as we see in today’s Gospel. He arises at night and flees with them to Egypt. Then when the danger has passed he brings them back to Nazareth. No word from Joseph, but he is the anchor of their family. We can imagine what love he had for Jesus and Mary.
Many of the values Jesus would live by later he learned from Joseph who was an upright man and fulfilled the Law. This was the atmosphere Jesus grew up in. In the home of Nazareth there must have been great mutual respect and patience with the ability to control anger. From his parents Jesus learned to respect others and make allowances for their weaknesses. Jesus constantly gives himself to others and never thinks of himself. He becomes the friend of tax-collectors and sinners. That is how Mary and Joseph brought him up. Mary and Joseph gave Jesus the greatest gift they could. They gave him a family of stable and indissoluble love. Jesus grew up to have the strength to carry the sins of the whole world.
God is love and God is a family. Father and Son are two Persons united in their Love which is the Holy Spirit, the third Person. Each earthly family takes its name and is to be modelled on this heavenly one. The bond between husband and wife is to be love and their children the fruit and image of their mutual love. This is God’s vision and plan. Our prayer for every family is contained in the second reading: be clothed in sincere compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. The Lord has forgiven you, now you must do the same. Over all and to keep them together and complete them put on love.
Decide today to make your family an oasis of love and peace.
Father, grant that every family becomes a home of love where all can grow.
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