From Fr. Eric Asamoah

The Feast of the Holy Family is a movable feast, assigned to the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas. This Feast reminds us that God Himself chose to enter the human condition not in isolation, but within the embrace of a family. We celebrate then, the wondrous mystery that God’s Son not only assumed our humanity but also became part of a family, the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

The first witnesses of Christ’s birth, the shepherds, found themselves not only before the Infant Jesus but also a small family: mother, father and newborn son. God had chosen to reveal himself by being born into a human family and the human family thus became an icon of God.

In Nazareth, holiness of the Holy Family was lived not through grand gestures but through the quiet fidelity of daily love. The Holy Family stands as the model and mirror for all Christian families, calling us to live the Catholic life not in    abstraction, but in the ordinary rhythms of home. This is what St. Paul is referring to in the second reading when he tells the Colossians and us to “put on love”, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

 The compassion that we have for the weakest member of the family, whether that be physically weak, psychologically weak, or morally weak, becomes our means to grow in union with God. The efforts that we make to accept each other’s quirks are themselves acts of virtue.

This Jubilee Year of Hope calls to believe that God is still in our homes, our communities, and our world. Hope is not a wishful thinking; it is the confident trust that the same God who guided Mary and Joseph will guide us too.

If ever there were parents who hoped and trusted in God, it was surely Mary and Joseph. As pilgrims of hope, we also need to remember that hope is nurtured in the domestic Church, the Church in the home, the family.

As we honor the Holy Family, let us ask for Grace to make our homes places of faith, hope and love.

Let us, then make our families, places where Christ is welcomed, where forgiveness is offered freely, and where hope is nurtured daily. God be with you all.