Breaking Open the Word - Feast of the Holy Family
Holy Family Sunday, Year A – Sunday, December 29th
Photo Courtesy of Larena Lawson
This Sunday we celebrated the beautiful feast of the Holy Family. The Church, in holding up Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as a model, presents us with Scriptures that show the foundation of holy and happy family (and community) life: selfless love for God and for one another.
A number of Sisters were drawn to the Second Reading, particularly the phrases, “let the peace of Christ control your hearts” and “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (Col. 3:15, 16) It is the indwelling presence of Christ in each soul that binds Christian communities together – all share the same Spirit because they are members of the same Body. If Christ’s word dwells “richly” in a soul, then Christ’s peace will necessarily flow out of that person to others and create unity; conversely, if a soul is not fully welcoming and embracing Christ’s word, then the lack of His peace will in turn overflow to others and create discord. And how do we hold on to Christ’s word when temptations threaten? One Sister suggested that St. Paul gives the answer: “singing psalms, hymns, and inspired songs” with heart and voice, to “crowd out” the tempter’s efforts!
One Sister reflected on the seemingly unusual inclusion of “admonish one another” in the Apostle’s otherwise positive-sounding list of exhortations. Especially today, we tend to think of correction and admonition as purely negative concepts, but St. Paul indicates the opposite. Not only is fraternal correction not incompatible with loving community, it actually builds up community by pursuing the other’s true good. However, such correction must be administered with true love, rather than resentfulness or condescension; as a Sister brought out, we hear the love behind a person’s words more loudly than the words themselves, even if the person is saying “all the wrong things!”
Finally, we spoke about the role of St. Joseph in the Flight into Egypt. As provider and protector for the Holy Family, he must have been very troubled at not being able to give his wife and foster Son the security they needed. However, he still gave them all he had to give: himself. As Father pointed out in the homily at our Sunday Mass, Joseph didn’t have a copy of the Gospel of Matthew to go by! He had to simply take each day as it came, and in this he is a model for all of us. One Sister was also touched by the way Christ chose to share the lot of refugees; like countless people today, the Holy Family were suddenly uprooted from home and country, with no guarantee when they would be able to return.
Thank you again for joining us for our Scripture Sharing – check in next week for our discussion on the Scriptures for the great feast of Epiphany!