The Feast of the Holy
Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
(Sirach 3:2-6.12-14; Matthew 2:13-15.19-23)
A painting of the Holy Family in Egypt shows Mary lying with
Jesus in her bosom on the paw of a sphinx.
Meanwhile Joseph reclines away from the two to guard the approach to their
resting place. In this way the artist depicts
the traditional belief that the couple never shared intimate relations.
Scripture asserts that Mary conceived of Jesus as a virgin
and never says that she had sexual relations.
St. Jerome, the preeminent Biblical scholar of the Patristic era, believed
that Joseph also was a virgin. The two –
Mary and Joseph – obviously were of the same mind and heart, but they did not
share the same bed.
Mary and Joseph model many virtues that are necessary for us
as citizens of both earthly and heavenly society. Compassion, courage, and charity name but a
few. To recognize them also as exemplars
of sexual self-restraint is also constructive in our age of over-stimulation.
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