Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It is the last Sunday of the year and the Sunday immediately after Christmas: a natural extension of the solemnity of the Lord's birth. A few days ago, we read in Luke's Gospel how the shepherds said to one another: “Let's go to Bethlehem”, and there they found Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus lying in the manger. The shepherds teach us not only the attitude we should have at Christmas—going to Bethlehem—but also what we are called to find when we arrive. Our gaze is directed not only to Jesus, but also to his mother and father. The Church invites us to contemplate this icon in which we see the tenderness, joy, and loving care of Mary and Joseph toward the Child. As Pope Benedict XVI once said: “Christmas is the family holiday par excellence.".
By choosing to be conceived, born, and raised in a human family, God himself has consecrated and sanctified the reality of family life. The human family becomes a holy family. Just as Christ was baptized not to be purified by water, but to make water holy, so too, by being born into a family, he sanctifies it. The vocation and mission of every family become clearer: it becomes the ordinary place of encounter between God and humanity. Holiness is not something distant; it takes flesh in the daily rhythms, sacrifices, and joys of family life.
Before the icon of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we find no speeches, guidelines, or advice on how to have a holy family. Jesus taught about marriage: Mary kept in her heart the wonders that surrounded her Son; Joseph spoke little, but in his silence he expressed a fidelity to God's plan that was stronger than words. What we find, instead, are events: episodes that allow us to enter into the mystery of the Holy Family.
One such episode is found in today's Gospel reading. It is a very moving episode, with much light to offer contemporary culture. I must confess that it is a bittersweet episode for me. First of all, as an African, I am glad that Jesus spent part of his childhood on African soil. It is a source of pride. But the circumstances that made it possible make it bitter. We see the Child Jesus, the Holy Family, threatened by Herod. The Holy Family migrates and finds hospitality in Egypt.
We also see Jesus“ early experience with cultural identity. He left for Egypt to fulfill the prophecy: "From Egypt I called my son”Then he returned to the land of Israel, and since Joseph was afraid to go there at that time, they settled in the region of Galilee, in Nazareth, thus fulfilling the prophecy that he would be called a Nazarene.
Amidst all these displacements, what stands out most is José's attitude. We repeatedly hear the instruction: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee. …”. And each time, Joseph gets up, takes the child and his mother, and sets out on his way. The holiness of a family depends on listening to God's will and obeying it. Joseph embodies this disposition. His obedience is prompt, courageous, and intelligent—so intelligent that it even leaves room for a prudent fear that, in God's hands, becomes a means of fulfilling the Scriptures.
If we want holy families today, we need fathers—and mothers—who are willing to listen to God's voice and respond with prompt obedience. It is God's desire that every family be holy, and that Christ dwell at its center.
