The Holy Family

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December 31, 2017

Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-3; Psalm 105; Hebrews 11:11-12, 17-19; Luke 2:22-40

We hear about a few strong characters in today’s readings; Abraham, the exalted childless father of our faith who is called upon to become the father of many nations; Simeon, a venerable elder who rest peacefully now that the Old Testament has been fulfilled; and Anna, the aged prophetess who devoted herself to Temple life. These characters figure prominently in the life of the young Holy Family as they gather to dedicate Jesus to the Lord.

Abraham receives much attention because his obedience of faith is the model for Jesus. It was the obedience of faith from Jesus that saved us. Abram was remarkable for depending so much upon God – becoming a nomad through a harsh desert region, becoming a father in his advanced age, casting his first-born son into the wilderness, and being ready to sacrifice the all-important only biological son. Repeatedly, he trusts God when few other humans would do so. Jesus was able to imitate this example of fidelity and bring it even further when he accepted his mission of salvation. Where else does he learn his obedience? From his family. And that is the point of the Presentation of the Lord.

Joseph and Mary show their devotion to God by following the rites and customs of the faith. They bring Jesus to the Temple for his dedication, his naming, and Mary’s purification, and they meet two people who remind them of the solemn purpose of his life. For Simeon, he is the Glory of God and the fulfillment of Scripture; for Anna, he is the one who will bring about the redemption of Jerusalem. Simeon and Anna can exit gracefully. They have been obedient to their faith and can now depart from their mission because the one who is to rise has burst onto the stage.

The child Jesus began the most important part of his earthly life when the Presentation ends. He goes home with his parents and he learns obedience from them. For the most part, this is unremarkable and ordinary, but it is in the mundane, daily challenges that he learns to live his faith well. The same goes with our faith because we are called to the same obedience. Our obedience makes us part of the Holy Family. And just who is this family? It is all those people who love through the obedience of love.

We have spent some time with family and loved ones during Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas. The greatest joys and the most debilitating angst comes from our close family members, and we sometimes get respite and true holiday spirit when we spend time with friends and people who are closer to us than our families. Day after day, people come to me and ask, “Will you pray for so and so in my family? I have a special intention.” It typically is a cause of suffering and concern.

We have multiple versions of family – biological, spiritual, social, communal, and through various affinities. Few families these days have clear and distinct biological lines; families are community that we make for ourselves. A man spoke to me recently about his daughter’s half-sister. A woman once told me she might have to visit the hospital to see her sister’s mother. Bloodlines are both important and meaningless when we are defining families. Love, care, honor, affection, and commitment are relevant in forming a family, but it is the obedience of faith, the obedience of love, that makes a family one.

So, just like Jesus, we have to learn this obedience of love in the mundane, ordinary challenges of life. We stay present and we care for the one in need. We grow in our commitment and we grow in our compassion and mercy, and our family keeps enlarging because love has to enlarge. Sitting at our Christmas table, we can find a person of a different color from us, one who is adopted or widowed, the alcoholic or the one who is drug dependent, the person questioning one’s gender, the person who has been victimized. At our Eucharistic table, anyone can find a home. We need each other because we each need love, belonging, and acceptance. We need mercy that is given in those tiny, unseen gestures of welcome. Love radiates, while at the same time, it draws others in to the one who loves.

None of us needs great achievement, honor, or status. We simply need to return to our homes and practice the obedience of love that Abram and Sarai, Anna and Simeon, Mary and Joseph, and Jesus taught us. It is not flashy. It is seen by few, but it is real and enduring. Go home, grow strong in wisdom, and the favor of God will rest upon you.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (1 John 2) The liar is the one who denies Jesus is the Christ. Anyone who denies the Son also denies the Father. Let what you heard from the beginning remain with you.

Tuesday: (1 John 2) See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. The world doesn’t know us because they don’t know him.

Wednesday: (1 John 3) The person who acts in righteousness is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the Devil. Stay in the Light as the children of God.  

Thursday: (1 John 3) The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.      

Friday (1 John 5) Who is the victor of this world? The one who believes in Jesus, who came through water and Blood, and the Spirit testifies to him.   

Saturday (1 John 5) We have confidence that if we ask anything according to his will, God hears us.

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 1) This is the testimony of John: I am the voice of one crying out in the desert: Make straight the way of the Lord.    

Tuesday: (John 1) John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” The Spirit will come upon him and remain with him.

Wednesday (John 1) The disciples of John were asked by Jesus, “What are you looking for?” They asked, “Where are you staying?” Come and see.

Thursday (John 1) In Galilee, Jesus called Philip, who found Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus. “He is a true Israelite in whom there is no guile.”

Friday (Mark 1) John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. The heavens were torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descended upon him.

Saturday (John 2) In Cana, Jesus and his disciples attended a wedding, but the wine had run out. At his mother’s urging, Jesus performed his first miracle.  

Saints of the Week

December 31: Sylvester I, pope (d. 335), served the church shortly after Constantine issued his Edict of Milan in 313 that publicly recognized Christianity as the official religion of the empire and provided it freedom of worship. Large public churches were built by the emperor and other benefactors. Sylvester was alive during the Council of Nicaea but did not attend because of old age.

January 2: Basil the Great and Gregory Nanzianzen, bishops and doctors (fourth century), are two of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church. They are known for their preaching especially against the Arian heretics. Basil began as a hermit before he was named archbishop of Caesarea. He influenced Gregory who eventually became archbishop of Constantinople. Their teachings influenced both the Roman and Eastern Churches.

January 3: The Name of Jesus was given to the infant as the angel foretold. In the Mediterranean world, the naming of person stood for the whole person. Humans were given the power to name during the Genesis creation accounts. If one honors the name of the person, they honor the person. The name Jesus means “Yahweh saves.”

January 4: Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious (1774-1821), was born into an Episcopalian household where she married and had five children. When her husband died, she became a Catholic and founded a girls’ school in Baltimore. She then founded the Sisters of Charity and began the foundation for the parochial school system in the U.S. She is the first native-born American to be canonized.

January 5: John Neumann, bishop (1811-1860), emigrated from Bohemia to New York and joined the Redemptorists in Pittsburgh before being named bishop of Philadelphia. He built many churches in the diocese and placed great emphasis on education as the foundation of faith.

January 6: Andre Bessette, religious (1845-1937), was born in Quebec, Canada. He joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross and taught for 40 years at the College of Notre Dame. He cared for the sick and was known as a intercessor for miracles. He built St. Joseph’s Oratory, a popular pilgrimage site in Canada.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Dec 31, 1640. John Francis Regis died. He was a missionary to the towns and villages of the remote mountains of southern France.

·      Jan. 1, 1598: Fr. Alphonsus Barréna, surnamed the Apostle of Peru, died. He was the first to carry the faith to the Guaranis and Chiquitos in Paraguay.

·      Jan. 2, 1619: At Rome, John Berchmans and Bartholomew Penneman, his companion scholastic from Belgium, entered the Roman College.

·      Jan. 3, 1816: Fr. General Brzozowski and 25 members of the Society, guarded by soldiers, left St. Petersburg, Russia, having been banished by the civil government.

·      Jan. 4, 1619: The English mission is raised to the status of a province.

·      Jan. 5, 1548: Francis Suarez, one of the greatest theologians of the church, was born at Granada.

Jan. 6, 1829: Publication of Pope Leo XII's rescript, declaring the Society to be canonically restored in England.