Our Church has different feast days and different liturgical seasons. Our Church dedicates the month of February to the Holy Family. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is the model of virtue for all Christian households. In these challenging times, both the challenges of the pandemic and the challenges of a society that is become more secular, when families are no longer valued and are disintegrating, it is of paramount importance that we emulate this virtuous family.
The Holy Family lived out what the Church calls the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance and the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Cardinal is the Latin word for “hinge.” All of the other virtues hinge around these four virtues. The higher theological virtues of faith, hope, and love are the fruit of the cardinal virtues.
Mary, Joseph, and Jesus intentionally and repeatedly chose the good through the virtue of prudence, they treated each other with respect in the virtue of justice, they endured trials and difficulties in the virtue of fortitude, and sacrificed their own desires for the good the other in the virtue of temperance.
Mary and Joseph had faith in the promises of God to deliver his people. They had hope that all God had promised would be fulfilled. Through their love of God, Mary and Joseph obediently followed what God had ask of them. The Holy Family is our model for the virtuous life in our marriages and families. We need to be striving to develop these same virtues. The cardinal virtues are the foundation for all of the other virtues. We must build a solid foundation on these virtues in order to grow in all the others. Husbands and wives must daily strive, and with mutual support, grow in virtue to build a strong, holy, and healthy family.
Virtues are absolutely essential for marriages and families to thrive. A virtue is the habitual and firm disposition to do the good. The Latin root of the word is virtus, which means “strength” or “power.” Growing in virtue is a lifelong task to strengthen our willpower to choose what is best and right even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Let us unite our prayers with the prayers of the Holy Family:
Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, bless our family. Graciously inspire in us the unity, peace, and mutual love exhibited in your own family in Nazareth.
Mary, Mother of Jesus and Our Mother, nourish our family with the virtues of faith, hope, and love. Keep us close to your Son, Jesus, in all our sorrows and joys.
Joseph, foster-father to Jesus, guardian and spouse of Mary, instill in us the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Keep our family safe from all harm and attacks from the evil one. Help us in all times of discouragement or anxiety.
Holy Family of Nazareth, through your surpassing virtues and the example of family life, make us one with you. Help us to be instruments of peace, mercy, and forgiveness in our home. Grant that love, strengthened by grace, may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials we sometimes experience. May we always have Jesus at the center of our hearts and home. Amen.
Blessings to all of you. Have a blessed week. Father Lincoln.
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