Feast of the Holy Family
Matthew 2, 13-15; 19-23
The venerable Father Patrick Peyton coined a phrase that has become a rallying guide for good family living. “The family that prays together, stays together.” And most probably the Holy Family has never taken this for granted. Even though, Jesus, God himself, was present among them, they knew that they were not exempt from the harsh realities of life.
From the very beginning of Jesus’ life, Jesus was subject to persecution. When King Herod was told of the birth of the “King of the Jews”, he was immediately threatened that somebody would take over his throne. King Herod was so paranoid about his hold to his throne that he even killed his own sons in the fear that they would rebel and take his throne by force. So when King Herod learned about the birth of this “King of the Jews”, he immediately employed his scripture experts to find out in the scriptures if there’s some prediction when this would happen and where. And most probably he got his answer, so he had advised the wise men to look for the child and come back to him so that he may be able to worship the child too. But in reality, he wanted to find precise information about the newborn Jesus and once he got confirmation of where he was living, he would send his troops over there and kill the child immediately. However, we know that the angel of the Lord advised the wise men to take another route on their way back and Joseph was advised by the angel to take his wife and his child to Egypt where they stayed there until it was safe to go back.
The gospel for today describes all the perils and challenges that the Holy Family faced very early in their family life. What does this tell us? It tells us that even with the presence of Jesus himself in the Holy Family, they were never in a way exempt from all the challenges of family life. And for the Holy Family, their challenges were in no way ordinary. They were running for their lives, for so many were persecuting them. However, they continued to rely on God and follow his commandments without reservation to be able to survive and live a life that was worthy in the sight of God.
We live in a world today in which families continue to be threatened and must be able to endure extraordinary lengths to be able to survive in this day and age. How many times have we heard that members of families have to go outside of their country in order to earn a bit more so that their family can have a decent life. And while many have taken this for granted, the cost of a mother or a father leaving his or her family for another country in order to provide a decent living for their children also has difficult consequences that many are just starting to realise.
We also have families who have to migrate and be refugees in another country because of the lack of peace in war-torn countries. They are like the Holy Family in today’s gospel who had to leave in haste to go to Egypt because they were being persecuted by their own country and by their own people.
There are also families that are being torn apart by divorce and family conflict and domestic violence. And these have a tremendous effect on children who are reliant on their parents for stability and support.
May this feast be a reminder that whatever we are experiencing right now is no different from what the Holy Family experienced two thousand years ago. And may the Holy Family be also a guide and model for our own family life that even though our families are far from perfect, at least by praying to the Holy Family, we may also be as united as they are.