Homily Christmas (C) Holy Family - My Father's House

Fr. Andrew Dalton, LC

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My Father’s House

Core Message:

FOR THE MIND: What do I want them to KNOW?

· Insert what you want them to KNOW here.

FOR THE HEART: What do I want them to FEEL?

· Insert what you want them to FEEL here.

Homily

My homily goes here.

Readings

Sunday, December 30, 2018 | Christmas

Holy Family

Sunday within the Octave of Christmas

Year C | Roman Missal | Lectionary

First Reading Sirach 3:2–6, 12–14 or 1 Samuel 1:20–22, 24–28

Response & Psalm, Option I

Response Psalm 128:1

Psalm Psalm 128:1–5

Response & Psalm, Option II

Response Psalm 84:5a

Psalm Psalm 84:2–3, 5–6, 9–10

Second Reading Colossians 3:12–21 or Colossians 3:12–17 or 1 John 3:1–2, 21–24

Gospel Acclamation Acts 16:14b

Gospel Luke 2:41–52

Index of Readings

First Reading

Option A

Sirach 3:2–6, 12–14

2 For the Lord sets a father in honor over his children

and confirms a mother’s authority over her sons.

3 Those who honor their father atone for sins;

4 they store up riches who respect their mother.

5 Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children,

and when they pray they are heard.

6 Those who respect their father will live a long life;

those who obey the Lord honor their mother.

12 My son, be steadfast in honoring your father;

do not grieve him as long as he lives.

13 Even if his mind fails, be considerate of him;

do not revile him because you are in your prime.

14 Kindness to a father will not be forgotten;

it will serve as a sin offering—it will take lasting root.

Option B

1 Samuel 1:20–22, 24–28

20 She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel. “Because I asked the Lord for him.” 21 The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, 22 Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever.”

24 Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. 25 After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. 26 Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. 28 Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” Then they worshiped there before the Lord.

Response & Psalm, Option I

Response

Psalm 128:1

1 A song of ascents.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord,

and who walk in his ways.

Psalm

Psalm 128:1–5

1 A song of ascents.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord,

and who walk in his ways.

2 What your hands provide you will enjoy;

you will be blessed and prosper:

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your home,

Your children like young olive plants

around your table.

4 Just so will the man be blessed

who fears the Lord.

5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;

may you see Jerusalem’s prosperity

all the days of your life,

Response & Psalm, Option II

Response

Psalm 84:5a

5 Blessed are those who dwell in your house!

They never cease to praise you.

Selah

Psalm

Psalm 84:2–3, 5–6, 9–10

2 How lovely your dwelling,

O Lord of hosts!

3 My soul yearns and pines

for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and flesh cry out

for the living God.

5 Blessed are those who dwell in your house!

They never cease to praise you.

Selah

6 Blessed the man who finds refuge in you,

in their hearts are pilgrim roads.

9 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

listen, God of Jacob.

Selah

10 O God, watch over our shield;

look upon the face of your anointed.

Second Reading

Option A

Colossians 3:12–21

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

18 Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.

Option B

Colossians 3:12–17

Option C

1 John 3:1–2, 21–24

1 See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

21 Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God 22 and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. 24 Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.

Gospel Acclamation

Acts 16:14b

14 One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

Gospel

Luke 2:41–52

41 Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, 42 and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. 43 After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, 47 and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

Roman Missal

The Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord [Christmas], or, if there is no Sunday, December 30.

THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH

Feast

Entrance Antiphon [Lk 2:16]

The shepherds went in haste,

and found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in a manger.

The Gloria in excelsis (Glory to God in the highest) is said.

Collect

O God, who were pleased to give us

the shining example of the Holy Family,

graciously grant that we may imitate them

in practicing the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity,

and so, in the joy of your house,

delight one day in eternal rewards.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

When this Feast is celebrated on Sunday, the Creed is said.

Prayer over the Offerings

We offer you, Lord, the sacrifice of conciliation,

humbly asking that,

through the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God and Saint Joseph,

you may establish our families firmly in your grace and your peace.

Through Christ our Lord.

Preface I, II or III of the Nativity of the Lord, pp. 538–543.

When the Roman Canon is used, the proper form of the Communicantes (In communion with those) is said.

Communion Antiphon [Bar 3:38]

Our God has appeared on the earth, and lived among us.

