Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
(Genesis 15:1-6.21:1-3; Hebrews 11:8.11-12.17-19; Luke
2:22.39-40)
Father Patricio Peyten was one of the most popular
evangelists during the 20th century. He came from Ireland to the United States
where he pursued a religious vocation. As a priest, he promoted the praying of
the family rosary. He wrote a motto that became famous: “The family that prays
together, stays together.” People have tried to alter the motto saying
something like, “The family that plays together, stays together.” But the new
formulas haven't stuck because they aren't based on reality. The truth is that
families have to submit to God if they want to be united.
The need to submit to God is seen in the first pages of the
Bible. Genesis tells of the first sin as a result of Eve's desire to be like
God. The tempter snake tells her that by eating the forbidden fruit she could
determine for herself what is good and what is bad. Then, she wouldn't have to
obey anyone's will but her own. Not long after she and the man tasted the
fruit, human life becomes difficult forever.
Something similar happens in the story of the Tower of
Babel. With their industry men try to avoid dependence on God. They think they
could reach heaven, a feat that would perhaps make them more famous than God.
However, as a result of their foolishness, God has to rescue them from disaster
by scattering them around the world. In short, the pretension to be like God
ends up in confusion throughout the world.
Things get better when Abram hears God's voice and submits
his faithfulness to him. As the first reading relates, he and his wife Sarah do
not rebel against God for not giving them children. Their conformity to the
divine will gains them a son and in time multitudes of descendants.
In the gospel Mary and Joseph also show submission to the
will of God. St. Luke describes the two presenting Jesus to the Temple and
offering the appropriate sacrifice. Everything is done “as it is written in the
law.” Jesus will follow the will of God, his Father, by even giving his life to
redeem the world.
Sometimes it seems like the world has returned to the times
before Abram. Nowadays more and more people apparently prefer to do their will
before God's. They care more about pleasure and comfort than worship and
compassion. Appropriate to this Feast of the Holy Family, many contemporary
young people forget God's first command in the Bible: “Be fruitful and
multiply.” They mistakenly think that the purpose of sex is self-pleasure and
not procreation of children and support of a spouse.
We learn submission to God in the family. The elders teach
us that human capabilities are always limited. We have to ask for God's help at
mass and in personal prayer. These requests are particularly necessary as
people approach the threshold of death. Our parents instruct us in the value of
sacrifice. When we were sick as children, they stayed up all night if necessary
to take care of us. Their sacrifice showed that we do not exist only for
ourselves. Rather, we have to seek the good of others. Because God created and
sustains us, he always has the first claim on our services. Finally, from our
brothers with whom we often quarrel, we learn the need to forgive and ask for
forgiveness. In life we are going to fall into sin. When it happens to us, we
must offer God our apology and request his mercy.
Tomorrow we start a new year. For many it is time to return to
the family values that they have dropped along the way. Maybe we want to reform
as well. First, we need to ask whom we live for -- God or ourselves. If our
answer is the second, it is time to submit to the Lord again.
