Reflection on the Readings

This weekend the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It’s a better time than ever to reflect for a moment on FAMILY. I once heard a family therapist say, “It is important for every family to get its saints out of heaven and its sinners out of hell.” The point is that it doesn’t pay to either idealize or demonize our families (or fellow family members).

Often our perceptions of family go unexamined and yet exert powerful influences on our world view—including our view of faith and community. Friends, I invite you for a moment to pause and reflect on the following questions:

• Abraham trusted God’s promise of boundless heirs, even despite the evidence to the contrary. Do I trust God that my life and my work will prove fruitful?
• The heart of what makes a family are bonds of love and respect. What are my feelings about family? Who would I consider to be the key members of my “family” in my day-to-day life? Do the patterns of my biological family continue on to affect today’s relationships?
• The gospel tells of wonderful predictions offered by Simeon and Anna. How do early expectations of family members affect me today?
• It must have been puzzling for Joseph and Mary to live with the knowledge that the “favor of God” was upon their only son. How do we live with those around us, working together day by day and yet knowing that they are called to be saints (even as we are)?

When the feast of the Holy Family arrives every year, these questions rise up in us, too. Because the scripture readings, which may seem out of step with our modern lives on any Sunday, on this feast in particular really seem from outer space! The myth of the “perfect” holy family hasn’t served our families well. Our families are hardly perfect. There are leaks in the family ark, and kinks in the family links. We have stories to tell, and we have secrets that we never tell. But what held the family of Jesus together and made them holy is the same power that’s available to us: the bond of love. St. Paul says in Colossians: “And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.” Families are never perfect, but love perfects the bond that holds us together.

Fr. David C. Santos, Pastor