Prayer after Communion

Bring those you refresh with this heavenly Sacrament,

most merciful Father,

to imitate constantly the example of the Holy Family,

so that, after the trials of this world,

we may share their company for ever.

Through Christ our Lord.

CCC

The Holy Family

CCC 531-534: the Holy Family CCC 1655-1658, 2204-2206: the Christian family, a domestic Church CCC 2214-2233: duties of family members CCC 534, 583, 2599: the Finding in the Temple CCC 64, 489, 2578: Hannah and Samuel CCC 1, 104, 239, 1692, 1709, 2009, 2736: we are God’s children now CCC 163, 1023, 1161, 2519, 2772: we shall see him face to face and be like him

The mysteries of Jesus’ hidden life

531 During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labor. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, a life in the community. From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was “obedient” to his parents and that he “increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”222 (2427)

532 Jesus’ obedience to his mother and legal father fulfills the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. The everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: “Not my will.…” The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating p 135 his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed. (2214–2220; 612)

533 The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life: (2712; 2204; 2427)

The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus—the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us … A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character … A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the “Carpenter’s Son,” in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work.… To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them their great pattern, their brother who is God.

534 The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine sonship: “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s work?”227 Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith. Mary “kept all these things in her heart” during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life. (583; 2599; 964)[1]

2599 The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin also learned to pray according to his human heart. He learns the formulas of prayer from his mother, who kept in her heart and meditated upon all the “great things” done by the Almighty. He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his people, in the synagogue at Nazareth and the Temple at Jerusalem. But his prayer springs from an otherwise secret source, as he intimates at the age of twelve: “I must be in my Father’s house.”42 Here the newness of prayer in the fullness of time begins to be revealed: his filial prayer, which the Father awaits from his children, is finally going to be lived out by the only Son in his humanity, with and for men.

Notes

Hahn

Readings: Sirach 3:2–6, 12–14 Psalm 128:1–5 Colossians 3:12–21 Luke 2:41–52

Why did Jesus choose to become a baby born of a mother and father and to spend all but His last years living in an ordinary human family? In part, to reveal God’s plan to make all people live as one “holy family” in His Church (see 2 Corinthians 6:16–18).

In the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, God reveals our true home. We’re to live as His children, “chosen ones, holy and beloved,” as the First Reading puts it.

The family advice we hear in today’s readings—for mothers, fathers and children—is all solid and practical. Happy homes are the fruit of our faithfulness to the Lord, we sing in today’s Psalm. But the Liturgy is inviting us to see more, to see how, through our family obligations and relationships, our families become heralds of the family of God that He wants to create on earth.

Jesus shows us this in today’s Gospel. His obedience to His earthly parents flows directly from His obedience to the will of His heavenly Father. Joseph and Mary aren’t identified by name, but three times are called His “parents” and are referred to separately as His “mother” and “father.” The emphasis is all on their familial ties to Jesus. But these ties are emphasized only so that Jesus, in the first words He speaks in Luke’s Gospel, can point us beyond that earthly relationship to the Fatherhood of God.

In what Jesus calls “My Father’s house,” every family finds its true meaning and purpose (see Ephesians 3:15). The Temple we read about in the Gospel today is God’s house, His dwelling (see Luke 19:46). But it’s also an image of the family of God, the Church (see Ephesians 2:19–22; Hebrews 3:3–6; 10:21).

In our families we’re to build up this household, this family, this living temple of God. Until He reveals His new dwelling among us, and says of every person: “I shall be his God and he will be My son” (see Revelation 21:3, 7).

NCR

Feast of the Holy Family: The Mystery of Love

Dec 29, 2018

by Mary M. McGlone

Detail of "The Virgin and Joseph with the Young Jesus" engraving and etching by Johann Jakob Frey the Elder, circa 1710-40 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

December 30, 2018

1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28

Psalm 84

Colossians 3:12-17

Luke 2:41-52

The fifth joyful mystery of the rosary meditates on the story of finding Jesus in the Temple. It could also be called the first of Mary's "mysteries of protest." Those mysteries come together in a litany where the repeated refrain is, "Dear God! The angel never warned me about this!"

Plaster statues aside, we assume that Mary did not pray the rosary. But as a Jewish woman schooled in the tradition of the prophets, she knew that searing complaints are prayers as genuine as praise and petition. Searching the Gospels, we can find a good number of the mysteries of protest she could have taken to prayer.

