Today is the feast of the Holy Family. On the liturgical calendar, this feast is relatively new, being established as a "feast" day in the year 1921 by Pope Benedict XV. Yet we find the meditation and tradition of the Holy Family throughout the history of the Church.
For this article, I will draw from the Liturgy of the Hours. For today's feast, in the Office of Readings, we find a beautiful address given by Pope Paul VI, in Nazareth, on January 5, 1964. I will focus on three highlights of this speech which is entitled Nazareth, a model:
Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ's life was like and even to understand the Gospel...Here everything speaks to us, everything has meaning. Here we can learn the importance of spiritual discipline for all who wish to follow Christ and to live by the teachings of His Gospel.How I would like to return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is Nazareth...But I cannot leave without recalling, briefly and in passing, some thoughts I take with me from Nazareth.
First, we learn from its silence. If only we could once again appreciate its great value. We need this wonderful state of mind, beset as we are by the cacophony of strident protests and conflicting claims so characteristic of these turbulent times. The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God's inner wisdom and the counsel of his true teachers. Nazareth can teach us the value of study and preparation, of meditation, of a well-ordered personal spiritual life, and of silent prayer that is known only to God.
Second, we learn about family life. May Nazareth serve as a model of what the family should be. May it show us the family's holy and enduring character and exemplifying its basic function in society: a community of love and sharing, beautiful for the problems it poses and the rewards it brings; in sum, the perfect setting for rearing children - and for this there is no substitute.
Finally, in Nazareth, the home of a craftsman's son, we learn about work and the discipline it entails. I especially like to recognize its value - demanding yet redeeming - and to give it proper respect. I would remind everyone that work has its own dignity. On the other hand, it is not an end in itself. Its value and free character, however, derive not only from its place in the economic system, as they say, but rather from the purpose it serves.
So as we meditate and share with our families this day let us keep in mind the value of the family. Let us call to mind that the family was so important to Jesus that He spent 30 of His 33 years on the earth with His "Holy Family". Think of that...His 3 years of public ministry are unforgettable and salvific, His 30 years of family life are shrouded in mystery and, for the most part, unknown. Some critics of the family would claim that this shows that the family is really not significant. I would say it is the exact opposite, for Jesus did nothing that was insignificant and often, when it comes to the nature of God, those things most significant are shrouded in "mystery".
There is a sacredness found in the family that we all have experienced in one form or another. We know it in our hearts, we know it when we see modern society attack the family so vehemently through the promotion of birth control, homosexuality, same sex marriages, abortion, and divorce. Our society encourages the focus on the physical appearance and not the heart, resulting in empty marriages and therefore empty homes free of children, sacrifice, and, most importantly, love. Instead we find in those empty homes materialism, self-centeredness, and lust. Yet, the family will conquer, as it always has. G.K. Chesterton once wrote:
From the first days in the forest this human group had to fight against wild monsters; and so it is now fighting against these wild machines. It only managed to survive then, and it will only manage to survive now, by a strong internal sanctity; a tacit oath or dedication deeper than that of the city or the tribe. But though this silent promise was always present it took at a certain turning point of our history a special form. That turning point was the creation of Christendom by the religion which created it. Nothing will destroy the sacred triangle; and even the Christian faith, the most amazing revolution that ever took place in the mind, served only in a sense to turn that triangle upside down. It held up a mystical mirror in which the order of the three things was reversed; and added a family of child, mother and father to the human family of father, mother and child. - The Superstition of Divorce, by G.K. Chesterton
So spend this day surrounded by your family deep in that "internal sanctity" that is the foundation, rooted in the Holy Family. May Jesus, Mary and Joseph be with your families today and everyday throughout the coming year.
God bless you all.
Joe
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