Beloved in Christ,
God is the author of the family. What does the structure of God's family look like? The answer to this question can be derived from the example of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Holy Family is a perfect one made up of a divine Son, a sinless mother, and a just father. It is a family structure that reflects the familial nature of the relationship among the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, the perfect constitution of the Holy Family does not exclude the existence of stress and tension. Even the Holy Family had its share of difficulties in the human family as we all know it.
As St. Luke writes about the family, they kept God's commandments. As a family, they went to Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast. They kept the faith in all its details. Each person plays an assigned role in the family structure established by God. Joseph and Mary have authority over Jesus. They exercise this authority in charity and patience. Jesus, though a divine person, obeyed his parents: "He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them" (Lk 2: 51). Jesus, though superior to Mary and Joseph, respected their authority over him, obeying their instruction to go with them to the feast of Passover and return home to Nazareth. Joseph knew he was not a perfect father to Jesus; he was a foster father, and God was the true Father. Yet, Mary and Jesus accepted his authority over his family- they recognized him as the head of the family.
Despite this perfect family structure established by God, with each playing its God-assigned role regarding love, mutual respect, and order (we see more details of these roles in Col 3: 12-21), tension and stress are found in the family. When Jesus went missing in Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary must have felt a sense of failure and hardship. The three days of searching for Jesus must have constituted a problem for them and tension in the family.
Our contemporary families undergo similar and more significant difficulties. Our families battle with divorce, separation, poor morals, abusive parents, disobedient or rebellious children, children who turn away from the faith their parents raised them in, and many other forms of dysfunction. There is hardly any family that is spared some form of moral failure. The feast of the Holy Family we celebrate this Sunday calls us back to the drawing board and the basics of family structure. Let us practice all the virtues and morals of the family illustrated in the Gospel of Luke 2, St. Paul's Colossians 3, and Sirach 3. Let us, above all, turn to God in prayers to renew and restore our family to what God intended. Let parents pray to God for their families; let them turn especially to Jesus, Mary and Joseph in prayers. Fathers, invoke St. Joseph!
Wednesday, January 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God; it is a holy day of obligation this year. The Church, our Mother and teacher, invites us back to a solemn feast in honor of the Mother of our Lord Jesus. It is one of the highlights of the Octave of Christmas. Come to be taught and blessed by this solemn liturgy.
Happy Christmas!
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
God is the author of the family. What does the structure of God's family look like? The answer to this question can be derived from the example of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Holy Family is a perfect one made up of a divine Son, a sinless mother, and a just father. It is a family structure that reflects the familial nature of the relationship among the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, the perfect constitution of the Holy Family does not exclude the existence of stress and tension. Even the Holy Family had its share of difficulties in the human family as we all know it.
As St. Luke writes about the family, they kept God's commandments. As a family, they went to Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast. They kept the faith in all its details. Each person plays an assigned role in the family structure established by God. Joseph and Mary have authority over Jesus. They exercise this authority in charity and patience. Jesus, though a divine person, obeyed his parents: "He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them" (Lk 2: 51). Jesus, though superior to Mary and Joseph, respected their authority over him, obeying their instruction to go with them to the feast of Passover and return home to Nazareth. Joseph knew he was not a perfect father to Jesus; he was a foster father, and God was the true Father. Yet, Mary and Jesus accepted his authority over his family- they recognized him as the head of the family.
Despite this perfect family structure established by God, with each playing its God-assigned role regarding love, mutual respect, and order (we see more details of these roles in Col 3: 12-21), tension and stress are found in the family. When Jesus went missing in Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary must have felt a sense of failure and hardship. The three days of searching for Jesus must have constituted a problem for them and tension in the family.
Our contemporary families undergo similar and more significant difficulties. Our families battle with divorce, separation, poor morals, abusive parents, disobedient or rebellious children, children who turn away from the faith their parents raised them in, and many other forms of dysfunction. There is hardly any family that is spared some form of moral failure. The feast of the Holy Family we celebrate this Sunday calls us back to the drawing board and the basics of family structure. Let us practice all the virtues and morals of the family illustrated in the Gospel of Luke 2, St. Paul's Colossians 3, and Sirach 3. Let us, above all, turn to God in prayers to renew and restore our family to what God intended. Let parents pray to God for their families; let them turn especially to Jesus, Mary and Joseph in prayers. Fathers, invoke St. Joseph!
Wednesday, January 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God; it is a holy day of obligation this year. The Church, our Mother and teacher, invites us back to a solemn feast in honor of the Mother of our Lord Jesus. It is one of the highlights of the Octave of Christmas. Come to be taught and blessed by this solemn liturgy.
Happy Christmas!
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
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