After the interchange in the Temple, "mystery No. 2" might be expressed as: "Will someone explain why he went alone into desert amid the wild animals?" No. 3: "I know he said his time had not come, but weddings need wine!" No. 4: "He called them all his mother?" And so on. Undoubtedly, there were more than five or 15 or even 20.

These "mysteries" don't really surprise experienced parents: "You never know what to expect." Those who reflect deeply on their experience might add, "The struggles of family life have brought me great growth."

📷

(Mark Bartholomew)

The feast of the Holy Family offers the opportunity to reflect on the mystery of family life. Every family and community share the perplexing, frustrating, demanding challenge Luke described. Put most simply, Mary and Joseph faced the difficult discovery that Jesus was not going along with them every step of the way. It is a real story of a family conflict and is symbolic of all kinds of relationships.

We know what it is like when family members do not go along with us on the journey. When Mary and Joseph confronted Jesus in the Temple, they confronted the fact that he would have to discover his own path in life. No matter what they might hope for him, he did not belong to them.

The story reminds us that love is rooted in profound reverence for the mystery of the other. Such reverence cultivates profound respect for the other's mysterious freedom. In that, we learn to desire that the other will become who they are meant to be rather than what we would have them be.

Hannah and her son Samuel offer an extreme example of this. The unexpected dimension of Hannah's longing for a child was that even as she prayed to become a mother, she promised to give her child to God. Strange as her example may seem to us today, Hannah saw her son as belonging to God and God's plan for the world rather than as her claim to fame or an old-age insurance policy.

When we take reflection time to celebrate this feast, we can enjoy contemplating the most important relationships in our lives. Obviously, the theme of the day is familial love. But the readings direct us to reflect specifically on how love nurtures each person's freedom to become ever more deeply who they are.

In today's Gospel, Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph were a day's journey out of Jerusalem when they discovered that Jesus was not with them. Luke describes their consternation as they looked among the people they journeyed with but did not find him.

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But according to Luke, they did not return to search all over Jerusalem, checking out the markets and recreation spots that might have interested a budding adolescent. They went to the Temple and found their curious child listening to the scholars who spoke of the things of God.

They knew their son and had a good idea where they might find him. They understood him; they were his first teachers. As they taught him what every child needs to learn, they had seen his fascination with the things of God — which for him included everything.

That day in the Temple, it was Mary's turn to say, "Your time has not yet come." But even as she said that, she had to know that his time would come. Like John the Baptist, she and Joseph had to accept that their roles would decrease as Jesus' captivation by the things of God increased.

The feast of the Holy Family invites us to celebrate our relationships with those we love most deeply. It reminds us that the greatest gift we can give others is to respect and nurture their freedom to become all God has created them to be.

Whether it is with children, spouses, siblings or members of our communities, we know it will not be easy. But with Mary, we can pray, "Dear God! You never warned me!" and remember the only assurance she was ever given: "Nothing will be impossible for God."

[Mary M. McGlone is a Sister of St. Joseph currently writing the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the U.S.]

Editor's note: This Sunday Scripture commentary was originally published in the December 2018 issue of Celebration, a comprehensive pastoral resource. To read the full version of the commentary, click here. Sign up to receive weekly Scripture for Life emails.

A version of this story appeared in the Dec 14-27, 2018 print issue under the headline: The mystery of love .

CDR

On this, the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, we honor the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In honoring them, we also honor all families, big or small. And in honoring all families, we honor the family of God, the Church. But most especially, we focus in on the hidden, day-to-day life of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

What was it like to live day in and day out in the household of St. Joseph? What was it like to have Jesus for a son, Mary as a wife and mother, and Joseph as a father and husband? Their home would have certainly been a sacred place and a dwelling of true peace and unity. But it would have also been so much more.

The family home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph would have been, in numerous ways, just like any other home. They would have related together, talked, had fun, disagreed, worked, eaten, dealt with problems, and encountered everything else that makes up daily family life.

Of course, the virtues of Jesus and Mary were perfect, and St. Joseph was a truly “just man.” Therefore, the overriding characteristic of their home would have been love.

But with that said, their family would not have been exempt from daily toil, hurt and challenges that face most families. For example, they would have encountered the death of loved ones, St. Joseph most likely passed away prior to Jesus’ public ministry. They would have encountered misunderstanding and gossip from others. Our Blessed Mother, for example, was found with child out of wedlock. This would have been a topic of discussion among many acquaintances for sure. They would have had to fulfill all daily chores, earn a living, put food on the table, attend gatherings of family and friends and the like. They would have lived normal family life in every way.

