Feast of the Holy Family – Year A
This Sunday’s Readings
First Reading
Sirach 3:2-7,12-14
Honor to one’s parents will be rewarded.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 128:1-2,3,4-5
Happy are those who follow the Lord’s ways.
Second Reading
Colossians 3:12-21 (or shorter form, Colossians 3:12-17)
Do all things in the name of Jesus and give thanks to God.
Gospel Reading
Matthew 2:13-15,19-23
In a dream, God tells Joseph to flee to Egypt to protect Jesus from King Herod.
To live the gospel of the family is not easy today. Those who want to defend life from the moment of conception are criticized or attacked. Yet in the Gospel we find the way to live a beautiful life on the personal and familial level, a way that is certainly challenging, but attractive and all-embracing. It is a way that still deserves to be trusted and undertaken after the example and through the intercession of the Holy Family of Nazareth itself. There are happy and sad, serene and difficult moments in every family. This is life. To live the “gospel of the family” does not exempt us from experiencing difficulties and tensions, of encountering moments of pleasant fortitude and painful weakness. Families who are wounded and marked by weakness, failure, difficulty…can rise again if they learn how to draw from the font of the Gospel. There, they can rediscover new possibilities of starting over.
Background on the Gospel Reading
Today we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. As we do so, our Gospel invites us to consider Joseph’s protection of Jesus in the face of danger. Just as in the announcement of Jesus’ birth, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. The angel warns him of Herod’s plans to harm Jesus. Joseph follows the command of the angel and takes Joseph and Mary to Egypt, returning only after receiving word in another dream that it was safe to do so.
This feast is part of the Christmas season, so we should look at today’s Gospel in the context of what Scripture tells us about Jesus’ birth. Today’s reading is found in the Gospel of Matthew, following the story of the visit of the Magi. Recall that Matthew’s story about the birth of Jesus makes Joseph the primary character. Among Matthew’s themes in this infancy narrative is Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the messiah. Indeed, the story of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt recalls the story of Moses in the Book of Exodus.
It should also be noted that today’s reading omits the verses that recount Herod’s order of the massacre of the infant boys in and around Bethlehem. We mark this event on the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 28.
These events remind us of the difficult reality of Jesus’ birth. While the story of the Magi’s visit will be recalled in our liturgy on the Feast of the Epiphany, our Christmas celebration is made more sober by the recollection that not everyone received Christ’s birth with joy or obedience. Herod’s jealousy and malice contrast with Joseph’s obedience to the words of the angel. The Holy Family’s escape to Egypt and the massacre that Jesus is saved from remind us of the struggles and sacrifices that are required as preparation for God’s salvation.
The Holy Family on the sorrowful road of exile
Pope Francis
On this first Sunday after Christmas, the Liturgy invites us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Indeed, every nativity scene shows us Jesus together with Our Lady and St Joseph in the grotto of Bethlehem. God wanted to be born into a human family, he wanted to have a mother and father like us.
And today the Gospel presents the Holy Family to us on the sorrowful road of exile, seeking refuge in Egypt. Joseph, Mary and Jesus experienced the tragic fate of refugees, which is marked by fear, uncertainty and unease (cf. Mt 2:13-15; 19-23). Unfortunately, in our own time, millions of families can identify with this sad reality. Almost every day the television and papers carry news of refugees fleeing from hunger, war and other grave dangers, in search of security and a dignified life for themselves and for their families.
In distant lands, even when they find work, refugees and immigrants do not always find a true welcome, respect and appreciation for the values they bring. Their legitimate expectations collide with complex and difficult situations which at times seem insurmountable. Therefore, as we fix our gaze on the Holy Family of Nazareth as they were forced to become refugees, let us think of the tragedy of those migrants and refugees who are victims of rejection and exploitation, who are victims of human trafficking and of slave labour. But let us also think of the other “exiles”: I would call them “hidden exiles”, those exiles who can be found within their own families: the elderly for example who are sometimes treated as a burdensome presence. I often think that a good indicator for knowing how a family is doing is seeing how their children and elderly are treated.
Jesus wanted to belong to a family who experienced these hardships, so that no one would feel excluded from the loving closeness of God. The flight into Egypt caused by Herod’s threat shows us that God is present where man is in danger, where man is suffering, where he is fleeing, where he experiences rejection and abandonment; but God is also present where man dreams, where he hopes to return in freedom to his homeland and plans and chooses life for his family and dignity for himself and his loved ones.
Today our gaze on the Holy Family lets us also be drawn into the simplicity of the life they led in Nazareth. It is an example that does our families great good, helping them increasingly to become communities of love and reconciliation, in which tenderness, mutual help, and mutual forgiveness is experienced. Let us remember the three key words for living in peace and joy in the family: “may I”, “thank you” and “sorry”. In our family, when we are not intrusive and ask “may I”, in our family when we are not selfish and learn to say “thank you”, and when in a family one realizes he has done something wrong and knows how to say “sorry”, in that family there is peace and joy. Let us remember these three words. Can we repeat them all together: may I, thank you, sorry. (Everyone: may I, thank you, sorry!) I would also like to encourage families to become aware of the importance they have in the Church and in society. The proclamation of the Gospel, in fact, first passes through the family to reach the various spheres of daily life.
