Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Year C - 12/29/2024), preached at the 12:00 Mass

Below is my Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (Year C - 12/29/2024), preached at the 12:00 Mass 🙏🕊❤️:

Good afternoon. A few days ago, we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For us to truly grasp the magnitude of what happened on that silent, holy night over 2,000 years ago is for us to ponder the mystery of the Incarnation - “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Pope Francis said: “On that holy night, God becoming flesh, wanting to become a gift for man, gave himself for us; God has made his only-begotten Son a gift for us, taking our humanity to give us his divinity. . . God took the human condition to heal us from all that separates us from him, so that we can call him, in his only-begotten Son, by the name 'Abba, Father,' and be truly children of God" (1/10/2013).

“God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. . .” could have come to us in any way or form He wanted. Yet, He chose to come to us as a little child, born into a family - “[for] us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man” (Nicene Creed). Mary was his mother and Joseph his father. Saints Joachim and Anne were his grandparents and John the Baptist his cousin. In the same way that Jesus sanctified the waters of Baptism, he sanctified the human family so that even with all its imperfections, struggles, sorrows, and sadness, the family remains the source of God’s hope, peace, joy, and love in the world when Jesus is at the center of the family life. In the Holy Family, we have a model of how we can face and overcome the difficulties and challenges of family life when each member of the family strives for holiness and helps one another get to heaven.

In today’s Gospel, we hear that Joseph and Mary lost twelve-year-old Jesus for five days. If you are like me, then you might wonder why Mary and Joseph did not make sure that Jesus was in the caravan before they left Jerusalem, much less wait a whole day to check on him only to find out that Jesus was not in the caravan at all. Perhaps you might even ponder why the “boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,” without letting his parents know, rather than return home with them. We learn from this that our family challenges us in many ways. For instance, I have this amazing goddaughter who I love dearly. When she was young, we would give her Texas Longhorns clothes and she would look so adorable in burnt orange. However, something changed this past year because every time I see her now she shows me the upside-down “Hook’em Horns” hand sign. She is breaking my heart but I still love her dearly. And so to all parents who have children that have become estranged from your family or strayed from the faith, do not lose hope but pray for your children and entrust them to our Father in heaven. In time, your children will find their way home and be obedient to God once again.

This is the messiness of the human family and condition that the Father wanted his Only Begotten Son to experience and redeem so that by his grace, all families can experience hope, peace, joy, and love. When Mary and Joseph realized that their Son was not with them, they “returned to Jerusalem to look for him. . . with great anxiety.” They even asked God “why have you done this to us?” However, as hard as it probably was for them, especially for Mary who “kept all these things in her heart,” they did not despair nor did they lose hope. They leaned on each other as husband and wife but, above all, they trusted in God. Open your hearts to Jesus and allow him to be your reason to be hopeful. Let the “peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which [we are] called into one body.” 

My sisters and brothers in Christ, if this Christmas season has been or is turning out to be difficult and challenging for you and your family, because you have lost a loved one or someone dear to you is seriously ill or dying or something has happened in your family that has caused you to scream at God, asking: “why have you done this to us?”, then please come see Msgr. Brooks or me after Mass. We would love to pray for you and your family. However, do not despair but have hope. More importantly, surrender and trust in God. Take these words of Saint Paul to heart and believe that you are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.” Know that Jesus “came so that [you] might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). So, if you and your family are hanging on by a thread of hope, then let it be the thread on the cloak of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:20). 

My parents celebrate their 50th anniversary today, and I am blessed to have been around for forty-five (45) of those years. Like Mary and Joseph, who fled to Egypt to keep Jesus safe, my parents braved the high seas to come to America, in 1983, so that their children could have a better life. They struggled to raise their children in a new land where the language was completely foreign to them. They argued and fought. Through it all, however, I believe that their marriage has endured the trials of life and they remain together because my parents learned to love and forgive each other over and over again for 50 years. In the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, our family can learn to “put on. . . heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. . . and over all these put on love.” You see, when they realized that Jesus was not in the caravan, Mary and Joseph did not blame each other because their love did not “brood over injury” nor did it “rejoice over wrongdoing”. Rather, their love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:5-7). In our own families, we are called to “put on love” for each other and “[bear] with one another and [forgive] one another. . . as the Lord [forgives]” us.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, our families are not perfect like the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph but that is okay. By the grace of God, with Jesus at the center of our family life, the Holy Spirit inspires us to work together so that we may have hope and attain peace, joy, and love. We also need to embrace two things. First, we need to realize how truly blessed we are to be part of the family that God has given us. And, second, we need to realize that we are a blessing to our family. This frees us to live our lives in a way that we are a blessing to our family. I want to end with this bit of nugget from Ron Rolheiser, OMI, that I believe can help our families grow in holiness and love. He said: “As the various versions of The Prayer of St. Francis put it, we can never attain joy, consolation, peace, forgiveness, love, and understanding by actively pursuing them. We attain them by giving them out.” And so we pray: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace [in my family]. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Divine Master, [in my relationship with members of my family,] grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Amen.