This is significant because it reveals God’s love for family life. The Father allowed His Divine Son to live this life and, as a result, elevated family life to a place within the Trinity. The holiness of the Holy Family reveals to us that every family is invited to share in God’s divine life and to encounter ordinary daily life with grace and virtue.

Reflect, today, upon your own family life. Some families are strong in virtue, some struggle with basic communication. Some are faithful day in and day out, some are broken and deeply wounded. No matter the case, know that God wants to enter more deeply into your family life just as it is right now. He desires to give you strength and virtue to live as the Holy Family. Surrender yourself and your family, this day, and invite the Triune God to make your family a holy family.

Lord, I do offer myself to You this day and in doing so I offer You my family. I offer every relationship, be it good or difficult, and I offer every challenge we face. Please come and sanctify my family, making it holy in imitation of your family in Nazareth. Jesus, I trust in You.

History

Introduction

The Holy Family is the name given to the family unit of Jesus: The Divine Son of God Jesus, his mother the Virgin Mary, and his foster-father Joseph. We know very little about the life of the Holy Family through the canonical Gospels. They speak of the early years of the Holy Family, including the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, and the finding of Jesus in the temple. Various non-canonical works, including the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, try to fill in the blanks. However, even though these apocryphal works may contain some truth derived from oral tradition, they have been deemed unworthy of canonical status because of the way they present Jesus. While the exact details of the day-to-day life of the Holy Family may be unknown, we can still learn a lot from the stories we do have.

Devotion to the Holy Family is a recent development, but one that naturally grows out of a love for Jesus and his family. The cult of the Holy Family grew in popularity in the 17th century, and several religious congregations have been founded under this title. The Holy Family also became portrayed in popular art of the period. On October 26, 1921 the Congregation of Rites (under Pope Benedict XV) inserted the Feast of the Holy Family into the Latin Rite general calendar. Until then it had been celebrated regionally (see History below). Popes before and including Benedict XV (especially Leo XIII) promoted the feast as a way to counter the breakdown of the family unit. Today the Church celebrates the Feast on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's Day (Known as the Feast of Mary Mother of God in the Catholic Church). If both Christmas and New Year's Day fall on Sundays, no Sunday exists between the two dates, so the Church celebrates the Holy Family Feast on December 30th. If the feast falls on the 30th, attendance is not obligatory. Up until 1969, the Holy Family feast was kept on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. It was transferred to its current date in 1969.

The Feast of the Holy Family is not just about the Holy Family, but about our own families too. The main purpose of the Feast is to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families, and for domestic life in general. Our family life becomes sanctified when we live the life of the Church within our homes. This is called the "domestic church" or the "church in miniature." St. John Chrysostom urged all Christians to make each home a "family church," and in doing so, we sanctify the family unit. Just how does one live out the Church in the family? The best way is by making Christ the center of family and individual life. Ways to do this include: reading scripture regularly, praying daily, attending Mass at least on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, imitating the actions of the Holy Family, going to confession frequently, and so forth, all done together as a family unit.

St. Paul provides advice on family life in Colossians 3:12-21:

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (RSV).

The Holy Family feast is a good time to remember the family unit and pray for our human and spiritual families. We also may take this feast to reflect on the value and sanctity of the family unit, and to evaluate our own family life. What ways may it be improved? What would Jesus, Mary, and Joseph do? Finally, we can use this feast to ask ourselves what are we doing to promote the family within our own cultures, neighborhoods, and communities.

History

In 1643 Louis and Barbe d'Ailleboust came to Canada in order to devote their lives to the welfare of the natives there. After her husband had passed away, Barbe, with the assistance of the Jesuit Father Chaumonot, founded the Confraternity of the Holy Family. The confraternity and devotion to the Holy Family spread all over Canada and had the effect of promoting good morals. Monsignor François de Laval invited her to Quebec, and gave her the general management if the confraternity, which still exists today. In 1675, the now Bishop de Laval had a little book printed in Paris instructing the members of the confraternity as to virtuous practices. Bishop de Laval also established the feast of the Holy Family, and had a mass and office drawn up which are proper to the Diocese of Québec. The feast was later added in 1921 to the General calendar of the Western Rite as a way to counteract the breakdown of the family.

[1] Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, United States Catholic Conference, Washington, DC 20002nd Ed., 134–135.

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