Introduction: A Challenging, but Loving Journey
This Feast of the Holy Family was established for the universal Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1921. At that time, it was a call to remember and preserve the holiness of family life in the midst of the immense social challenges of the nineteenth century.
This feast day’s Gospel passage from Matthew is surprising for it depicts the Holy Family as challenged, struggling as a refugee family, fleeing from danger, and trusting in a God who guides them on their way.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are a family on the move. In fact, Jesus is seen, by the evangelist Matthew, as a new Moses. For just as the baby Moses escaped Pharaoh’s order for all Hebrew infants to be killed, here Jesus escapes Herod’s order for all boys two and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity to be slaughtered. Both rulers felt their power threatened by children. Yet both infants became saviors of their people.
And the Holy Family’s return to Israel – to settle in the small, insignificant town of Nazareth - from their exile in Egypt recalls God’s deliverance of Israel from oppression in Egypt through Moses. This whole passage from Matthew is steeped in allusions to the exile narrative.
When your family has been challenged and disrupted by unexpected events, how do you respond?
Do you trust that God dwells with your family in those challenging, uprooting “exile times?”
Matthew also invites us in this passage to consider Joseph’s protection of Jesus in the face of danger. Following the command of an angel, he uproots his family’s life and flees to a land he does not know – Egypt – only returning years later after receiving word in another dream that it was safe to do so. Most likely, Joseph had no clue that he one day would have to migrate with his young family to a foreign country to give them a chance to survive.
What qualities of Joseph’s parenthood impress you?
I would invite you to take time to read and ponder the words from the Gospel of Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23.
What word or words caught your attention?
What in this passage comforted/challenged you?
What surprised you?
Further Questions and Reflections:
“Today’s feast day is a reminder that families take many forms worldwide and can be spaces of struggle - physical, emotional, spiritual. Yet it is precisely in these struggling spaces where Jesus dwells. This reality is a comfort when we are struggling and a call to love and care for all people as family, especially those in need of our support.” -Mahri-Leonard-Fleckman
This Scripture passage reminds us of the difficult reality of family life. Families face challenges like never before. Parents struggle with careers, children navigate the distractions of technology and the demands of contemporary life often leave little room for deep connections.
“Perfect families do not exist, but they should always be places where love, forgiveness, and joy thrive.” –(Pope Francis) The image of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – calls us to reflect on the enduring beauty and struggles of family life.
On a scale from 1 – 10 (10 being the greatest) how would you measure your home life? (If you choose 10, let me know your secret!)
What does your home feel like when you walk through the front door? Is there laughter or chaos? Is it a place of encouragement or one where you feel torn down? Is there peace or strife? Is there striving or humility?
How would you rate yourself as a father, a mother?
The Feast of the Holy Family is more than a celebration. It is a call to action – a reminder that family life with all its imperfections is sacred. In families, we do: we forgive; we grow; we hope; we love.
The Holy Family faced uncertainty, displacement, and fear. Yet, they trusted in God and are forever called “holy.”
Deacon David
Deacon David Suley
St. Andrew Apostle Catholic Church
Silver Spring, Maryland
Published with Permission
