29 December 2013 - familiarity can breed compassion
Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. It is so important to realize that it is no accident that Jesus is born into a family. It isn't just a historical curiosity. He is omnipotent. When he is made visible it is only through a family because he wants it to be so. He is emphasizing the value of family.
Out of Egypt I called my son.
How does the Father call his Son? He uses his earthly family to do so. He does not even work through the more perfect of the two. Instead, he honors Joseph's fatherhood.
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Earthly fatherhood is so important because it takes its identity from the Fatherhood of God. It is a necessary part of how the Fatherhood of God is revealed on earth.
For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Before anything is made the Most Holy Trinity is already a family, existing in a perfect communion of love which is selfless and life-giving. It is for this reason that "God sets a father in honor over his children" and "a mother's authority he confirms over her sons". This structure of family is so important that even Jesus participates in it. Even he is called to obey his earthly "parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord."
Family is a school where we learn "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience". Only by "bearing with one another and forgiving one another" can family work. Even if two of the three members of a family are perfect and the other is "a righteous man" God does not bypass the family. There is still much for Joseph to learn and even important experiences for Mary. And beyond what they themselves gain the Holy Family reveals how a quiet and holy life together as family can reveal and make God present in the world.
May our families fear the Lord and walk in his ways so that we can reveal him to the world and receive his blessings:
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
Families like this are the building blocks of the new Jerusalem.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
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