In the House of the Father

December 26, Sunday

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY

 

It may come as a real surprise to us to hear Jesus ask Mary and Joseph: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be where my Father is?” Even Joseph and Mary had still to learn and to grow in their faith. Like the Holy Family, our families and each of us have also to grow in the faith. Perhaps it is through painful trials like the one of Mary and Joseph that our faith may become mature. We too are asked: Did you not know…?

Busy with the Father’s Affairs

It is perhaps hard for us to imagine that Jesus, God’s own Son, was really human, that he grew up not only physically but matured as a person and discovered little by little who he was. Of course, the whole Holy Family sought to do the will of God but we see Jesus affirm today that he has become aware that he is especially close to the Father and that God’s loving will is all that matters. Isn’t that all that matters for us, too, and should also we not grow closer to God? Let Jesus here in this Eucharist help us to become mature in God’s love.

 

First Reading: Sirach 3:2-6,12-14

Children of Wisdom are counted among the just; their generations are known for obedience and love. Yes, you children, listen to the advice of your parents. Follow it and you’ll be saved. Parents should be honored and respected by their children. Honor your mother and father and God will wipe out your past sins; he’ll help you deal with the occasions of present sins; he’ll hear your daily prayer. Honor your mother and it’s like putting money in the bank. Honor your father and your own children will honor you. Your prayers will be answered. You’ll live a longer life. Obey your father and your mother will rest well.

A father’s blessing enriches his children’s homes; a mother’s curse does major damage to a family. If your father messes up, don’t spread the news; his shame does no good for you. A man’s reputation comes from his father. A mother’s disgrace filters down to her daughter. Child, support your father in his old age; don’t do something that will make him sad. If he shows signs of senility, give him a pass. Don’t turn from him in his last days. Caring for a father won’t go unnoticed.

 

Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-21

Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

 

Gospel: Luke 2:41-52

Every year Jesus’ parents travelled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the Feast. When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t know it. Thinking he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbours. When they didn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt.

His mother said, “Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you.”

He said, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” But they had no idea what he was talking about.

So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.

 

Prayer

God our Father,

we give you all thanks and praise

that you chose for your Son a human family.

Through the prayers and example

of Mary and Joseph,

may we too learn

to make room for Jesus in our life,

that he may grow up in us day after day

and make us more like him.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Make your family your confessional

On the last Sunday of the calendar year, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. On this feast day, we are offering our own families and all the members on the altar to ask God to bless them and to obtain for them the guidance of the Holy Family.

Today’s Gospel describes the fifth joyful mystery in the Rosary prayer. Only St Luke (2:41-50) reports the event of the child Jesus being lost and then found in the temple. They travel around 80-90 km from Nazareth to Jerusalem.

We are surprised by the behaviour of Jesus: he stayed in Jerusalem without informing his parents. Has it not occurred to him what anguish he would have caused his parents? And when they found him, Jesus seemed surprised that they got worried. Perhaps we forgot for a moment that what we are looking at is not a chronicle!

How is it that they find him after ‘three days’? How is it that they did not seek him in the temple first? Indeed this is a theology text composed of biblical images. Luke wants us to interpret the text in the story correctly. In the story, he never names Mary and Joseph. He always says, ‘the parents’, ‘the father’ and ‘the mother’. And in Jewish culture, the term ‘parents’ or ‘father’ represents the link with tradition. And for an Israelite, the mother is Israel: the one who has begotten her people.

We also find this ‘mother’ in other Gospels. In the Gospel of John, Mary is not named. It is said that the mother was present at the foot of the cross, but it does not say Mary is the mother. We must pay attention to this expression. Luke introduces into the narrative these parents as representatives of tradition.

The parents look for him, and after three days, they find him in the temple. That three-day search is a clear allusion to another desperate three-day search: that of the women who find him on the third day of Easter. They will seek Jesus in the wrong place, among the dead, defeated, and condemned in history. Instead, the God of surprises surprised everyone by showing that he is alive and has conquered death.

While celebrating the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 2013, Pope Francis pointed to the Holy Family as “the example for our families, helping us to become families of love and reconciliation, where there is tenderness, mutual help, and mutual forgiveness.

For your reflection
Remember the three keywords that Pope Francis suggests for peace and joy in the family: “may I”, “thank you” and “sorry”. When in a family, one realises he has done something wrong and knows how to say “sorry”, in that family, there is peace and joy,” said the pope.

 

Video available on Youtube: Make your family your confessional