On this first Sunday after Christmas every year when families are reunited again, the Church places before us for our reflection the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Families did not come about by accident. The family is part of God’s plan for us. God wants our families to be holy.
The family is the basic unit of society and the Church; we could say the family is a little church. It is in the family that we first learn to communicate. It is in the family that we learn what love is. It is in the family that we first learn to forgive and to pray. It is in the family that we first learn about God and Jesus and Our Lady. It is in the family that first we learn our values and what is good and bad.
The future of humanity depends on the family because it is through families that society continues. There are many attempts today to redefine the family but they do not reflect God’s plan for the family.
As the Church places the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph before us this weekend for our reflection we should not think that they did not have challenges. Just like every family, they had to face and overcome difficulties and these are just some of the trials we see them facing as we read the Gospels.
Submitted by Fr. Joseph Dovari