HOMILIST: REV. FR. PLACIDUS ONWUBIKO
Today, being the Sunday within the octave of Christmas, the Holy Mother Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family. The Holy Family is the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It is the ideal family and the holiest of families that ever lived on earth. The Church, after the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), deems it fit and worthy to celebrate this family, which is a gentle reminder to all that our Savior didn’t fall from heaven into our world but came out also from a family. Basically, a family is the nucleus of the human society and the place where life and learning begin. This celebration goes further to remind us once more that, firstly, a family is a sacred institution. Naturally accepted as the union of man and woman (cf. Gen. 2:24) in a sacramental bond, God blesses the union with children (cf. Ps. 127:3). Hence, any other union (like same-sex) is a deviation. Again, it reminds us that the sustenance and subsistence of our society depend on the continuous existence of the family.
To depict the family as a place where life and learning begin, the author of Sirach in the first reading paints the three components of a family: father, mother, and children. It reveals that the father has the place of honor and the right to respect and obedience when it reads, “The Lord honored the father above the children.” The mother shares the authority with the father in the home, as the writer reports, thus: “…he confirmed the right of the mother over her sons.” “The children whose roles were emphasized more in the text happen to be the ones who respect and obey their parents. Such an attitude from the children will be realizable when parents show a good example to their children, for children learn more from examples than precepts. If parents cultivate in their children good morals and virtues like respect and obedience, such will be reciprocated.
The Holy Family we celebrate today is replete with respect, obedience, and all the virtues one can think of. No family is perfect as it is, but all families should look up to it and strive through the grace of God to imitate it. In Joseph, we see a true picture and model of fatherhood. He was a carpenter who patiently and humbly worked on his bench to provide the basic amenities for his wife and child. When his family was threatened, as seen in the gospel of today, according to St. Matthew, he was protective of them and never allowed any harm to come their way. Dear Fathers of today, it is obvious that many of you are living a life of obscurity, monotonous toil, and struggle to provide for the family. If you carry out your task faithfully and provide for and protect the family God has entrusted to you, you will, like Joseph, not be making a headline in the newspapers but will be securing yourself a chapter in the Book of Life.
Dear mothers of today, in Mary, you have the true picture of motherhood. She was a dutiful and faithful wife. Above all, she was an ideal and loving mother. She is simply one who bore her sorrows gently and pondered them in her heart (cf. Lk. 2:19). She was patient with her husband and was never one who humiliated him because of his poor standing in society. She never sought affluence and luxury but steadily placed her desires on doing the will of God. Like her, you too have a great task towards your family. Never allow the glories and desires of the world to occupy your minds, but let your eyes be fixed on God and the family God has blessed you with.
Dear Children, your role model is Jesus Christ. Even though he was God, he allowed himself to be born into this humble family. He indeed has set an example that you should follow in his steps (cf. 1 Pt. 2:21). Let your actions be those of respect and obedience towards your parents. Be a comfort and consolation to them by remembering what they did for you in your infancy and what they are still doing for you. Do not be carried away by “online families,” which tend to cultivate bad morals and values, thereby ejecting you from your original family. For when you show kindness and appreciation to your parents, you will not only be doing the will of God but also giving glory to God and storing up spiritual rewards for yourselves.
Finally, as the family of God, St. Paul, through the second reading of today, reminds us as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, of the necessary values and virtues we must imbibe, for such actions will bind everything together in perfect harmony. We continue to pray that as Christ entered into our world through the Holy Family, he may once more bring us the joy, peace, and love our world, Church, societies, and families seek. May the families who still seek the gift of children be blessed, and may we continue to practice and imitate the virtues of family life found in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Amen!
