On the Holy Family

Here is the text of the meditation I shared with the gathered community for the Feast of the Holy Family.

Faith that is tested

On the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the liturgy focuses on the gift of families and on the fact that just as all those who are part of the family of God are called to be holy, so all Christian families are also called to be holy.  The question is, by what criteria do we judge the holiness of our families; I would hazard a guess that it has something to do with how well we accept the fact that everything we have is a gift from our God, including the good times we cherish and the trials that mold us.

The book of Genesis speaks today of the heart-felt disappointment that Abram and Sarai knew as they advanced in years but remained without a child of their own.  Such disappointment is still present in the hearts of many young (and not so young) couples who have tried to have children but can’t.  Yet, the thing that makes Abram and Sarai models of faith for us is that even though they had all but given up hope of ever having a child of their own, there was always a spark of faith within their hearts.  Even with the smallest amount of faith, we can still speak with God in prayer, and God is always waiting, ready to fan the smallest spark of faith into a blazing flame.  When Abram was courageous enough to speak with God concerning his worry about not having an heir, God responded with the promise: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations (Gn 17:5), and his blessing extended to Sarai, Abram’s wife as well: I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations.  God is always faithful to his word.  So it was that in their old age, Abraham and Sarah knew the great joy of giving birth to their son Isaac.

Anyone who has had the joy of experiencing the birth of a child will be quick to tell you how joyous such occasions can be, but almost in the same breath, they will also confirm that as children grow, they put their parents to the test in ways that no parent could ever have foretold.  It seems that being put to the test is part of the package that comes with parenthood, and it has ever been thus.

Abraham and Sarah were overjoyed at the birth of their son Isaac, and I’m sure that as he grew, he put that poor couple through more than just a few trials, but despite any trial that he could dream up, they continued to love him with all their hearts.  Then God put Abraham to the test again when he asked him to take his son to the land of Moriah and to offer him as a burnt offering.  Saint Paul recalls this test of faith and uses it to teach us that: Abraham considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead – and figuratively speaking he did receive his son back because of this faith (Heb 11:19).

Like Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Mary also knew the great joy of the birth of their son.  Following the practice of their faith, today’s gospel tells us that they took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Lk 2:22).  This would have been an occasion of great joy for them, but even as the elder Simeon blessed the young infant, the words he spoke would have cast a shadow on their joy: This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed … and a sword will pierce your own soul too (Lk 2:34).  Like Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Mary would also be put to the test, in ways they could never imagine.

Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, let us ask these holy people to pray for us, that the Lord will give us the joy of knowing that we have been richly blessed, and that even at moments when we may be put to the test, we are never alone: our God is never far away, and even if we have the smallest spark of hope within our hearts, God can fan that hope into a blazing flame of faith.