The Holy Family

The feast of the Holy Family is a lovely feast to stop and reflect on our family life. There is so much to learn from Joseph and Mary. We tend to forget that the babe born in Bethlehem is God Almighty who created Heaven and earth, all things in it, on it and around it. We miss the fact that he whom the Angels bow down and adore, humbly came to earth to live in the mess and chaos of family life.
As parents we can so often feel undervalued, not only by the society we find ourselves living in but also by those who share our life. But the Holy family can teach us so much.
Can you imagine how Mary must have felt when she went and told her parents they were going to be Grandparents? Or having to face  St. Joseph  and try and put across the message of an Angel! Then, St. Joseph having the courage to act upon a random dream and trust that God was working in his life, when everything must have screamed at him that his beloved had cheated on him.
If that wasn’t enough they then had to travel up to 100 miles to go and register in Bethlehem , have their child born in a stable amongst the animals because none of their relatives had space for them and their money couldn’t purchase them a room in town.I don't know about you but at this point I think I would be seriously hacked off.
Then just as she was getting over the birth of her first child she had a houseful of strangers turn up! How did Mary feel about her humble abode when Royalty arrived at the door? Did she wonder if the floor was swept or the pots put away ?And on top of that they had to flee and leave their friends behind knowing they were going to suffer dreadfully. After this they live  as asylum seekers in a backwater of a town.Then they needed to start up a business, make a home and raise the Son of God. To top it all their Son  to all intents and purposes ran away from home, and they had the panic of trying to find him. I find it interesting that it was three days before they went to the temple, were they not expecting their son to be in church?, is that where we would expect to find our children? Did it warm the cockles of Mary’s heart when she stood listening to the responses her son was giving to these educated men of the temple? She certainly seems to have some tense words to say to her errant son! This is family life! The hurly burly of living with children.
At a moment in history when family life is seeking to be destroyed by so many I think it is good to remind ourselves that the Church places such great emphasis on the family and for those who have found their vocation in this wonderful mission we can draw a great strength from  the Holy family.
 We see St. Joseph’s guardianship for his family and how he leads his household from danger. How Mary humbly submitted to this leadership and quietly ran their home nurturing and feeding her family. Jesus came back from Jerusalem and was humble and obedient to his parents’ wishes, he learnt the value of work from St.Joseph, looked after his Mother and learnt about his scriptures  and faith at their knees. We are reminded that it does not matter where we are in life be it child, teen, or parent, we are called to  grow in faith, hope, and love. It is in the nitty gritty of family life that we are transformed and made Holy. The secret to holiness is not doing extraordinary things, but doing ordinary things with extraordinary love and gratitude.
May be on this day as a family you can enjoy packing up a winter picnic and getting out together.