Readings:

Gn. 15:1-6; 21:1-3; Ps. 105; Heb. 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; Lk. 2:22-40

(Audio recorded live, 27 December 2020)

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This feast is an opportunity for us to appreciate the importance of family. That the Son of God was born into a family tells us something about how God values families. The Holy Family, therefore, provides us a kind of model to follow, and throughout our Christian journey, we have many opportunities to imitate Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Just this year, for instance, we have all had to protect our loved ones, as Joseph protected his family; some of us may have lost a loved one, as Mary did when Jesus was crucified; but, perhaps most important of all, we have all had to rise above the many challenges we have faced this year, as Jesus did in his Resurrection.

The Holy Family is the gold standard for the traditional nuclear family unit, but we know that our lives are not perfect. Today, there are many different forms of family, and it is with that notion in mind that I want to suggest that even if our own families might not reflect the ideal of the Holy Family, we can still live by its example of unity, fidelity, and love.

And so, as we remember the merits of the Holy Family, namely their fidelity to God and one another, their support for one another, and the means by which Christ has entered into our world, may our communion today further unite us with Christ and one another.

Given during the COVID-19 pandemic.