Let us fervently call upon Mary Most Holy, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, and St Joseph her spouse. Let us ask them to enlighten, comfort and guide every family in the world, so that they may fulfil with dignity and peace the mission which God has entrusted to them.
Angelus 29/12/2013
OPEN TO GOD’S PROJECT
The Gospel stories leave us no room to doubt. According to Jesus, God has a great project: build a great human family in the world. Attracted to this project, Jesus is completely dedicated to the fact that everyone feel God as their Father and all learn to live as brothers and sisters. This is the path that leads to salvation for the human race.
For some, today’s family is on its way to destruction because it has lost the traditional ideal of «Christian family». For others, any novelty is progress toward a new society. But how is a family open to the humanizing project of God? What features could we identify?
Love between the spouses. That’s first. The home is alive when the parents know how to love each other, support each other mutually, share pains and joys, forgive one another, dialogue and trust in one another. The family begins to be dehumanized when selfishness, arguing and misunderstandings grow.
Relationship between parents and children. The love of spouses isn’t enough. When parents and children live in confrontation and with hardly any communication, family life becomes impossible, joy disappears, everyone suffers. The family needs a climate of mutual trust in order to think about the good of everyone.
Attention to the most fragile. Others need to find welcome, support and understanding in their home. But the family becomes more human above all when the smallest are taken care of with love and kindness there, when the elderly are loved respectfully and patiently, when the sick and handicapped are treated carefully, when those who are going through hard times are not abandoned.
Openness to those in need. A family works for a more human world, when it isn’t closed in on its own problems and interests, but lives open to the needs of other families: broken homes without work or any income, who need material help; families of immigrants who ask for welcome and friendship.
Growth in faith. In the family we learn to live what’s most important. That’s why it’s the best place to learn to believe in that good God, Father of all; to get to know Jesus’ way of life; to discover his Good News; to pray together around the dinner table; to take part in the life of the community of Jesus’ followers. These Christian families contribute to building that world that is more just, dignified, and happy – the one God wants. They are a blessing to society.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
https://www.feadulta.com
GOSPEL REFLECTION
Matthew 2:13-15,19,23
The people of Israel were waiting for a Messiah who would repeat the glorious deeds of Moses, the great leader. This expectation was founded on what the liberator had said before he died: “Yahweh, your God will raise up a prophet like myself, from among yourselves, from your own brothers” (Dt 18:15). Matthew in his Gospel wants us to understand that Jesus is this new prophet. Using the teaching method of his time, he does not say so explicitly, but explains to us how the life of Jesus was similar to that of Moses.
Pharaoh gave the order that all male children of the Jews be thrown into the river (Ex 1:15-22). Herod ordered the killing of all the children in Bethlehem. Moses was the only one who escaped the massacre (Ex 2:1-10) and the same thing happened to Jesus. Later on, Moses had to flee to avoid being killed (Ex 2:15). Jesus was forced to do the same. Finally, when those who wanted to kill him had died, Moses was told, “’Go, return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.’ Moses then took his wife and his son, and putting them on a donkey started back for the land of Egypt” (Ex 4:19-20). These are the same words we find in today’s Gospel (v. 20).
It is clear that Matthew wanted to show Jesus as the new Moses. I have insisted on this point because this year we shall be commenting on Matthew’s Gospel and we will often come across this parallel between Moses and Jesus.
Today’s Gospel is also linked to the quotation from Hosea’s prophecy: “I called my son out of Egypt” (v. 15). The prophet probably means the people of Israel who in the Bible are called “my first-born son” (Ex 4:22). The Israelites were called out of Egypt to the Promised Land. By applying this saying to Jesus, Matthew tells us that Jesus identifies himself with the people he wants to save.
READ: The Book of Sirach instructs us in the Fourth Commandment—honoring our father and mother, and the many blessings it brings. Paul speaks of what makes for a peaceful and holy family—love, deep respect, mutual submission, obedience, compassion, forgiveness, and the centrality of God. Matthew narrates the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.
REFLECT: What made the family of Mary and Joseph holy? Even in the midst of life’s struggles, they remained faithful to God and to each other. Do I expect God to remove all the struggles of everyday life just because I have remained faithful to him?
PRAY: Pray for broken families in our midst. Pray that our families may become holy and blessed. Pray for the values of love, deep respect, mutual submission, obedience, compassion, forgiveness, and centeredness on God to reign supreme in our families.
ACT: Visit other family members and dine with them, especially your parents. If distance prevents you, give them a call and engage in loving and respectful conversation. Bless each other in your family.
Fernando Armellini
Italian missionary and biblical scholar
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
