THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings:
1 Sam 1:20-22, 24-28
Psalm blessed are those who dwell in your house o lord
1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24
Lk 2:41-52
++++Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Year C - Sunday, 30 December 2018 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/holy-family-year-c-2018-episode-132 (EPISODE: 132)
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I came across a wonderful poem on the Birth of Christ and the Holy Family, by British poet Godfrey Rust. It is called:
Midnight in Bethlehem, Zero AD.
One or two people in difficulty.
Out on the street with a donkey and wife
Joseph had reached a bad point in his life
with the kind of a problem that won't go away:
a woman in labour, and nowhere to stay.
Now the root of it all, when you boiled the thing down,
was too many people in too small a town.
When they dreamed up the plan of administration
for a poll tax on all of the Jewish nation
only a bureaucrat somewhere in Rome
would send everyone back to their ancestors' home,
for little old Bethlehem wasn't designed
to cater for David's prolific line.
......
No room at the inn. No room anywhere.
They gave him the only place they could spare
and the promised Messiah was born that night
on the floor of a stable without any light
where they cut the cord and cleaned up the mess
and wrapped him in somebody's workaday dress
and while Mary slept there, exhausted and cold,
Joseph sat by feeling helpless and old.
This wasn't the way he had thought it would be
when the angel had told him that destiny
chose them to look after the Holy One.
No, this was a farce. What God had done
was to trust the care of the Saviour instead
to a man who could not even find him a bed.
If only he'd planned it more carefully then.
If he only could go back and do it again.
.......
when the shepherds burst in all breathless and wild
and stopped in their tracks when they saw the child.
They shifted their gaze from the baby's bed
and their eyes met his, and he nodded his head,
standing awkwardly, not knowing quite what to do
now they all knew for certain the story was true.
They stayed there for minutes. It might have been years.
Not one of them spoke. Their hopes and their fears;...
were gathered around this helpless God
as their minds tried to grasp what it meant.
Where he stood
Joseph was silent as finally
he saw this was how it was planned to be,
that the smell and the dark and the dirt and the pain
were not Joseph's mistake but God's choice once again:
past midnight in Bethlehem, Joseph knew
that men would be saved despite all they might do.
He could not control it. He did not understand.
He felt like a baby himself in God’s hand.
He remembered the angel had said that his name
would be Jesus, God saves.
He glanced up and saw that the shepherds had gone.
Day had dawned.
From the floor, Mary gazed at him, quizzical, on her straw bed.
The tiny God-child cried out to be fed.
Joseph moved to the business of the new day,
gave the child to its mother, the donkey some hay."**
It is a beautiful picture of the confusion, chaos and uncertainty that occurs in times of crisis, what would be familiar in any family. And it’s a reminder that God is at work even in the messiness of thwarted plans and unexpected situations. The helplessness felt by Joseph is reassuring to all of us when things aren’t going so well.
We all pray for peace: peace in the world, peace in our own families, peace in our own hearts. As with every worthy desire, the holding of an idea is often easier than putting it into practice.
The readings today remind us that peace indicates an absence of conflict, but peace does NOT promise an absence of differences. True peace does not necessarily indicate an absence of misunderstanding, nor does it deny opposing opinions. True peace implies holding contradictory or opposing forces in harmony. Perhaps such a definition might be more helpful when we seek the meaning of an “ideal community” or an “ideal marriage” and so on. We do not really mean uniformity, but rather, “two solitude's embracing,” or a unity, a communion of difference enrich others.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. The first reading and the gospel make it clear that the families presented here, very much holy, are also far from the ordinary. They are very different from a classic definition of a family in some senses. In the first reading Hannah, in gratitude for God’s gift to her of her only child Samuel,(whom she had longed and prayer for over many years), dedicates her son to God and gives him to the temple, to be a holy man dedicated to God’s work. Not the usual approach for a family.
In the gospel, Jesus is God’s son, Joseph is his step-father. Joseph and Mary have a unique relationship as husband and wife. Their care and support for each other, their openness to God’s will in their lives, and their dedication to supporting and assisting each other, as a family unit, and in their individual vocations in life is and inspiration for us all, and a wonderful model for every family and community. Is there really any family that can say of itself “we are perfectly average”? Each family is unique and has its own individual characteristics, because it is made up of unique individuals.
In the Gospel, I do not think Jesus was trying to be rude in any way. His parents were desperate to find him. He is lost in Jerusalem for three days. Many years later, he will be (in a very different way) lost for three days again, in Jerusalem… (but at that time it will be three days lost to death by crucifixion and being lain in the tomb) and again at that time his mother will go through an even more awful anguish. But back to his childhood, Jesus reaction this first time was one of confusion."But, why were you worried? Did you not KNOW that I must be about my Father’s affairs?" And of course his family do not understand what he is saying. Jesus is already wise beyond his years.... he is a smart kid and he quickly realizes that ‘being about his father’s affairs’ at this stage of his life means that he must go back with his family and respect and learn from his mother Mary and his step-father Joseph and grow as he learns from their wisdom and guidance.
Mary realizes that she must ponder and reflect and learn from Jesus and the events of his life, and prayerfully contemplate the meaning of his vocation, which is unique and special. We too must follow Mary in constantly reflecting on the meaning of Jesus’ life and contemplating deeply and prayerfully on what Christ’s life and actions means for the events of our lives too. We must be brave. We must be open. We must be ready to have regular shifts of thinking and an attitude of openness and discipleship.
The holy family’s respect and openness to listen and learn from each other, to support each other in the calling each person has is important. we might all have plans and hopes for members of our family, but the best thing we can do, ultimately, is to listen and dialogue with them about the inner calling and vocation that each is uniquely called to search for and live out; and this might be a vocation or calling that is different from our hopes or expectations. In the end openness to God who is at work in the lives of each of us is the most important thing, and living and working with each other in respect and love.
It is astounding that 2018 is now coming to a rapid close! Can you believe that it will soon be 2019? I pray that this new year will be a time of grace for all of us as we, with Mary, ponder and treasure the things that God is doing in our lives.
And May God grant us peace in our hearts and lives and give us open, prayerful and grateful hearts.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
Some ideas adapted from ‘Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year, by Gustavo Gutierrez.
Joseph and the shepherds. Written for the carol service at St John’s, West Ealing in 1989. Of course it is fairly certain that Jesus wasn't born in 0 AD (more likely sometime between 5BC and 2BC), and 0 AD doesn't actually exist as the calendar goes from 1 BC to 1 AD, and these days it's correct to call them 1 BCE and 1 CE, but hey, it's a poem. © Godfrey Rust,godfrey@wordsout.co.uk . See here for details of permissions for use.
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May God bless and keep you.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph. Year C
(Sunday, 30 December 2018) (EPISODE: 132 )
“How happy they who dwell in your house, O Lord.”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
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Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Lord Jesus, you are mighty God and Prince of peace. Lord have mercy// You are Son of God and the Son of Mary. Christ have mercy// You are Word made flesh, the splendour of the Father. Lord have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
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Nativity of the Lord II
Euch Prayer II
Communion side. pwk: RH
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Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.
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