The Holy Family
Mt 2: 13 – 15, 19 – 23
Feast of the Holy Family
Introduction
Today is the feast of the Holy Family. This reading tells us
of the struggles that the Holy Family had to endure and go through. But it also
tells us how God protected them from hostile elements that threatened its
survival.
The Gospel
3 Now
after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and
said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain
there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy
him.” 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by
night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death
of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
19 When
Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in
Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and
go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are
dead.” 21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that
Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to
go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.
23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that
what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be
called a Nazorean.”
Reflection
It is surprising how Jesus, the son of God became a helpless
infant by becoming man and being born like one of us. We see the height of this
helplessness here in this reading. When Herod found out that he had been
tricked by the wise men who failed to inform him about the whereabouts of the
child Jesus, he went on a killing spree by ordering all male infants to be
executed. This way, he made sure that the future contender to his throne would
be exterminated. Only then will he have peace of mind and security. Against this political backdrop and
persecution, the holy family was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt and there
stay as refugees in a foreign land only to return when the child’s assailant
has died.
Even Jesus was helpless in the face of power from political
and temporal leaders. He will continue to be powerless even as a grown up man,
when he would one day face Pontius Pilate, the powerful Roman governor who
would eventually condemn him to die on a cross. He was helpless as an infant and
would continue to become helpless in life in the face of such powers. Jesus,
the Son of God, for whom and by whom the world was created, bowed down in all
humility to the powers that ruled the world. As a victim of political oppression,
he embraced the life of a refugee, travelling to a foreign land and living in
the midst of strangers who might have treated him like an alien. And even as he
came back to his own homeland, he had to evade the existing governor of Judea,
Archelaus in order to avoid the dangers that still lurked even after Herod’s
death.
It is also worth noting in this reading that what protected
the child Jesus from all harm was the family he was born into. Perhaps, it is
by God’s design that the family would be the first keeper and protector not
only of his son, but of all the children in the world. The family will always
stand, in God’s plan as the natural seedbed and habitat of mankind, a place
where life is protected, nourished and cared for. God entrusted his son to the
care of a family, knowing that the sacred bond that keeps father, mother and
children together would always be a permanent bond in life.
We may have very close friends in life, close confidantes
and people with whom we are at ease and feel accepted. But there will never be
a replacement for family. For all the over familiarity, and perhaps all the weaknesses
that we may encounter in our own human family, the bonds of love within the
family can never be replaced with the bonds we experience outside of it. It is,
therefore, quite sad to see families break up because when families break up,
family members lose an indispensable support system that is simply
irreplaceable. When a family breaks up, every member in the family begins
struggling and finding ways to re-create some sense of belonging. People who
have lost their families naturally feel alienated. They are like refugees who
do not feel they belong.
In our reading today, we see Jesus persecuted even as a
child from all sides. But despite the persecution, he found refuge and comfort
in the arms of his family who sheltered and protected him from all harm; who
nurtured him in both body and spirit as he grew up in Nazareth.
Today we also remember all refugees in the world. At this
time and age where so many political upheavals have created so many refugees,
we need to put our attention on the unfortunate and sad plight of those who
flee their country but are refused to be accepted in other countries. Jesus, as
one who became a refugee himself as an infant in Egypt, knows exactly what it
means to be a refugee. In the Old Testament, God tells Moses to be kind to the
alien, saying that the Israelites were aliens themselves in the land of Egypt. We
need to pray for those who have no country and no place that they can call
their home.
For those of us who still have our families intact and
together, let us give thanks to the Lord for the gift of family. For those who
have broken or dysfunctional families, we ask the good Lord to continue to
protect, shelter and nourish those who have been separated by their families. And
to those who are refugees, we ask the Lord to console them in their moments of
anguish and sadness; that the Lord may inspire people to find ways for these
refugees to find a home they can call their own.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I thank you for my family; for the protection,
nourishment and growth it has provided me. Most of all, thank you for the love
of my family. While my family may not be perfect, I thank you Lord because I
belong to a family. Protect my family from harm Lord. Keep watch over us.
Accompany us in our struggles in life. Help us build a peaceful and loving home
where we continue to love each other despite our shortcomings. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment