Homily for Holy Family Year B 2017-2018
SIR 3:2-6, 12-14, COL 3:12-21, LK 2:22-40
Introduction
You probably know that there are two main ways of celebrating Christmas, the Catholic way and the way of Macy's', JC Penney, Best Buy and indeed society at large. Perhaps the best way to notice the difference between the two is when they celebrate Christmas. Macy's' Christmas began the day after Thanksgiving and ended on Christmas Day. In fact, on the morning after Christmas as I was driving to Mass, I turned on my favourite radio station, Magic 101.9 WLMG, to listen to some Christmas carols – but there was none. I then tuned to my second favourite station, and the third, and the fourth, but Christmas was done and finished. All they said about Christmas was how to return the gifts you did not like.
But just when Macys' Christmas was ending, when some were putting the Christmas trees in the trash and the decorations back in the attic, Catholic Christmas was just beginning. We celebrated Masses at the vigil, midnight, and on the day itself, with family dinners, exchange of gifts and so on. And then Christmas continues on for an Octave, that is, for a whole eight days, celebrating various feasts, each of which reinforce and explain something more about the Christmas message.
- On December 26, we had the feast of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, reminding us by his death of the reason why Jesus was born at all, to die on the Cross for our salvation.
- On December 27, we had the feast of St. John, the apostle and evangelist, the beloved disciple of the Lord, reminding us by his writing of the reason why Jesus was born, all those Jesus said and did, that John passed on.
- Then on December 28, perhaps more directly connected with Christmas, we had the feast of the Holy Innocents, the children who Herod killed in an attempt to get rid of Jesus, foreshadowing the death of Jesus on the cross.
And then we reach today, the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's Day, when we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, which is our focus for today. As you can see, because the Christmas mystery is complex and profound, it cannot be contained in one day, and continues on and on, for an Octave and even beyond. But what does today's feast of the Holy Family have to tell us about the Christmas story?
Scripture and Theology
The gospels do not spend a whole deal of time describing the family life of Jesus. But from the few gospel passages, we can paint a portrait of the Holy Family. In today’s gospel, for example, we see the religious life of the Holy Family. Jewish law required that "Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord." in other words, every first born son male animal, had to be given to the Lord. Mary and Joseph were not exempt from doing this. But because they were poor, the law allowed them to offer “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” instead of the standard offering of a sheep.
Their presentation of Jesus and offering in the temple was nothing different from what any other faithful Jewish family would do. But there is more. As we heard in the gospel, while carrying out these rituals at temple, Joseph and Mary met two prophets, Simeon and Anna. If Joseph and Mary were expecting to sneak in and out of the temple with minimum fuss, that was not to be. Simeon and Anna outed them, and let the cat out of the bag, revealing to all that this baby of theirs, was going to be something great; he was going to be the Saviour of Israel. And so, these prophets revealed the principal reason of why the family of Mary and Joseph are Holy, because their son, Jesus, is also the Son of God.
Christian Life
What about our families, whose children are not sons of God, how can they be holy families? Let us look these two words, "Holy" and "Family" individually.
First, family is the basic unit of society. “You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family" we are reminded by the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Going on it says: "an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.”
Our first reading from the Book of Sirach, for example, lays out the relationship between parents and children. It says: "God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother's authority he confirms over her sons;" translation: "Mom and Dad" are in charge. This business of children ruling the roost goes counter to the God-given authority and responsibility parents have to raise their children and educate them. As for children, besides obeying their parents, which goes without saying, Sirach also tells them to care for them, especially in their old age. Yes, we children are enjoined to do for our parents what they did for us: feed them, take them to the hospital, even change their diapers.
Obviously this was the relationship between the child Jesus and his parents. At the end of the gospel we heard that when the family returned to Nazareth, “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” Yes, Jesus continued to grow physically, intellectually and spiritually in the family. Sometimes we think that Jesus, being God and all, did not need any parenting; but actually that is not the case. His mama, Mary had to teach him how to walk, how to speak and even potty-trained him. The teenage Jesus probably worked with his dad in the carpentry workshop and learned from him that trade and manly values. Jesus had to learn how to read and especially how to read the Scriptures, which as we hear him speak in the gospels he got to know very well. Jesus learnt the Jewish faith and prayers from his parents who took him to the local synagogue at Nazareth and once a year took him to the temple in Jerusalem, where like any parent, they forgot him when he was twelve. But at the home in Nazareth Jesus was "obedient" to his parents and there he "increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man."
In our second reading from Paul's letter to the Colossians, St. Paul suggests some marvellous qualities for the Christian family: "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another . . . ." and concludes by saying: "And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection." These qualities, he says, should apply to all family members, but especially to spouses who must have mutual respect.
Now to the second word, "Holy." What makes a family holy? In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says: "So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48). Being holy therefore means being like God as 1 Jn. 3:2 tells us, sharing in the divine life. Our families share in the divine life when we worship God just like Mary and Joseph did in fulfilling their religious obligations; for while it is true that the family that eats together stays together, it is even truer that the family prays together, stays together. In addition, our families share the divine life when we separate ourselves from sin and evil, by eliminating sinful habits and opening room for God to come and be among us. And so, it is not enough that family members get along; it is not enough that our family is not dysfunctional. To be holy, God must be front and centre of our families.
Conclusion
And so we return to the two ways of celebrating Christmas that I began with. Another way of differentiating Catholic Christmas from cultural Christmas is to think of them as two trains on a journey. Macys' train began its journey a month ago, and on December arrived at the train station called Christmas Day, its last stop. Meanwhile, on December 24th, the Catholic train just set off and is now passing through a region called the Christmas Season and will continue on a journey that will take it a whole year, making stops in towns with names such as Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Pentecost, Assumption, Immaculate Conception; passing through regions called Lent, Easter, Ordinary Time and Advent. This train, piloted by God in his Church, will return to the Christmas Station, next year on December 25th.
And so, which of these two trains have you booked tickets for yourself and your family, so that like the Holy Family, yours is a holy family?
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