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The Feast of the Holy Family (Year A)

On this Feast of the Holy Family, we reflect upon the reality that the all-powerful and all-mighty God of the universe chose to enter human history in a way that far exceeds our wildest dreams. He became a man and lived in the midst of a family on the lower rung of the socioeconomic ladder. Family life is not merely nice. It is a sacred and hallowed reality that should inspire awe within our hearts if we even just begin to comprehend what is called the hidden life in Nazareth: those thirty years Jesus lived in the midst of his immediate and extended family before his public ministry.

The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life … May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character. (Catechism, no. 533)

If God became man and lived within the heart of what otherwise would look like an ordinary family life, then this should forever change the way we look at the events, the ongoing life within each of our homes. These homes are the fertile ground from which saints are educated, nourished, grown, and formed.

It is all fine and well to speak of the tremendous value of the family and what otherwise would seem like normal activity within the home. But, what can we take home to live out this new vision practically? The first reading (Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14) and the second reading (Colossians 3:12-21) serve as our instruction manual for family life. Don’t take my word for it. Open up that family Bible and get to reading, as a family.

In the Book of Genesis, the life of Joseph (the son of Jacob) is narrated. Joseph was a dreamer as well as an interpreter of dreams (Cf. Genesis 37-41), and by way of these two divine graces, Joseph served as the instrument whereby Jacob and his twelve sons were saved from famine. This marks the beginning of the life of Israel, which descends from these twelve men.

In today’s Gospel, Joseph (the father of Jesus) saves his family through his obedience to a divine dream: “the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him’” (Matthew 2:13).

It is no wonder that Joseph holds the traditional title of “Guardian of the Lord.” It is also no coincidence that God chose Joseph to be his own earthly foster father. Joseph serves as both a sign of God’s fatherhood as well as a model for all Christian fathers. He loved his family by providing for and guarding them, which in turn gave Joseph perfect joy. He was and remains a genuine man in contrast to the false image of manhood advertised in the media: independent and callous.