YEAR C: HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY
HOMILY THEME: KEEP GOD WITHIN
BY: Rev Fr Joseph Nyarko Asare
HOMILY: (1 Sam 1:20-22, 24-28/Ps 128/1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24/ Lk 2:41-52)
There lived a pious Joseph and a sinless Mary for some time. The man betrothed the woman and they remained the family of Joseph and Mary. When Jesus became a member of the family, the Church gave the name (or acknowledged the name) Holy Family to that beautiful community of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. The presence of Jesus exposes the good within and brings in the needed transformation.
In the Gospel, the parents ensured that Jesus remained in the heart of the family. Even when the boy Jesus remained in the Temple after the annual ritual, the parents went back to get Him in. it was not just because a family needed the son home; a pious man and a sinless woman needed the spotless lamb in their midst. What is the position of Jesus in your life and family? If there is no other child and you have Jesus, note that you have enough.
Hannah, in the first reading teaches us two important lessons; maybe three. She makes us realise that a child is truly ours when he/she is completely offered to the Lord. Let us learn to lead our children to God by teaching them to remain in the Divine presence. This calls for a personal life of worship from the family and a conscious decision to help the children get connected to God.
Again, Hannah teaches us not to mourn for those the Lord absolve unto himself. Let us not resist those God calls to Himself as priests or religious. Again, those who die should not make us over grief. They are with God and it is for our very good. Let us learn to remain God’s children so that alive or dead we will enjoy the company of the Divine like Joseph and Mary or Hannah and Elkanah.
PRAYER POINTS
1. For the grace to remain children of God
2. That we can lead all the little ones to the Lord
3. That we can keep Jesus in our family
(Rev Fr Joseph Nyarko Asare of the Catholic Diocese of Obuasi)
