Feast of the Holy Family (Cycle C, Year I)

Community Word:Disciples of Christ prepare their hearts for His coming with joy.

Theme: We prepare for Christ’s coming when we let God be the center of our family life.

Promise: “For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork, blessed shall you be and favored.”(Ps 128:2)

Reflection:
In the face of many uncertainties and obstacles that families are experiencing, it is easy to relate to Mary’s anxiety when Jesus was nowhere in sight on their way to a Passover feast in Jerusalem.

Indeed without a family, one can feel lost. It is therefore for a good reason that the Church commemorates the Feast of the Holy Family, the name given to the family unit of Jesus. This Feast which usually falls on the Sunday after Christmas, is also a celebration of all Christian families including our own. It is a good time to reflect upon the holy life led in the house at Nazareth by Jesus, the Son of God, Mary his Mother, and Joseph his foster father. Pope Leo XIII instituted this feast in 1892 to remind the laity of the sacredness of the family and to provide a model upon which to structure their own. As members of BLD, the best way to celebrate this Feast is to go back to the vision of our Community and align our family life accordingly, as encountered individuals, couples and families. We ask ourselves what Jesus, Mary and Joseph would do as we make Christ and His Church the center of our family and individual life. We strive to be good witnesses by being faithful to our 8-point covenant pledge and unselfishly share our love and kindness to our family members following the footsteps of the Holy Family.

Our readings reveal the Lord’s loving guidance and order as the pattern of our family life. In the gospel, Jesus although He is God, remains subservient and obedient to His parents. “He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them” (Luke 2:51). In the 1st reading, we are reminded to honor, obey, revere and show kindness to our fathers with a promise of a long life. “Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother,” (Sir 3:4-5). While in the 2nd reading, wives and husbands are reminded to live a life of subordination and love, while children are told to be obedient. “Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything for this is pleasing to the Lord,” (Col 18: 18-20).

How blessed we are that Jesus came to us from within a real human family giving us a perfect model of domestic life. Let’s pray for those areas that need improving and follow the model that ultimately leads all the family members to a life of salvation. Sadly, we are witnessing a breakdown of the traditional family in our country where one parent or both are forced to work abroad for economic reasons, ripping families apart in the process. Ironically, mothers make big sacrifices leaving behind their own children to take care of other parents’ children, while neglecting their own along the way. The prevalence of same sex marriage in many countries blatantly violates the sanctity of marriage. Embryonic stem-cell research is likewise a cause for concern along with abortion, contraception, polygamy, divorce, and spousal and child abuse.

All these evil influences are shaking up the institution of marriage inside-out, upside-down. As followers of Christ, we are to remain steadfast in protecting our families, especially our children who are at most risk. It is our role to keep them rooted in the word of God so they may build a strong foundation for their own family life. And as the Lord promises: “For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork, blessed shall you be and favored.”(Ps 128:2)

Prayer:
Consecration to the Holy Family

O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who having come to enlighten the world with Thy teaching and example, didst will to pass the greater part of Thy life in humility and subjection to Mary and Joseph in the poor home of Nazareth, thus sanctifying the Family that was to be an example for all Christian families, graciously receive our family as it dedicates and consecrates itself to Thee this day. Do Thou protect us, guard us and establish amongst us Thy holy fear, true peace and concord in Christian love: in order that by living according to the divine pattern of Thy family we may be able, all of us without exception, to attain to eternal happiness.

Mary, dear Mother of Jesus and our Mother, by the kindly intercession make this our humble offering acceptable in the sight of Jesus, and obtain for us His graces and blessings. Saint Joseph, most holy Guardian of Jesus and Mary, help us by thy prayers in all our spiritual and temporal needs; that so we may be enabled to praise our divine Savior Jesus, together with Mary and thee, for all eternity. Amen

Reflection Question:
1. What areas in our family life can I improve to follow the way of life of the Holy Family?

2. How can I be the Lord’s instrument in strengthening the bond within our family in mutual love and respect?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
Dec 30, 2018 (Sun) – Sir 3:2-6, 12-14/Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5/Col 3:12-21/Lk 2:41-52
Dec 31, 2018 (Mon) – 1Jn 2:18-21/Ps 96:1, 2, 11-13/Jn 1:1-18
Jan 1, 2019 (Tue)- Nm 6:22-27/Ps 67:2, 3, 5, 6, 8/Gal 4:4-7/Lk 2:16-21
Jan 2, 2019 (Wed)- 1Jn 2:22-28/Ps 98:1-4/Jn 1:19-28
Jan 3, 2019 (Thu)- 1Jn 2:29-3:6/Ps 98:1-6/Jn 1:29-34
Jan 4, 2019 (Fri)-1Jn 3:7-10/Ps 98:1, 7-9/Jn 1:35-42
Jan 5, 2019 (Sat) – 1Jn 3:11-21/Ps 100:1-5/Jn 1:43-51

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”