YEAR A
Feast of the Holy Family
Sirach 3, 2-6. 12-14; Psalm 128; Colossians 3, 12-21; Matthew 2, 13-15. 19-23
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
MERRY CHRISTMASTIDE.
Jesus Christ born at Christmas is the light born into a world of
darkness. The powers of darkness rise up in opposition to his truth
and goodness and seek to overthrow him. Joseph is warned in a
dream several times in the infancy of our Lord to rise up, take the
child and his mother and flee from those who seek to take his life.
Today, also, the goodness and holiness of Christ arouses the rage
and fury of the devil and his angels. Anyone who bears the name
Christian must realize their own share in the battle against sin and
darkness. But the breastplate and armor of Christ are sufficient
protection against any assaults the devil might mount. The devil must
work through human beings who choose to cooperate with him in his
works of darkness, as he has no power of his own against God.
Prayers of exorcism are as relevant today as they have ever been in
the lives of Christians. The Catechism speaks of the events in the life
of the infant Christ as part of the cosmic struggle between the devil
and God.
The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents
(Mt 2:13-18) make manifest the opposition of darkness
to the light: 'He came to his own home, and his own
people received him not.' (Jn 1:11) Christ's whole life
was lived under the sign of persecution. His own share
it with him. (Jn 15:20) Jesus' departure from Egypt
recalls the exodus and presents him as the definitive
liberator of God's people. (Mt 2:15). (CCC 530)
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We are members of the family of God, the people of light, who are
conformed by baptism to Christ. We share his grace so that,
conformed to his suffering and death, we may rise with him to
"newness of life." We have joined the cosmic struggle between
darkness and light, but go forward to battle confident that his "yoke
is easy" and his "burden is light." He is victorious over sin and
death, and we too share in that victory through faithfulness and
perseverance on the day of battle.
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as,
together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick
YEAR B
Feast of the Holy Family
Sirach 3:2-6,12-14; Psalm 128; Colossians 3:12-21; Luke 2:22-40
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"This child is destined to be...a sign that will be opposed - and
you yourself shall be pierced with a sword ." Simeon the prophet
greets the Holy Family with words grim and foreboding. Welcoming
a new child into the world is a joyful time, a moment full of hope and
promise. But this man, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaks words
which inspire trepidation, not expectation.
"The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn
Son who belongs to the Lord. (Lk 2:22-39; Ex 13:2, 12-13) With Simeon
and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Savior - the name
given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as
the long-expected Messiah, the 'light to the nations' and the 'glory
of Israel,' but also 'a sign that is spoken against.' The sword of
sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and unique
oblation on the cross that will impart the salvation God had 'prepared
in the presence of all peoples.'
To welcome any child into a family is a time of joy, but every life also
includes the sword of sorrow. The Holy Family is the model for all
families, the "icon" of the family. Every family, according to God's
plan, begins in the bond of a man-husband and a woman-wife, who
share in an exclusive and life-long commitment. In responsible
parenthood the married man and woman preserve the right of every
child to be brought into the world within this bond of one man and
one woman. The family of our Lord is holy, not only because Jesus is
the God-Man and Mary is an immaculate creature and Joseph a
saint, but also because of their love for and obedience to God's plan
and their service of one another.
Today the family is the subject of social manipulation and
experimentation, a tragedy with far-reaching implications. We may
use the name 'family' to describe whatever we please, but God has
made plain, through Jesus, Mary and Joseph, his will for every family.
Every child has a right to enjoy the security of committed love and
consistent example, both of a man-father and a woman-mother. If
any woman was capable of running a household singlehandedly, our
Lady was, and God might very well have asked Mary to go it alone,
but he didn't. He called on Joseph to marry, love and protect our
Lady and to be the foster-father of the God-Man, Jesus. God
demands that each child have the gift of an authentic family life.
Under God's law, every child has a right to be naturally conceived.
The divine Artisan has crafted man and woman such that they are
capable together of bringing new life about in a manner particular and
never to be replaced. The child-yet-to-be-conceived depends
completely upon the holy cooperation of man and woman with God
in this regard.
Every family must struggle, as the Holy Family did, not only to do
God's will when it is easy but also when it calls for sacrifice or
hardship. In a recent audience, our Holy Father spoke on Simeon's
prophecy of the "sword" which would pierce Mary's heart with
sorrow. In the shadow of that prophecy, the Pope pointed out, the
Virgin Mary "united her life, in an intense and mysterious
fashion, to the sorrowful mission of Christ. She became a
faithful cooperator with her son for the salvation of the human
race."
Because of our encounter with the Savior and his family, we know
that God's grace enables us to struggle, despite our sinfulness, to live
up to his plan for the family. Though without sin, the family of the
Savior was not shielded from hardship. Do we expect to attain our
call to holiness without some sacrifice, toil, or self-denial? We know
that forgiveness, given to us with the new-born Christ and completed
on the cross, makes it possible for husbands and wives to live in a
love of generous reconciliation with each other. Their deepening
relationship provides the environment of security and well-being that
nourishes every child's deepest hunger, the hunger for love.
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as,
together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy." Father Cusick
(See also CCC 149, 529, 575, 583, 587, 618, 695, 711, 713.)
YEAR C
Feast of the Holy Family
Sirach 3:2-6,12-14; Psalm 128, 1-2. 3. 4-5; Colossians 3:12-21; St. Luke 2: 41-52
In these days following our Lord's birth, we contemplate the
mysteries of his hidden life at Nazareth.
During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the
condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily
life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual
labor. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to
the law of God, (Cf. Gal 4:4) a life in the community.
From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus
was "obedient" to his parents and that he "increased
in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God
and man." (Lk 2:51-52.) (CCC 531)
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Jesus's obedience to his mother and legal father fulfills
the fourth commandment perfectly and was the
temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in
heaven. The everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph
and Mary both announced and anticipated the
obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not my will..."(Lk 22:42)
The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his
hidden life was already inaugurating his work of
restoring what the disobedience of Adam had
destroyed. (Cf. Rom 5:19) (CCC 532)
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The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter
into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events
of daily life:
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The home of Nazareth is the school where we
begin to understand the life of Jesus--the
school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of
silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable
and indispensable condition of mind, revive in
us...A lesson on family life. May Nazareth
teach us what family life is, its communion of
love, its austere and simple beauty, and its
sacred and inviolable character...A lesson of
work. Nazareth, home of the Carpenter's Son,"
in you I would choose to understand and
proclaim the severe and redeeming law of
human work...To conclude, I want to greet all
the workers of the world, holding up to them
their great pattern, their brother who is God.
(Paul VI at Nazareth, January 5, 1964: LH, Feast of the
Holy Family, OR.) (CCC 533)
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The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that
breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden
years of Jesus. (Cf. Lk 2: 41-52) Here Jesus lets us catch
a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a
mission that flows from his divine sonship: "Did you
not know that I must be about my Father's work?" (Lk
2:49 alt.) Mary and Joseph did not understand these
words, but they accepted them in faith. Mary "kept all
these things in her heart" during the years Jesus
remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life. (CCC
534)
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I look forward to meeting you here again next week as,
together, we, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick
(See also paragraphs 472, 503, 517, 531, 583, 2196, 2599 in the CCC.)
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