Homily, The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, December 27, 2015

Good morning and Merry Christmas. Since I’ve been serving as a deacon my family usually comes to church a little later than me.  I need to arrive early for Mass to prepare, so my wife, Linda, and son, Ryan, drive separately.   I also have to stay longer after Mass, so Linda and Ryan usually go home together well before I leave.   This is our normal routine on most Sundays, but a few years ago on Christmas both Linda and I had to be here early.  We gave Ryan the option of coming early with us or waiting for his sister to pick him up later.  Of course he waited for his sister.  After Mass both Linda and I stayed to help clean up, since we knew Ryan would be coming home with his sister.  At least that’s what we thought. When we arrived home our daughters were there, but not Ryan.   There was a little miscommunication on who was bringing him home.   We had a little bit of a panic, but within a few minutes Ryan called from the church asking for a ride home.  Linda was already on the way back to get him and was relieved to hear he was there. Now I can say we definitely have something in common with Holy Family.

         Today we heard the story about the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I really like this story because it shows us that even the Holy Family had its challenges.   This story from Luke is the only one in the Gospels that gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ life between the infancy and his public ministry.  I’d like to focus on three things in the story about Jesus: his age, his response to his parents, and his parents’ response to him.  

         We are told in the story that the Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover when Jesus was twelve years old.   Why would Jesus’ parents not have noticed he was gone until a day after they left? Jesus, being twelve years old, was at an age transition from childhood to adolescence. In the Jewish culture men and women would travel separately. Children traveled with their mothers, both boys and girls.  When boys reached the age of puberty they would transition to be with the men.  This was a rough transition them.   They were forced from the nurturing environment of their mothers to harsh world of adulthood with their fathers. Jesus may have initially traveled with the Joseph and the group of men to Jerusalem, but Joseph may have thought that Jesus’ absence on the way back was just a temporary return to the comfort of his mother.   Mary may have proudly thought that Jesus was traveling with the men, which was appropriate for his age.  Since the men and women traveled separately Jesus’ absence went unnoticed till they came together late in the day.

         Since Mary and Joseph had traveled a full day, it would have taken another full day to return back to Jerusalem, and left the third day to find him. They finally found him among the teachers in the temple listening and answering questions.  In her

distress Mary asks Jesus: “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Jesus speaks for the first time in Luke’s Gospel telling them, “Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?  Jesus revealed his identity and vocation as the Son of God.  This had been revealed to Mary and Joseph by the angel, but they may not have fully understood what Jesus meant at the time.   Jesus obediently keeps the commandment to honor his mother and father and returns to Nazareth.   Jesus reveals his divine nature as the Son of God and also responds lovingly in his human nature by obedience to his parents.

         There is very little said about the response of Jesus parents, but there are some things we can conclude.   Mary’s response to Jesus was one of patience and gentleness in a very trying situation. She was modeling the human virtue’s we all strive for but struggle with.   I don’t think I would respond as gently as she did.   In fact I know that I wouldn’t.   Maybe Luke did a little editing of what really transpired, but I don’t think so.   I think he wrote it just as it happened to show us a model of how a holy family should respond, in virtue and charity. Mary and Joseph show us how to live by their actions.

         How can we be holy families?  The Church calls families the “Domestic Church”.   The family is where we first learn to grow in virtues and faith.  We all have challenges in our families, but it gives us the opportunity to grow in virtues.  It’s where we learn to practice patience, kindness, love, and forgiveness as St. Paul instructed the Colossians.   The family is a community of grace and prayer in the midst of our homes, at play, and at work.   It’s also when we gather families together weekly in worship to be with our faith family as a community at church.     

         Being a holy family is also encouraging each of our family members to discover who God wants us to be.   A lot of people think that being holy is sitting in a church praying all the time.   That’s not what being holy is about. It’s discovering the gifts God have given you and how to use them to glorify Him and to serve our neighbor. What can families to do encourage us to be holy?   By making some time together to ask God who he is calling us to be. Some of us may be called to a life of silent prayer, but most of us are called to marriage and being mothers and fathers.  Some of us may be called to serve as ordained ministers as priests or deacons and others as religious brothers or sisters.  Others may be called to be single and dedicated to serving others in a special way. 

We’ve recently started a vocations awareness prayer ministry for families to pray together.

(To read all the details about this prayer ministry see:  Be Our Guest / Zoe Cannon A Call to Love: Vocation Awareness).  Each week a family will be the host for a traveling Crucifix and pray for about vocations for a week. My family will be praying for this week. Why not consider signing up your family to discover their call to holiness in the coming year.

As we come together to continue our celebration of the Eucharist may we be filled with the joy of this Christmas Season and strive to follow example of the Holy Family in being the people that God has called us all to be.