Solemnity of the
Holy Family 2015
The Sunday which follows Christmas is always dedicated
to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It is powerful reminder that
Jesus was born into our human condition, a condition that necessitates a
fundamental foundation, a family. As Christians, the humanity of the
Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds us to Christ,
and through Christ to God. Today, we see how Christ is bound to us through a
human family.
The importance of
the Holy Family’s example of faith and love is essential for families. As St
John Paul II said, the Holy Family is “the prototype and example for all
Christian families.” The family of Nazareth, according to Pope Francis, was not
unlike most families: “with their problems and their simple joys, a life marked
by serene patience amid adversity, respect for others, a humility which is
freeing and which flowers in service, a life of fraternity rooted in the sense
that we are all members of one body.” Our Holy Father is renowned for his
favourite leitmotifs of joy and mercy. But often too little attention has been
given by the secular mainstream media to another favourite theme, a theme that
has been quite apparent in the convoking of the Extraordinary Assembly of
Bishops last year and this year’s Ordinary Synod on the Family, and the Pope’s weekly
catecheses.
In the first year of His pontificate, which coincided
with the Year of Faith, Pope Francis delivered a catechesis that provided three
simple tips on how to make family holy. It would be good to revisit these
points today.
First, the family
prays. The first reading taken from the Wisdom literature of the Book of Sirach
sets out the basic dynamics of a family, with a special focus on children
revering parents. What is interesting about this passage is not just a lesson
of filial piety but also one of prayer. The one who listens, obeys, and
respects his parents will have his prayer heard. Just like the Holy Family of
Nazareth, every family must be a school of prayer. Prayer is not taught in a
classroom setting. Neither is it handed down through lengthy and complicated
theological discourses. We learn to pray from those around us. And the first
and primary teachers are our parents. When parents do not pray, children follow
suit. When parents gather together to pray, not just for special occasions, but
on a regular basis, children also begin to learn the value, the art and the
beauty of prayer. The best gift that we can give to our children and to each
other within the family is prayer. Tuition, expensive toys, holiday excursions
all make cheap substitutes for this invaluable gift. It would be the pole and
anchor for the family that keeps it afloat even in the stormiest of weathers
and most challenging of crises.
Secondly, the Holy
Father exhorts families to “keep faith.” Keeping faith doesn’t mean keeping it
to ourselves and keeping it private. We live a society where faith is often
kept secret in the private sphere for fear of offending anyone. Just like
politics and other divisive topics, religion is often not on the table for
discussion. But Pope Francis said that “Christian families are missionary families …
They are missionary in everyday life, in their doing everyday things, as they
bring to everything the salt and leaven of faith.” Catechesis can only take
place in the context of evangelisation. The New Evangelisation which the last
few Popes have been emphasising speaks of this need to re-evangelise our own
members. Faith can no longer be taken for granted. We live in a culture and
society of unbelief. We experience a market place of ideas, values, ideologies
and other religious teachings. The family can no longer remain aloof and
uncommitted in this area of evangelising. If the members fail to evangelise to
each other, we would soon fall victim to counter-evangelisation from other
factions and groups.
And finally, the
Pope raises one of his favourite leitmotifs, as he insist that a family must
experience joy. Though simple in comprehension, this last secret of a holy
family may be the most challenging. Most of us know so well the pain and hurts
we experience in families. This is understandable as the persons who are
dearest to us and most important to us are often the ones who can inflict the
most severe hurts. But, the Pope is
insisting that joy is not an impossibility. True joy comes from transformation
that must take place if families are to survive and even proclaim the good news
of salvation. True joy is never the denial of pain, disorder or even sin. To do
so would be to relate in a superficial way. The Holy Father tells us that “True
joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel
in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of
mutual support along life’s journey.”
But the greatest
secret is this – joy can never be humanly engineered or manufactured. It is the
gift of God. Cut off from God, human love does not remain human for long. The
Pope tells us that “the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of
God, the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming,
merciful, and respectful towards all. And above all, a love which is
patient: patience is a virtue of God and he teaches us how to cultivate it in
family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient
among ourselves. A patient love. God alone knows how to create harmony
from differences. But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its
harmony, self-centredness prevails and joy fades. But the family which
experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is
the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society
as a whole.”
On the eve of this
year’s Synod on the Family, Pope Francis presided over a candlelight vigil for
the synod, calling on the Synod Fathers to listen to families, including the
Holy Family, over the course of their deliberations. “The family is a place of
discernment, where we learn to recognise God’s plan for our lives and to
embrace it with trust. It is a place of gratuitousness, of discreet fraternal
presence and solidarity, a place where we learn to step out of ourselves and
accept others, to forgive and to be forgiven.” Looking out onto the darkened
square filled with candlelight, the Pope reflected on the symbolism of the
candle in the dark, in reference to the difficulties we face throughout our
lives. “What good is it to light a little candle in the darkness? Isn’t there a
better way to dispel the darkness? Can the darkness even be overcome? When life
proves difficult and demanding, we can be tempted to step back, turn away and
withdraw, perhaps even in the name of prudence and realism, and thus flee the
responsibility of doing our part as best we can.”
But then the Holy
Father issued this timely reminder that “every family is always a light,
however faint, amid the darkness of this world.” He prayed that for every
family, “the Gospel is always 'good news' which enables us to start over.” In order to this, we must always keep our
“gaze fixed on Jesus, the definitive Word of the Father and the criterion by
which everything is to be measured.”
