The Holy Family

Dedicated To All the Fathers, Mothers and Children of Epiphany of the Lord Parish 

The Holy Family of Nazareth: The Patron and Model of All Christian Families 

The émigré Holy Family of Nazareth, fleeing into Egypt, is the archetype of every refugee family. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, living in exile in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are, for all times and all places, the models and protectors of every migrant, alien and refugee of whatever kind who, whether compelled by fear of persecution or by want, is forced to leave his native land, his beloved parents and relatives, his close friends, and to seek a foreign soil. For the Almighty and most merciful God decreed that His only Son, “being made like unto men and appearing in the form of a man,” should, together with His Immaculate Virgin Mother and His holy guardian Joseph, be in this type too of hardship and grief, the firstborn among many brethren, and precede them in it. (Pope Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution, Exsul Familia Nazarethana, 1952) 

Dear parishioners, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph on the 29 December which is the last Sunday of the current liturgical year. The Holy Family is a model for Christian families to follow. They loved and sacrificed for each other, and put God at the center of their family life. 

The Feast of the Holy Family teaches us that Nazareth is the school in which we begin to understand the life of Jesus. It is the school of the Gospel. Here we learn to observe, to listen, to meditate, and to penetrate the profound and mysterious meaning of that simple, humble, and lovely manifestation of the Son of God. And perhaps we learn almost imperceptibly to imitate Him. Here we learn the method by which we can come to understand Christ. Here we discover the need to observe the milieu of His sojourn among us-places, period of time, customs, language, religious practices, all of which Jesus used to reveal Himself to the world. Here everything speaks to us; everything has meaning. Everything possesses twofold significance which are very important. 

Firstly, there is the exterior that which the spectators’ senses and perceptiveness can immediately derive from the Gospel scene. It is the impression gained by those who look merely at externals, who study and examine only the philological and historical trappings of the holy books, that part of which in Biblical terminology is called “the letter.” 

Secondly, there is also an interior significance, namely: the revelation of divine truth, of supernatural reality, which the Gospel not only contains but also manifests, only to the person who puts himself in harmony with its light. This harmony is of mind and heart, a subjective and human condition which depends on the personal initiative of each person. This second element, distinct from “the letter” of the Gospel, is called the “the spirit.” 

Nevertheless, we cannot but recall briefly and fleetingly some fragments of the Lesson of Nazareth: 

The Lesson of Silence: Nazareth leads us to an appreciation of this stupendous and indispensable spiritual condition, deafened as we are by so much tumult, so much noise, so many voices of our chaotic and frenzied modern life. The silence of Nazareth, teaches us recollection, reflection, and eagerness to heed the good inspirations and words of true teachers; teach us the need and value of preparation, of study, of meditation, of interior life, of secret prayer seen by God. 

The Lesson of Domestic Life: Nazareth teaches us the meaning of family life, its harmony of love, its simplicity and austere beauty, its sacred and inviolable character; how sweet and irreplaceable is its training, and how fundamental and incomparable is its role on the social plane. 

The Lesson of Work: Nazareth helps us to understand and to praise the austere and redeeming law of human labor, to restore the consciousness of the dignity of labor, and to recall that work cannot be an end in itself, and that it is free and ennobling in proportion to the values which motivate it. 

The Motive of Love: Jesus Christ, who is the Father’s gift of love to the world, lived the motive of love. He taught us to obey through love; it is love that moved Him to set us free. According to the teaching of St. Augustine: “God gave less difficult precepts to those who had still to be bound by fear; through His Son He gave more difficult ones to those whom He had deigned to free by love.” 

Dear Fathers, in Joseph, the father of the holy family, you have your model. Patiently and humbly, Joseph worked at his carpenter’s bench to provide the necessities of life for his wife and for the child Jesus. He could not always give them all he would wish for them but he did what he could gladly and humbly. To his neighbors he was just another carpenter, unknown to the world, of no importance in their eyes, yet his name will be known and revered until the end of time. Fathers, many of you, too, are living a life of obscurity, a life of monotonous toil, and a daily struggle to provide bread for your family. If you carry out faithfully the task God has given you, if you provide for and protect the wife and family God has committed to your care you will make the headlines in the world to come, You ought to persevere in your commitment. 

Dear Mothers of Families, in Mary you have the perfect example you should strive to follow. She was a dutiful, faithful wife and an ideal and loving mother. How often she must have regretted that her beloved spouse had to struggle so hard to earn their meagre, daily bread. How great must have been her grief that she could not give her beloved Child more comfort in his infancy and youth. She had days of sorrow and anxiety, sorrow which culminat-ed at the foot of the cross on Calvary. You too have your days of anxiety and your years perhaps of worry, worries which will not end till you draw your last breath. 

Dear Mothers, like Mary, you too have a great task to perform for God. You have the eternal salvation of your family in your hands. Their future in this world and in the more important world-the next-will depend largely on how you behave as mother of the family. Your greatest joy in heaven, after the beatific vision, will be, to please God, that you will be surrounded by your family which, aided by God’s grace, you did so much to bring there. 

Dear Children: your duty in the family is to love, honor and obey your parents. And your model is none other than Jesus of Nazareth who, though he was God, made himself subject to Joseph and Mary. Your obedience will never be as perfect as his but it can and should be as perfect as you can make it. Be a comfort and a consolation to your parents. Remember always what they have done for you in your infancy when you could not help yourself. 

Dear Children: show your thankfulness and appreciation by doing what they tell you. You may not see the reason for all their restrictions and all their commands but it is because they have your welfare at heart and because they truly love you that such commands and restrictions are placed on you. It is only later on in life that you will fully understand the true love they had for you and the great sacrifices they made for you so that you would be worthy of them and worthy of your heavenly Father who gave you to them. 

Along with St. John Chrysostom, I exhort all the Families of the Epiphany of the Lord to make their homes a family domestic church by living the life of the Church within their homes. Christmas is a time for our families. 

Fraternally Yours, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor 
Epiphany of the Lord