HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH, YEAR B
HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH, YEAR B
THEME: My eyes have seen your salvation.
BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA
READINGS OF THE DAY
Genesis 15:1-6,21:1-3
Psalm 104:1-6,8-9
Hebrews 11:8,11-12,17-19
Luke 2:22-40
LITURGICAL COLOUR
WHITE
INTRODUCTION
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the Sunday after our celebration of Christmas. And on this Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, marking it the most holy and blessed of all families. why? because in it, our Lord and Saviour was born into. With the loving care of His mother Mary, as well as His foster father, Saint Joseph. The Holy Family is also the role model and example for all of our Christian families, which we are all reminded of the need for us to lead holy and devout our lives to the Lord.
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FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, we heard of the interaction between Abram and the Lord, in which God reassured Abram of everything that He had promised him, that He would grant him a son to continue his family and legacy, rather than one of his own servants, named Eliezer. God reassured Abram that everything would happen as He had told to him, and renewed His promises, stating that Abram, to be known as Abraham henceforth, would become the father of many nations. Abraham believed in God and trusted in Him, and God established His Covenant with Abraham and his descendants. And in the same reading, we then heard from the later part in the Book of Genesis, where Sarah, Abraham’s wife, miraculously gave birth to Isaac, in her old age.
FROM OUR SECOND READING
In our second reading today, we hear how the faith of Abraham led him to righteousness and to receive the graces of the Lord. After Abraham and Sarah had received the son that they had longed for, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. and as we all should know of, Isaac was the beloved son of Abraham, the promised son whom he had received from God, and yet, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac at Mount Moria, which according to tradition, is at the site of where Jerusalem now stands. Abraham did not ask God or question His decision, and entrusted everything to God. This is actually very deeply symbolic and related to what the Lord Himself would do, when He sent to us His own Beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Abraham gave his son willingly to God to be offered and sacrificed, thus the Lord gave us all His Son, that He may offer on our behalf, upon Himself as the Lamb of sacrifice, the worthy offering in atonement for all of our sins.
FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
In our Gospel reading for this Sunday, Joseph and Mary presented Jesus at the temple, fulfilling the law. Simeon, guided by the Holy Spirit, recognized Jesus as the Messiah, prophesying His impact and Mary’s future sorrow. The prophetess Anna also acknowledged Jesus, praising God and speaking of Him to those awaiting Jerusalem’s redemption. Afterward, they returned to Nazareth, where Jesus grew strong and wise, with God’s favor.
CONCLUSION
On this feast of the Holy family, let us together point out some temptations that our modern families witnesses today in our contemporary society. Sometimes as priests when we talk about families, many people tend to ask a lot of questions, because they think since the catholic priests are not married we understand nothing about the family. It is important to recognise that we were all born and brought up in families. We priests see and hear things in the families of our own siblings. We see and hear of situations in hundreds or thousands of families that we are privileged to have access to as pastors and men of God, which an ordinary person will not have.
SOME CHALLENGES OF A FAMILY IN OUR MODERN SOCIETY
1. We are all equal in a family. But our needs are different, our contributions are different. The baby needs more sleep, the elderly person might need more time to sit quietly, the young man needs more space to move around, and young woman may need more time to groom and also to be with her friends!
2. In some families parents focus too much on the financial dimension over the need to spend time together. Both the parents are working hard, but have no time for the children. In other families, children spend too much time with their machines than other human beings. It is embarrassing when we as priests visit some families, the children are apparently busy with their play-stations in their rooms and lack the social etiquette to come down to greet a guest. At meals, each one is busy with their own mobile phones! And matters of the spiritual could be pushed to the private sphere of the members of the family. Pope Paul VI encouraged the Rosary as the prayer of the family. Let us always find time to pray and recite the rosary together.
Happy Blessed Last Sunday of the Year. Happy New Year everyone.
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