The Feast of the Holy Family

Reflecting on the readings for the Feast of the Holy Family, particularly the gospel, and picturing the life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Nazareth, may help us to see what it means to be holy, as individuals and as a family.

Joseph believes in God, trusts in God, fulfills the law of God, and most importantly, obeys God, which enables him to be the best husband of Mary and an excellent foster father of Jesus.  He is a righteous man who has put God first in his life, and therefore knows and does what is the greater good for his family.  God has arranged for the finest of men in Joseph who will protect and provide for God’s Son and His most holy mother.

Mary, immaculate and holy, loves Joseph and Jesus at every moment, for she knows that the Lord God who has done great things for her.  She is a humble and grace-filled servant of her husband, her Son, and her God.  With God at the center of her life, free of anything that is not of God, Mary is the holiest woman, wife, and mother.  She is most highly blessed and a blessing in every way to her Holy Family.

Raised in such a holy home, Jesus grows in wisdom and grace and spends quiet hidden years preparing for His mission of preaching, healing, suffering and dying in order to save the world.  Jesus spends time with God His Father in prayer.  He studies the Scripture and learns the history of God’s people.  Jesus watches Mary and Joseph and from His childhood on sees what it is to care for others and serve those in need.  Jesus learns to praise and honor the Lord God in all that He does by being with Mary and Joseph as they are faithful in living solely for God’s glory.

None of our families are as holy as that of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph at home in Nazareth.  Yet, we can all grow in virtue by doing as they did: putting God first, trusting God’s action in our lives, seeking always to make our love concrete through humble service.  This is God’s will for us.  We ought to desire this and to ask for the gifts we need in order for our families to be transformed by God’s action. 

God is faithful and will provide everything for us if only we trust Him and surrender to His actions in our lives each and every day.  God will work in even the smallest of ways.  All things are possible for God and the Lord is faithful.  Once we have God at the center of our lives, we too will begin to be a holy family.