Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17
Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

Family Life

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of The Holy Family. The readings invite us to reflect on the values that create strong and loving families. By looking to the Holy Family as a model, families can find guidance and inspiration to live in love, faith, and unity.

This feast prepares us to see Joseph, Mary and Jesus as real people who experience serious difficulties before the birth of Jesus and immediately after. Mary becomes pregnant before marriage to Joseph. Before Jesus’ birth they travel on foot to be part of the census. Jesus is born in less than comfortable circumstances. Following his birth they are warned to escape to Egypt to save Jesus’ life from Herod. After Herod dies, they return to their homeland to a new home in Nazareth. All of this is far more difficult than most young families experience.

In taking on our humanity, Jesus, the Son of God, agreed to take on ALL of our humanity with its joys and pains, celebrations and sorrows. This feast helps us think about our own families. Every home has struggles. Like the Holy Family, we are called to listen to God and care for each other with patience. Love grows in quiet moments, hard choices, and daily kindness.

The readings for the Feast of the Holy Family show how God works through family life. They speak about honoring parents, caring for others, and choosing peace. These small acts shape a strong and faithful home. This day is not only about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It is about how we can live with love and trust in our own families today. God is with us in family life whether that be a family by blood or some other connection. The second reading from Colossians provides a clear picture of what is needed for a fruitful family life.

Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another,  if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs  with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   

How do you contribute to your family so that it provides a loving setting for all members?

How can you grow daily in the virtues mentioned in Colossians?