[v_04] Holy
Family Sunday. "Gimme Shelter"
1.
Family as Refuge
When something feels wrong—when
something feels not quite right—we often run toward the people who love us.
And for most of us, that place of
refuge is the family. (Robert Frost quote from Death of the Hired Man:
“home is the place where when you go there, they have to take you in.” But do they
have to feed you?)
Family is where we expect to be
noticed.
It is where we hope someone will listen to us, care about us, listen to the
same stories again and again, and protect us.
Families are not perfect, but they are meant to be places of safety in an
uncertain world.
2.
Joseph Who Notices and Acts
The Gospel today shows us a family
like that—a family that notices danger and responds.
Joseph is warned in a dream that the Child Jesus is in danger.
He does not argue.
He does not delay.
He gets up in the night, takes Mary and the Child, and leaves.
Joseph never speaks in the Gospels,
but his actions speak clearly:
quiet holiness,
watchfulness,
protectiveness.
And Joseph is not the first man in the
Bible or even the only 1 named “Joseph” to follow God’s plan of salvation this
way.
3.
The First Joseph: Salvation Through Family
Long before the Joseph of the
Gospel, there was another Joseph—an earlier Joseph—in the Book of Genesis.
This was the Joseph many of us remember
as “the amazing technicolor dreamcoat” Joseph and son of Jacob.
Sold into slavery by his brothers, sent away with no protection, he eventually
rises to become a trusted official in Egypt.
When famine strikes his family, Joseph saves them.
He becomes the family member who preserves them—and in that sense explains why
the Jewish people are even in Egypt at all.
In both stories, when danger comes,
salvation comes through family.
4.
Strangers, Circumstance, and Responsibility
Recently, I was reminded of the
difference between strangers and family.
I thought my car wouldn’t start in the cold and assumed I needed a jump.
I approached another car—a pickup
truck with snow blowers in the back—but I couldn’t gain his attention.
It was dark, the weather was difficult, we were in an unfamiliar neighborhood,
and he seemed preoccupied—already on the phone, his truck running, clearly on
the move.
Eventually, my car started on its
own—I had been mistaken about needing the jump.
But the moment stayed with me, because it reminded me of something simple and
true: family creates responsibility.
Love makes us notice.
5.
The Instinct to Protect
On this Feast of the Holy Family,
the Church places before us a family that notices danger and responds without
hesitation.
Joseph hears the warning and acts—no speeches, no delay, just faithful action.
That instinct to protect a child is
still alive today—in you and in me.
Just yesterday, a priest from Seton
Hall University was here with his extended family—about 50 relatives gathered
downstairs.
While they were there, I was upstairs and thought I was alone.
Then a 5 -year-old child came up from downstairs, out this door and headed
toward the street.
I followed her—not wanting to scare
her, but not wanting to leave her alone.
Within a minute, relatives were everywhere, including her parents.
Everything turned out fine.
She had lost 1 shoe in the snow but even knew how to put it back on.
I know you would have done the same
thing.
No one needed instructions.
We simply knew that a child should not be left alone.
That instinct is virtuous.
It is holy.
It is God’s law written on the human heart.
6.
Roots, Routine, and Growth
Children need that kind of care in
order to grow.
They need roots—not from wealth or perfect circumstances, but from daily
fidelity:
routines,
shared meals,
bedtimes and wake-up times,
being told “yes” and “no” at the right moments.
Love does not always give us what we
want.
Love helps us grow.
7.
The Family as a School of Mercy
The readings today remind us that
family life matters deeply to God.
Sirach tells us that honoring parents brings blessing.
The Psalm describes children flourishing like young plants.
Saint Paul reminds us that family life is where compassion, patience,
forgiveness, and love are learned—slowly, imperfectly, but truly.
In family life, we often learn to
forgive selflessly, without expecting anything in return except the good of the
family.
Outside the family—with a boss, coworker, or neighbor—we may forgive in order
to be seen as generous or humble.
That is not a bad reason to forgive, but it is incomplete when compared with
Christian mercy, which mirrors God’s own forgiveness.
8.
Learning Holiness Gradually
Sometimes people ask why we pray to
Mary and Joseph at all.
Why not just go straight to Jesus?
And of course, we do go straight to
Jesus—always. But God gives us the Holy
Family not as replacements for Christ, but as teachers—examples who show us how
to live with Him.
If we knew every responsibility
ahead of time, we might never accept our calling.
God works with us gradually.
Mary and Joseph show us how to bring Jesus into the world, protect Him, search
for Him when He seems lost, and remain faithful when life is uncertain.
Jesus Himself chose to grow this
way—quietly, obediently, in a family.
He revealed Himself gradually, and one of the first ways He showed us who He
was
was by being obedient to His mother and foster father.
9.
Noticing the Vulnerable Today
The Gospel also speaks honestly
about danger. Herod targeted children.
The Holy Family fled because innocent life was threatened.
Today, danger can be hidden behind
careful language or legal terms, but the question remains simple:
Do we notice when children are vulnerable?
Do we respond when they are at risk—born or unborn?
If we would not ignore a child
walking alone into danger, then we are called to be aware of situations where
the smallest and most defenseless are left unprotected.
10.
Ordinary Love, Lived Faithfully
The Holy Family shows us that
holiness is not dramatic. It is lived in ordinary decisions made faithfully: meals prepared, children watched over, difficult
choices made quietly out of love.
On this Feast of the Holy Family,
the Church does not give us a perfect family.
She gives us a faithful one.
And she reminds us that holiness—real holiness—is most often achieved not by extraordinary
actions,
but by ordinary love, lived well.
May the Holy Family teach us, as individuals and as families, how to notice, how to protect, and how to love.
No comments:
Post a Comment