31 Dec 2023 – Sunday after Christmas. The Holy Family
31 Dec 2023 – Sunday after Christmas. The Holy Family
Today we celebrate the domestic life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, an an inspiration for all families everywhere.
1st Reading: Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3
Abraham and Sarah are given a child as a reward for their faith
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”
He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.
Responsorial: Psalm 104: 1-6, 8-9
R./: The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works! (R./)
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face. (R./)
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, the judgements he spoke.
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose. (R./)
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac. (R./)
2nd Reading: Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19
The outcome of the faith of Abraham and Sarah
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old – and Sarah herself was barren – because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead – and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Gospel: Luke 2:22, 39-40
The child Jesus was presented to God, then lived at home in Nazareth
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.
Ideals for family living
Some might feel that this feast sets too high an ideal for families, if the homilist highlights the virtues of the Holy Family, without also showing that they had to face many issues not unlinke those of our own households. Fortunately the Gospel tells us something quite different about the childhood of Jesus, in a down-to-earth way, by instances.
Even though we call them the Holy Family that does not mean they never had problems to face, as every family must. Just as each follower of Jesus has a cross to carry, so also the holy family had to experience the cross in their shared life. To mention just a few examples, we can imagine how misunderstood both Mary and Joseph must have been about the conception of Jesus before they came to live together. Joseph was even planning to divorce Mary privately before being assured that it was the work of God. Nine months later, the birthplace of Jesus was an animal shelter, since no better lodgings could be found.
Today’s Gospel from St Matthew shows how the little family had to flee as refugees to Egypt because the child Jesus’ life was in danger from king Herod, in much the same way as refugees from war-torn countries have to flee to save their lives. This prompts us to be more aware of, and show more empathy towards, those refugees in our own day who seek a safer life among us than they had in the countries from which they fled.
St Luke has another story to illustrate what trials were faced by Mary and Joseph, in trying to understand the development of Jesus as a young person. When he was twelve, they were shocked to lose him for three days and then had to deal with the unsatisfactory explanation that he “had to be about his Father’s business.” Still, he returned with them to Nazareth and was subject to them, in the quiet rhythm of family life in their village. We do not hear of Joseph any more after that so we presume that he had died before Jesus began his public ministry. Then too, the public life of Jesus must have taken its toll on Mary. In the Temple when he was an infant, old Simeon had predicted that a sword of sorrow would pierce Mary’s soul. How she must have been pained to hear his enemies say that Jesus was a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners, and at the end, when Mary watched her son die in public disgrace, on the cross.
What sustained the family of Nazareth through all of these trials and crosses? What holds families together in times of difficulty is love and trust. Whenever families are happy, it is where love and respect are highly prized among them. We pray for an outpouring of those qualities in our families today.A major threat to family life nowadays is that we don’t spend enough time together. We are so busy working, socialising, using our electronic gadgets or watching TV that we have no time to talk to each other.
A barrister, a busy career woman, was living just ten kilometers from her old, widowed father. But months often passed between her visits to him; and when her father texted to ask when she might bring his grandchildren to visit him, she detailed lots of reasons that kept her too busy to see him, court schedules, meetings, new clients, research, etc. Her father frowned and then asked, ‘When I die, will you come to my funeral?’ The daughter was indignant. “Dad, how can you ask me that? Of course, I’ll be there!” He smiled and said, “Aah! Then please forget my funeral and come to visit me now. I need you now more than I will then.” Message understood – and his daughter began to visit him regularly after that.
Key Message:
Always have a beautiful spirit of faith and thanksgiving!!
Homily:
In the first reading, Abraham got a definite promise from God that he would be blessed with descendants. But the question, “When” was never answered. We often go through the same path. We know that God our Father wants to bless us. But sometimes God will be waiting for us to undergo some change and we will be thinking that we are waiting for God. When we are in God’s waiting room, it will be difficult, but we should not lose our hope. We know all of God’s plan for us is to prosper us, then why do we need to lose our hope? God is waiting for the great transformation to happen within us. Once our hearts are transformed, we will be out of our waiting room.
During our time in the waiting room, the devil will try to make us feel hopeless and helpless. We have both hope and help from God. When I talk to people who are in the waiting room, to encourage them, finally at the end of the conversation, they will say all this is true, but still it’s not fair. They still have a lamenting mindset and are not able to enjoy the joy of being hopeful. The hopeful spirit of Abraham is not found in them. On the other hand, I received a quick testimony – “I witnessed an elderly aunt, who was suffering from terrible health conditions. She could not walk on her own. Her husband and her only daughter died of illness. Now she has a grandson who is also not well but still he could manage going to school. Her son-in-law remarried and only visits them. I felt pity for her situation and started praying for her. I asked God how could you allow a person to undergo so much suffering in her life. God immediately answered “I have given her the required courage”. I called her up and checked with her on the reply from God. She too confirmed it by saying, “I know that God has given me the required courage for this stage of my life”.
God had blessed Abraham with the measure of faith required for him, likewise God has already blessed us with the measure of faith required for running our difficult life. So we cannot think that we cannot be hopeful like Father Abraham in our impossible situations. The measure of faith and courage to overcome our difficult situations is already there in us. Our God is the God of the impossible!! Never give up. Your miraculous blessings are on the way!!
A beautiful Testimony on the Holy Family: “When I suffer, I used to think of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and then realise that any of the sufferings of my Lord Jesus cannot be compared with all of my sufferings put together. This realization used to console me. Now after reading and meditating on the Nativity of our Lord Jesus, I found that any of the sufferings of Mamma Mary, Saint Joseph and the child Jesus during the birth of the Child Jesus cannot be compared to all my sufferings. They had the faith to undergo suffering by believing in God. This has taught me how to believe in God during my suffering and also handle suffering with joy.”
Let us meditate on how the Holy Family surrendered themselves completely to the will of God.
1. When Mamma Mary accepted that she would become Mamma as a Virgin, she knew that girls who became mothers before marriage were killed by throwing stones at them. She accepted the shame that she had to bear.
2. Mamma Mary would have been troubled how St. Joseph understood and accepted this. But Mamma Mary did not speak anything on her behalf. This made the Almighty Father send His Holy Angel to explain to St. Joseph on behalf of Mamma Mary.
3. When Mamma Mary revealed her pledge of virginity to Saint Joseph, he happily and immediately vowed his virginity also to God.
4. Mamma Mary and Saint Joseph had made arrangements in their house for their baby to be born. There were new sweaters stitched by Mamma Mary for the baby Jesus. But they had to leave everything at their home while starting on their journey.
5. During the final stage of pregnancy Mamma Mary had to travel on the back of the donkey for days together. Mamma Mary did not worry about the hardships because she was in God’s care
6. As they were poor, they couldn’t afford two donkeys, so that St.Joseph also could have sat on a donkey and their journey would have been quicker. They did not long for two donkeys seeing how others were travelling.
7. When Mamma felt the pain that she was going to deliver the baby, still they had not found a room. Let us think about the stress of Saint Joseph. God of the impossible was his only possibility.
8. They always got the bare minimum – A stable instead of a room, a manger instead of a cradle, swaddling clothes instead of new warm clothes. But they were always happy about it.
9. They were not mindful of the rejection from others, they were not wondering why God was not blessing them even though those who were less Holy were blessed richly.
10. All they had was only God and God alone was sufficient for them.
The Holy Family was victorious because they had a beautiful spirit of faith and thanksgiving!!