The Holy Family - Year B - 28th December 2008

Holy Family

Every year right after Christmas, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. There is a reason for this. It's easy to think the "incarnation" means God took on a human body. But there is much more to it than that. In Jesus, God unites himself to an entire human nature. He fully enters into human experience, with all its peaks and valleys. And a part of that human experience, with more than its share of peaks and valleys, is family.

Jesus spent most of his years in the obscure nitty-gritty of family life. Though only a few chapters are devoted to this lengthy period, what they reveal is significant. First of all, despite the cuddly image of our nativity scenes, the original Christmas was anything but cosy. A woman nine months pregnant rides 75 miles on the back of a donkey over bumpy, dusty roads so she can have her baby in a stable full of dirty, smelly animals. Quickly after the birth they have to pick up and flee for their lives, seeking asylum in a foreign land. A few years later, the now adolescent son goes missing for a few days, and there ensues a conversation characterized by no little emotion. Like every family, the Holy Family is faced with challenges, difficulties, tense moments, and opportunities for misunderstanding.

In entering into family life, Jesus elevated its dignity, sanctifying it, and ennobling it. The family, up until then naturally good, becomes an instrument of sanctification and growth in holiness.

Think about it. The creator of the universe spent most of his human life as a craftsman, working as a tradesman. Mary, the holiest of all creatures, spent most of her time cooking, and cleaning. The secret to holiness is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love and gratitude.

The family is the first school of a child's education. In our case, as believers, that formation means a solid basis in the faith and moral activity. We cannot leave to others this basic responsibility. The bottom line is this - we don't become holy despite the hustle-bustle of family life, but in and through it.

As we pause after our Christmas celebrations, let us recommit ourselves to do our best to live our family life based on the person of Jesus Christ who grew in wisdom and knowledge in the home created by Mary and Joseph in Nazareth.

Fr Kevin O'Shea, C.M.