As we continue to join in with the whole Church in the celebration of Christmas, today we pause to meditate on an amazing truth: that when Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, God chose to come to us through a family. He chose to live as part of a family, as the son of Mary and Joseph, quietly and obediently working in Nazareth.
The Church invites us today on the feast of the Holy Family to meditate upon the family life of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. God chose to be born, to live and to grow in wisdom within a family. God now shares the experience of family life with us. He has truly become like us in all things but sin!
Today’s first reading from Sirach gives us advice on how to live a healthy family life based on mutual respect, love and understanding. We hear that God blesses those who honor their parents and God hears their prayers.
We can say that parents exercise a natural authority over their children, and this authority, when used properly, allows children to learn the necessary lessons to live a good, balanced and healthy life. Children learn from their parents the meaning of sacrifice, respect and surrender. On the opposite side, children owe their parents a natural obedience. A child that is not obedient quickly gets lost. Parents are there to guide, teach and help their children, especially when they go down a wrong path.
This is an ideal view of family life. The fact is that parents oftentimes are uneasy or recognize their inadequacies as parents while children (young and old) find it difficult to obey. Yet parents are called to heroically assume their awesome and unique responsibility as parents. For those of you who have children, this is the most important thing you will do in your life: form the minds and hearts of your children. As parents, you are your children’s first teachers, teaching them about God, teaching them how to be respectful and teaching them how to be good citizens.
Oftentimes parents feel unprepared to guide and educate their children. It is a parent’s responsibly to seek the help and resources necessary to be good parents. To seek advice from trusted friends, perhaps from their own parents. Your children are watching you and they notice everything, especially if they are very young. You will not be able to expect from your children in the future what you yourself don’t show them by word and example today, so it is important to be a good parent.
The greatest responsibility of parents is to prepare their children for heaven, to teach them about God and their faith. You have a spiritual responsibility over your children, a responsibility for their souls. Every parent who has baptized a child has committed to doing this. If as a parent you do not speak of the faith to your children, if you do not speak about Christ and back up your words by your example, all your other efforts to raise your children will be in vain.
Today’s Feast of the Holy Family reminds us of the importance of the family as the foundational block of society. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that “the family is the privileged setting where every person learns to give and receive love.” In the family children learn to love and to be loved so in the future they may know how to relate to others and to a loving God.
Saint Paul gives us some insight on how to maintain strong relationships, and so maintain strong families that can truly be solid foundation blocks of society. There must be compassion, kindness, humility, gratitude and patience. Husbands and wives must love each other as Christ has loved us, surrendering completely to each other. Loving one another even until it hurts. Children must be obedient to their parents in the same way Jesus was obedient to the will of his heavenly father. When this self-giving love is present in a family, there will be understanding, mercy and peace.
When the family structure is threatened as it is today, the future of our society is in danger. We need strong, faithful and dedicated families to be a witness of the sanctity of marriage and family life. To witness to the presence of Christ among us in the world bringing hope to a world begging for a glimmer of hope. What we need are holy families modeled after the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, where God is the center of family life and love between all members abounds. The holy families of today will produce the saints of tomorrow.
May the Lord present among us at the Eucharist, grant us the grace to have strong, Christ-centered holy families where we learn to be loved and love.
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