A Happy and Holy Family
By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp. | Sir 3:2-6.12-14; Psalm Ps 128; Col 3:12-21; Lk 2:22-40
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today we celebrate the holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The readings focus on family life and what is necessary for a family to live in love and faithfulness. The gospel reading presents the Holy family as an edifying example of a young family fulfilling the demands of God’s law. The scene describes the presentation of Jesus in the temple, which is the fulfillment of the law given to Moses concerning every firstborn male (Exodus 13: 2). The event quickly became an occasion for the revelation of the salvific mission of Jesus. His parents were genuinely surprised by the prophecy of Simeon concerning Jesus: a child set for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and for whose sake a sword will pierce the heart of his mother.
The obedience of the holy family to the divine command grounds the reflection on family life. Every family that worths the name is founded on eternal values and principles that are rooted in the law of God because God is the ultimate founder of families when he created Adam and Eve. Just as the manufacturer of products, knowing how best to operate and maintain the products for maximum efficiency and long duration, puts down the instruction in a manual for the prospective users, God described, in his laws, the process whereby families he created could live happily. Psalm 119:1-2 states that obedience to the law of God is the guarantee of happiness. The family of Adam and Eve hit the rock due to disobedience to God’s command.
The first reading from Ben Sirach describes what obedience to God implies in the context of the relationship between parents and children. Today’s reading is an excerpt from a longer section (3:1-16) of his work concerning parenting and the honor due to parents. Ben Sirach considered the obligation to honor one’s parents to be an integral part of the life of faith. True love of God, in all its implications, necessarily involves love to others, most of all to parents. Without honor to parents, one cannot claim to honor God because biblical ethics is grounded in honoring father and mother. Exodus 20:12 records honor to parents as the only commandment that has a promise attached to it, and Moses reiterated this very important command in one of his last speeches to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 5:16. It reads, “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
Ben Sira built his teaching on the ancient belief that honor to parents brings long life, the forgiveness of sins, and other blessings. Given that the family bonds endure throughout life, Ben sira saw no reason for the obligation of honoring parents to be related even when the parent had grown old, forgetful, feeble, and/or senile. Children are, in some way, an extension of something about the parents (the DNA) and a prolongation of the family tree. Failure to honor one’s parents amounts to hurting the very channel of life and history.
Given that family is the resting ground where values and virtues are inculcated and cultivated, healthy families are essential to the well-being of society. The second reading details the values that aid cordial relationships in a family. Paul noted in this letter to the Colossians 3:12-13 that heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another are important attitudes that should govern relationships. We know how difficult it can be sometimes, given that we are different in our characters and temperaments. Issues of carrier building, economic hardship, and conflicting interests sometimes exact pressure on the family. The societal values and demands also challenge families in this modern age. Besides, the desire for independence and freedom has also led to radical individualism. Yet the crises all around us remind us that we need each other. We do not only need independence but also interdependence, we need not only freedom but also co-responsibility. We not only need development and progress, but also compassion, love, understanding, and forbearance. The Holy Family teaches us that everyone in the family, even the so-called black sheep, is like a piece in a puzzle without which it cannot be solved.
Everyone contributes something unique to keep the family running. Both the tangible and intangible contributions from every member of the family are essential for a happy home. Jesus had to incarnate in one of the lowliest families to teach us that wealth, status, positions, and all that the world pursue are not necessary to make a happy family. The holy family also teaches us that functions in a family are only different in forms but not in value. We can better appreciate this fact by considering the roles played by Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Then we can discover how important and protective it was for Joseph to accept Mary’s pregnancy which otherwise would have resulted in her death. The same goes for Mary’s role and that of Jesus in human salvation.
Today, we can as well look beyond our nuclear families to reflect on our community as a wider family of the children of God. The diversity of functions, characters, temperaments, and sensitivity is an indication that we all need to take a closer look again at the second reading if we are to have a cordial, respectful, and caring FCC-Gouda of our dream. If the virtues of heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, and forgiveness are important for the nuclear family, how much more essential is it for the bigger family like ours.
Let us pray for a better understanding and appreciation of every family member, and pray for God’s wisdom and guidance in our relationship with one another. Amen.