Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family:
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 or 1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 or Psalm 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10
Colossians 3:12-21 or Colossians 3:12-17 or 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24
Luke 2:41-52
At Christmas we find Christ in the manger. In Bethlehem, announced by angels to shepherds, the Church draws our minds first to that lowly place, out of the way.
What we have been seeking, purifying ourselves by penance to find, is this child – this small and unlikely thing. Caesars, governors of Syria, petty princes: these should no longer impress us. What we have found here, a true king and savior, is this swaddled and vulnerable baby still in need of protection. This is the miracle and the first demand of faith, that we should believe God has done such a thing – become small for our sakes, that Word dwelt first in such fragile flesh.
But now the Church invites us to meditate upon the family of this child – this singular and holy family. There is something beautiful about this. It’s one of the first effects of the incarnation that to contemplate the coming of God we must now contemplate a human family. And, of course, we needn’t elaborate here upon the theology that makes it so; we may simply point to the graceful fact that in Christ this holy family is our family too, that what the holy family is our families may become – small sacred mangers, little holy homes, communities of love open to God.
Christ is born within a family. That’s the point. Thus, in our families too Christ may be born. That’s the other point. But to make such a claim without further detail is mere sentimentality. It lacks the strength of good religion. It offers no actionable advice. Which is why this curious story from Luke is so valuable.
The story, a mystery, is about how Mary and Joseph lost Jesus after they had celebrated the Passover and were on their way home. At first they didn’t notice he was missing. After searching for him among family and friends, Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem only to find Jesus in the temple after three days. Here we can step back and see with innumerable interpreters some sort of foreshadowing of Christ’s death and resurrection in his having been lost and found in the temple. Christ is found in his Father’s house and about his Father’s business; he is risen and ascended to the right hand of the Father. That’s the parallel.
That’s the mystery, the truth this story teaches, what even Mary and Joseph had to learn. In this story, on the surface almost comedic, Luke is telling us something important about who this young Jesus is. This story is a foreshadowing of the work of Christ in his Passion, an image of his coming death, resurrection, and ascension. Already, not a few days into Christmas, and the Church is preparing us for Holy Week and the sacred Three Days.
But again, the graceful fact: this holy family is our family too. What does this story teach us about our holy families? If we are to fully understand who Jesus is, then we must understand him within the context of his Father’s work – that is, his death, resurrection, and ascension – so too may we only understand ourselves fully, our children and our friends too, within the same sacred context.
That is, to know about Jesus rightly is to know he is the only Son of the Father, the savior of the world. Another way to put it: to know Jesus is to know his work and his destiny. Without knowing the work Jesus was given by his Father to do, it is impossible to know who Jesus really is. The same is true for me and you. It’s true for your children.
To understand and serve your children at all, you must understand their work and their destiny; and that’s not just to go to college and get a job but to become saints. Here we come to the moral invitation embedded in this story Luke tells. What is my spiritual vocation? What is the spiritual vocation of those around me, especially those closest to me?
Which is the reflection demanded of us all. Yet, on the feast of the Holy Family it seems appropriate to reflect especially on parents and their children. This is not to denigrate the vocation of single people. We all have a stake in the good of families, which is why it’s okay to focus on families on feasts such as this. It’s why it’s good to conclude our reflection by asking such questions about the families that are ours as well as others.
Have we parents searched for Christ in our children? I mean, have we given due consideration and honor to our children’s spiritual vocations? Or have we been so busy driving them to the next sporting event that we’ve forgotten to ask the spiritual questions about what our children’s lives are really for? Have we forgotten that our families are meant to be holy and that to be holy we must be about the Father’s work? Have we forgotten the vocation of the family? If so, we must make our way back to the temple. We mustn’t remain lost.
Father Joshua J. Whitfield is pastor of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas and author of “The Crisis of Bad Preaching” (Ave Maria Press, $17.95) and other books.
