[1]It was about 3½ years ago I was assigned to
Annunciation, the first time. Not long
after this assignment Judy and I were asked to visit with various groups so
they could welcome us and get to know us.
We had our story down, where we grew up, how we met, how long we’ve been
married, how many children, our professional careers, how long I’d been a
deacon, my past assignments, and what ministries we’ve participated. When we
finished sharing what we planned, there was time for questions from the
participants.
At one of the gatherings, we were asked about our children, their ages
and where they lived. We shared
extensively about our daughter and her family and stopped. Then came the harder question as someone noted we didn’t share about the entire family, “What about your son?”
I remember feeling my chin
drop into my chest, as I contemplated for a brief moment, what should I share? For
a moment I was tempted to paint a picture of a perfect family scenario, but as
I raised my eyes to the group, I shared the challenging relationship we’d been
experiencing for many years. It was the
first time I’d spoken publicly about our experience. Taking my seat afterward I
wondered if I shared too much of our family brokenness, and was somewhat
concerned for what they would think of our family. Yet, as the gathering was
dispersing, several people came up to share their own family stories of brokenness,
which helped Judy and I recognize we were part of a bigger family, a Holy
Family.
Fr. Bob Waznak, a homiletics professor, suggests that if we take the
Feast of the Holy Family in a sentimental way then we would conjure up an
artificial family. You know the photos
we see on the wall & desk of smiling, cheerful
families. The result could be the “first family of Nazareth”—Joseph holding a lily in one hand and a carpenter’s tool in the other, Mary
looking perfectly accessorized, and Jesus gazing lovingly at his holy parents,
eagerly awaiting their next
command. Fr. Waznak concludes that we would get “the Walton’s of Nazareth.”
I hope we all know this feast is not for perfect families at all. This feast is for those of us who know we are
not perfect and did not come from a perfect family or upbringing.[2]
This feast is more about how, in the midst of our own family dysfunction, we are
part of the Holy Family.
Today’s Gospel states strongly that family (in Jesus’ Good News to the poor) is not
constituted by marriage or blood ties
(even Joseph is
father by adoption and choice). There must be others in the Holy Family, born of faithfulness,
tradition, obedience, and knowing God’s favor upon them. There must be aunts, uncles, & cousins,
friends of the parents, other couples, people who are not married, and other
friends who make up the family. It takes
many add-ons to make a family, especially one that is to reveal the Holy Family,
the Trinity that is our God.[3]
Sirach’s basic intent, in today’s first reading, is to strengthen
everyday relationships to manifest wisdom, which can be equated with the fear
of God. In other words, bettering
relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, the young and the
old, the rich and the poor ultimately leads to improving the reverence paid to
God and God’s will.
Pope Francis shares in his recent Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart) announcing the Year of St. Joseph, how in the midst of times of crisis, “our lives are woven together
and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked.” People who do not appear in newspaper
and magazine headlines; doctors, nurses, and first responders; supermarket
workers, cleaning personnel, and caregivers; volunteers, priests, men and women
religious, and so very many others. He writes that “Saint Joseph reminds us that
those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the
history of salvation.”
You see, we’re all in this together, this earthly experience, with every
era having its challenges and crisis, each of us with our own brokenness and
fears. We desire a sense of belonging, to be safe and secure, to be loved, and
at times to be protected from the cruelness of the world around us.
Even the Son of the Almighty came into our world in a state of great
vulnerability. He needed to be defended, protected, cared for and raised by
Joseph. God trusted Joseph, as did Mary, who found in him someone who would not
only save her life but would always provide for her and her child. In this
sense, Saint Joseph could not be other than the Guardian of the Church, for the
Church is the continuation of the Body of Christ in history, even as Mary’s
motherhood is reflected in the motherhood of the Church.
Jesus himself will tell his disciples: “Who is my family—my mother, brothers, sister? … Anyone who hears the word of my father and puts it into practice is mother, brother, and sister to me.” (Mk 3:33-35) He would also say: “As you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Therefore, every poor, needy, suffering or dying person, every stranger, prisoner, and infirmed person is “the child” whom Joseph continues to protect. Thus, the Church, US, cannot fail to show a special love for the Holy Family members who are least of our brothers and sisters, for Jesus showed a particular concern for them and personally identified with them. From St. Joseph, we must learn that same care and responsibility, from Mother Mary the same trust, patience, and compassion. We must learn to love “the child,” to love the sacraments and charity, to love the Church and the poor. They are part of God’s Holy Family. Even within the Church’s prayers as we prepare to enter into the mystery of the Eucharist, the priest, standing in the person of Christ, prays to God, our Heavenly Father, for us saying, “Listen graciously to the prayers of this family, whom you have summoned before you: in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world.” (Eucharistic Prayer III)
As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, we are invited to be the face of mercy, to be the wounded dysfunctional family members who, as St. Paul writes about putting on Christ, that leads us to find our merciful self by clothing ourselves with heart felt compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. With these attributes, the Word of God can dwell in our lives, our families, our communities, and our world. In short, we are family, a Holy Family.
[1] New American Bible Revised. Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21; Luke
2:22-40
[2] Sick and You Cared for Me. “And the child grew…and the grace of God
was on him.” by Fr. James J.
Greenfield, OSFS
[3] A Stranger and You Welcomed Me. “They took him up
to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.” by Megan McKenna
