Today is the first Sunday of our Christmas season. Even though the Christmas season is only 2 ½ weeks long in our Church’s
liturgical year, we have a group of special celebrations within this
time. Today we celebrate the Feast of
the Holy Family, and then we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother
of God on January 1, and then the Epiphany, and the Baptism of the Lord on the
next two Sundays. As we hear the Gospel today from Matthew as we celebrate Mary, Joseph, and
Jesus as the Holy Family, we think back to the 4th Sunday of Advent,
when we heard about the Angel of the Lord coming to Joseph in a dream to tell
him about the upcoming birth of Jesus. Today, we hear about the Angel appearing to Joseph again in a series of dreams
after the birth of Jesus, instructing him as to what he needs to do in order to
protect and take care of his family. When we think about the feast of the Holy Family that we are celebrating today,
we probably think about the harmony and nurturing of the families in which we
grew up, and if we are adults, the families that we are developing now
ourselves. In the other readings we hear today, we hear of attributes that we should
aspire to in our families. Sirach tells us that we should have respect and reverence with our families,
that we should honor and obey our parents, while St Paul advises us that as
members of a family of faith, we should show compassion and kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience toward one another.
The one word that struck me when I was thinking about today’s
celebration was the word “holy.” We celebrate the holy family today, but what does it mean to be holy? We throw the word “holy” around so much – we even sign the “Holy Holy” every time we celebrate mass together – but perhaps we are not quite sure what the
word “holy” really means for us as followers of Christ. Many believers may mistakenly believe that to be holy, we need to run away from
the world. Or that to be holy we need to be in church praying on your knees all day
long. Being holy doesn’t mean walking around with a halo, not being allowed to have
any fun, or despising the things of this world. Being holy is not about withdrawing from the world or about being stoic all the
time, but rather being holy bring us life and refines who we are as human
beings. Being holy does not put a damper on our emotions, but rather elevates
them. Holy people are probably the most joyful people you can meet.
On our journey of faith as Catholics, we are called to attend mass, to spend
time in prayer and in spiritual formation, to do good works of charity and
mercy as a fruit of our faith. However, none of those things are what really define holiness. Holiness is all about how we respond to God’s call for us in our lives, how we
are guided by the Holy Spirit in our lives. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were led by God in their lives, as they
traveled to Egypt and to other places as part of God’s plan for them, as they then returned to Nazareth where Jesus was raised by his parents in the Jewish faith. In the spirit of the way Mary, Joseph, and Jesus lived their lives in holiness,
we are called to be holy as well, to live each moment of our lives in what God
is calling it to be, in living with the goal of being a disciple of Christ in
the forefront of our minds. In holiness, we surrender to God’s will, we desire holiness as a gift from God, In our call to holiness, one of the most important things is knowing when to say yes in life and knowing
when to say no. In holiness, we engage in life. Like we saw in Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, in the way they lived lives of
holiness, we engage in life in all of its difficulties, its struggles, and its
tensions, but we do so in a way that reflects the fidelity we have to the will
of God.
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