Family Love
December 30, 2007

Readings for the Feast of the Holy Family

Reading 1: Sir. 3:2–6, 12–14

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 128:1–2, 3, 4–5

Reading 2: Col. 3:12–21 or 3:12–17

Gospel: Mt. 2:13–15, 19–23

Link to Readings

By Father Frank Pavone

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. Though He was conceived of a virgin, Jesus nevertheless lived as a son in a human family—a family that points the way for the rest of us.

The Holy Family, of course, is unique. One member is God, another is sinless, and the third is a saint. (St. Joseph had the unique challenge of living with two entirely sinless people!) Yet today’s Feast leads us to reflect on profound truths about every family.

Although God could have come into the world in any way He pleased, He chose to become a member of a family, obedient to His earthly parents, and yet totally devoted to the Heavenly Father’s will, as we all must be. God wants to build up the entire human family, and the Church, by having us live the basic command of loving Him and one another within the immediate family which He gives to us.

The Basic Cell of Society

It is the family that God intends to be the first place where we learn to love and give, to exercise patience and generosity, to share joys and sorrows with other human beings. The best gift parents can give a child is a sibling, because this allows the children to learn, within the family, the joys and challenges of interacting with others their own age.

It is the family that God intends to be the first school, where children learn from those who know them best the basic lessons and skills of life.

It is the family that God intends to be the first church, the place where the child first learns to pray, to read Scripture, and to worship the God who gives us life.

The family is the basic cell of society. Strong and healthy families mean a strong and healthy society. If the family is weak, or nonexistent, society itself is vulnerable to disintegration.

The family is the sanctuary of life. There can be no life without family, and there can be no family without life. The family, above all, is where life is to be welcomed, no matter how fragile or inconvenient it may be.

One of the many reasons why the Pope and bishops identify abortion and euthanasia as pre-eminent issues is because these crimes are committed by one family member upon another. The most important way we build a culture of life is to live it in our families. It is precisely the breakdown of family structure that increases the temptation to abort, or to resort to euthanasia or a lack of proper care for the elderly.

On the other hand, the communion of persons that comes from giving oneself away to the other in selfless love is what creates the proper context for saying a generous “yes” to life. The very word “family” can be understood as an acronym for “Forget About Me; I Love You.”

Protect the Family

Jesus shared the vulnerability that comes with being a member of a human family. “Herod is going to search for the child in order to destroy him.” While we usually think of God as the one who protects us, today we see St. Joseph playing the unspeakable role of protecting God.

His readiness to do so, in the person of his child, speaks to every father about the role of protector, and to our whole society about the need we have for good fathers. The culture of life depends just as much on fathers making the right choices as on mothers doing so.

On this beautiful feast, let us first thank God for our own families, and commend our family members, both living and deceased, to the Lord. Let’s spend some time learning more about our families. Let’s take the opportunity to ask living family members, especially the oldest ones, about relatives we may have never known, and more about those we only knew superficially. Let’s talk about those who were once among us but are now with the Lord.

Let’s resolve on this feast that in the New Year before us, we will spend more time with our families. Just as we can schedule outings and projects, so can we schedule time just to be with those who are closest to us in this life.

Let’s pray on this Feast for those who do not have the joy of family, perhaps because of broken relationships, abandonment, or death. Let us pray for the gift of reconciliation, wherever that is possible, and for the comfort of the Holy Spirit on those who are alone.

May the Holy Family lead us to a culture of love and life!

Father Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life, president of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, and a member of CUF's advisory council. He is a contrubutor to Lay Witness magazine.

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