Holy Family - B
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Continuing on the Christmas theme…. the feast of the holy family is a really important feast straight after Christmas…
At this time of year, we give sincere thanks for the love, nurturing and support that family can give us…….
where would we be without the love and support of family…. We think of those countless acts of kindness and love and sacrifices by our parents and families. When we were young, we probably didn’t appreciate the scale of it all. When we get older, and have our own families or watch with admiration brothers and sisters raising their own families, we start to appreciate what our parents must have given and sacrificed our of love. We are really grateful for this.
We are very mindful at this time also, of those people whose family life has been extremely difficult and the real burdens and extra difficulties that this can result in for people when they don’t have that which one can be tempted to take for granted and assume….an unconditionally loving and accepting family who support one another.
The Holy family of Jesus, mary and Joseph, whilst not being the typical family, are certainly an inspiration…. the Holy family are the patron saints of supporting each-other and sticking together when everything is going wrong around them,….
for example..(as I mentioned in my Christmas message)
The first Christmas came at a time of incredible unrest for the people of
Mary and Joseph are forced to take a terribly arduous trip to Bethelehem when Mary is imminently due to give birth. This would have been a difficult trip at the best of times, but it must have been unimaginable for an expectant mother at the end of her term. They get to the town and there is nowhere to stay. They are forced to sleep in a barn and Mary gives birth to a baby surrounded by animals. The baby is placed in a food-trough where the animals normally eat.
The poorest and lowliest “outcasts” in the society at that time, the shepherds, are the first to hear about the birth and come to pay their respects.
Very soon after the birth, Mary and Joseph must flee for their lives with their newly born baby Jesus, as King Herod is insanely jealous and means to kill him. They flee into exile into a foreign land.
And today’s gospel, which is truly wonderful, the prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna, in the temple, praise God for Jesus who is the one who will save not only Israel but all the world. But then Simeon turns to Mary and warns her that her life will be touched by a sword of sorrow, as the implications of loving and caring for her only son who must tread this loving path but also a path of indescribable suffering and sacrifice, will touch her life deeply.
Mary and Joseph also had countless incidents when they just had to trust in what God was doing and were all the while plunged into a confusion of what its meaning could be at the time. They trusted in God and in each other and this made all the difference.
The holy family are our inspiration and our prayerful support for us ….
and this feast day, and within the Christmas season, we give sincere and heartful thanks for family….. and the support and strength that we can give each other……+++++++++++++++++
REFERENCES:
· FR. PAUL W. KELLY
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