28 December 2014 - family is more than familarity

We tend to think about family as something natural and not supernatural. We think of it is just another fixture of creation and not something specifically and specially intended by God himself. We think of honoring our fathers and comforting our mothers as merely natural virtues. But the family is an institution established by God himself.

God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.

The blessings which accrue to us when we cherish it as such are also supernatural.

kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins

Only when we live with this supernatural frame of reference can family by what it is meant to be. Mary and Joseph embody this. They know that their family is not their own. That is why their family is the Holy Family and therefore the model for all families. They know that none of their relationships belong to them. They know, especially, that Jesus belongs more to his heavenly Father than his earthly parents.

They took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord, 
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord

Because Mary and Joseph live this truth their eyes are opened to the deeper value of family life. They are given grace to see in their family deep truths which most people in our day miss. Simeon reveals some of these truths to them, but only because they first place their family in God's hands. Family is not merely natural. Because they approach it this way they are told things about their own child which amaze them.

for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.

It is only because Abraham places lives his family life with reference to its supernatural origin and goal that it achieves its full purpose and destiny. He is able to offer Isaac to God not because of any way in which that naturally makes sense. He reasons that God can even raise Isaac from the dead if he wants to, "and he received Isaac back as a symbol." Because of his faith he receives the promise.

The Lord took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

The secret to a fulfilled family is faith. It teaches us to live a life that sometimes seems all too natural in a supernatural way.

Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another, 
if one has a grievance against another; 
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love, 
that is, the bond of perfection.

We know from experience that we do need grace to have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience even in difficult times. But if we put Jesus first, if we let his peace control our hearts, our families can be holy families too. Our family lives must be marked by prayer. He will dwell richly in us and teach us. Our family lives will be transformed into songs of praise and thanks to the Father.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.