Lk. 2:41-52
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The first Sunday after Christmas is dedicated to the Holy Family. It reveals the importance of the institution of family in the life of the Church. Without a second thought, we can say that family is the basic fabric of every civilization. Wherever families are flourishing, the church is also flourishing. Wherever families are undergoing crisis, the Church is also facing the same in its faith journey, vocations, and internal solidarity. The only way to revive the church is to revive our own families. There should be sincere efforts to assist our families to find their Christian roots and a gospel atmosphere wherein gospel values of life and joy should be upheld and lived. The celebration of this feast of the Holy Family is an exhortation to imbibe the spirit of the Holy Family in our lives.
Today’s gospel passage presents to us an episode from the life of the Holy Family. Indeed, it was a crisis moment, but it did not break the Holy Family; rather, it strengthened and deepened their bond. Let us analyse the factors that made the Holy Family a model family, first and foremost the centrality of God in their lives. This event happened when Jesus was twelve years old. This gospel passage begins as it was their custom every year to visit the Jerusalem temple. Their first priority was to seek God and His Will in their lives. They never compromised their relationship with God. It was the Jewish custom that the first born belonged to Yahweh. Therefore, they should sacrifice an offering before the Lord instead of their first born. The Holy family observed it exactly. In the first reading, we see a prefiguration of this holy family in the family spirit of Elkanah and Hannah’s family. When they receive Samuel after their long-awaited prayers, instead of keeping the child for themselves, they offer it to God. The Holy family also does the same when Jesus reaches 30. He dedicates his life to his Father’s mission of establishing his kingdom. Is there this centrality of God in our families? We are very much concerned about the career and future of our children, but do we examine their prayer life and relationship with God? In this pandemic time, we all learned how to live through this pandemic and we started to engage in everything as usual, except in the church services. Many families have not yet come for the Sunday Mass. Some families, parents have started to come, but the children are not yet brought to the church. We don’t know how long this pandemic will last, but we should not forget the centrality of the Lord in our lives, who is greater than the pandemic.
The second factor that we can imitate is the bond of love that existed among the members of the Holy Family. When they realised that Jesus was found missing, they did not take him for granted that he would come back by himself. They had almost completed their return journey, yet they went back in search of Jesus. They didn’t blame each other for missing thier child. Instead, they shared their responsibilities and went to find Jesus together. Dear friends, the best means to encounter crises in our families is this shared responsibility without blaming each other. At times, parents complain about their children’s lack of obedience, being addicted to mobile phones, etc., parents blaming each other, children complaining about the workaholism of their parents. The Holy Family teaches us that the bond of love among the family members should be nurtured and cared for through their loving responsibility for each other. If family members remain indifferent to each other, the bond will perish.
The third factor is their attitude of obedience to God and obedience to each other. They listened to God and they listened to each other. When Mary says: “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you with great anxiety.” Jesus says: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” We may consider it a difference of opinion in the Holy Family. Yes, it is true that Jesus reminded them about his mission. All the same, he obeyed them and went back to Nazareth. Mary and Joseph also obeyed him because they never remained a stumbling block in Jesus’ path, demanding that you must look after us. They allowed him to encage himself in His Father’s business.
As we celebrate this great feast of the holy family, let us thank God for the gift of family that He has given us. None of us are perfect. All the same, we can thrive for perfection by giving centrality to God, sharing responsibility, and mutual obedience to each other. When each of us is ready to take a small step in this regard, I am sure that, gradually, our families too will be transformed into heaven on earth, like the Holy Family of Nazareth.