HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY "LOVE SUNDAY"
It’s great to be here with you today on the feast of the Holy
Family. Of course, that’s the “official Church
name” for today. But we all know what
it’s called in the pews. Yes, today... is “Elbow Sunday.” You all know what I’m talking
about...right? The famous part from
Paul’s letter to the Colossians; the one everybody can quote by heart. It starts with: “Wives, be subordinate to
your husbands.” Elbow to her ribs. We husbands can’t jab too strongly, because we
know what’s coming next. “Husbands, love
your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them.” With the accompanying elbow
from our spouse there’s usually a nod and an “mm-hmm.” When the words: “Children, obey your parents in everything” are
read, you’ve got elbows flying left and right from moms and dads toward
unsuspecting children. And then...the
biggie: “Fathers, do not provoke your
children, so they may not become discouraged.”
That’s the version we heard today, but the one I remember is: “And fathers, do not nag your sons, lest they lose hope.” On that one, I’ve had kids climbing over
each other to get a shot at me. But
there’s one thing that hopefully lies behind all of those good-natured jabs;
the thing that should be at the very heart of each of our families; the thing
that held the Holy Family together through all of its trials: Love. To me, today could just as easily be
called “Love Sunday.”
“For God so loved the world that He sent His
only begotten Son...” Let’s consider how God chose to come into the world. Jesus is the Word of God. He is the second
person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the one through whom everything in the universe came into being. He made everything--from
the largest galaxies, to the smallest sub-atomic particle. He could have taken on our humanity as a
fully grown man, powerful and wealthy. He
could have come as a king. But he
didn’t. He entered the world as a tiny human person, living in the womb of His
mother Mary. His very first act in His plan of salvation was to give Himself a
mother. This was not some divine accident. By the example of His life, He
wanted us to know that the path to salvation begins in the family. And not only a mother; God also provided for
Himself an adoptive father, Joseph. Jesus didn’t need an earthly father--the
incarnation happened by the power of the Holy Spirit. And yet, He chose Joseph to be His foster
father, and placed him at the head of the Holy Family. Thus, by Jesus’ own
example, earthly fatherhood is at the heart of our salvation.
Now let’s consider how Jesus grew to be a
man. The gospels tell us that He “grew in stature and wisdom and knowledge in
the sight of men”. Here is Jesus--fully God, yet in His humanity He placed
himself in the custody of Joseph. Fatherhood
must be infinitely important if God would so humble Himself, and put Himself in
the care of an earthly father. Like
most sons, Jesus probably spoke like His dad. When Jesus preached a parable, He
probably used phrases and figures of speech that He learned from Joseph. Jesus, through whom the whole universe was made,
learned from the humble carpenter Joseph
how to make and hang a door. Jesus
Christ, the Lord of all creation, the God in whose honor Solomon’s Temple was
built, was taught by the just man Joseph how to behave while He was in
the temple. Joseph helped Jesus grow into the man he became.
When God the Son, Jesus, took on our human
nature, the Bible tells us that “He was a man like us in all things, except sin. His home life, work life, His worship; the
pain, the temptations, the sorrows and the joys--all of it was part of His
human nature--our nature. He took for Himself an earthly father and mother
because it is in our nature to have both a father and a mother. When scripture says that God created man in
His own image, this is one of the attributes of that image: that in our nature,
we are born into a community of persons that makes us what we are, the
human family--mother, father, and child. This is the earthly image of an eternal reality; namely, the Blessed
Trinity. God is a fruitful, loving community of persons, of which the
human family is the image. The Blessed
Trinity is the model for the Holy Family, and the Holy Family is the model for
our earthly families. The Holy Family certainly had its
share of trials, which started with Jesus’ conception and continued all the way
up through his horrible crucifixion. This
family indeed suffered much; but persevered--through their love for one
another, and for God the Father.
What holds our families
together in times of difficulty is also love;
the love we have for each other, the love we have for God, and the unconditional love that God has for each of us.
If our families fail in any way, it is often
due to a lack of love on someone’s part—or a lack of showing that
love. I think that one of the greatest
threats facing families today is simply that we don’t spend enough time
together. We are so busy working, or playing with our smart phones, or watching
some reality show on TV, that we have less and less time for each other. We
have to get back to raising our children, because if we don’t,
someone else will—their friends, their friends’ parents who we may not even
know, video games, the shows on TV—and our children are simply too precious to
allow that to happen. Spending time
together with family is a way of showing our family that we love them. Whenever our families are successful, it’s
because they are places of love...and forgiveness. The two go hand-in-hand. Because we are human, we will sometimes say
or do things that could be hurtful. It
is during those times where forgiveness comes into play. We have to know that, where there is love,
there too is forgiveness for the times we just don’t say or do the right thing,
the times we fail to show our family members how much we truly do love
them. Forgiving one another—not seven
times, but seventy-times-seven times--is a concrete way in which we show our
love for others.
There’s a song
by Harry Chapin called: The Cat’s in the Cradle. I’m sure many of you have heard it. It chronicles events in the lives of a father
and son. Throughout his son’s early
life, the father doesn’t have time for him, and misses many of the milestone
events in his son’s life. “When you
coming home Dad? I don’t know when; but we’ll get together then, Son, we’re
gonna have a good time then.” Despite
his father’s absence, the boy resolves to grow up just like him. The song ends with the father calling his son
on the phone telling him that he’d like to see him, to which the son
responds: “I’d love to Dad if I could
find the time; you see my new job’s a hassle, and the kids have the flu, but
it’s sure nice talkin to you Dad, it’s been sure nice talkin to you.” At that moment, the father realizes that his
son indeed grew up to be just like him, which is a tragedy for them both. Every time I hear that song, it stops me in
my tracks, and causes me to re-examine and re-evaluate my relationship with my
children; because I do not want to be “that character.” None of us should look back with regret that
we didn’t spend enough time with our families.
If we have any doubts about that, then the time for action, the time for
love and forgiveness, is now. Today is your “wake-up” call; this is your elbow
to the ribs.
And so, on
Tuesday night, when you’re racking your brain, trying to come up with your latest
and greatest New Year’s Eve resolution, why not be inspired by the two greatest
commandments: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul,
mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, why not resolve... to love,
and to love more. And what better
place to start than with your family? May
Almighty God bless each of our families today, and always. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
