Holy Family

To The Holy Family of the Epiphany Parish
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
(Mathew 2:13-15, 19-23, 28 January 2025)
The Holy Family Shows: Holiness is Letting God’s will Rewrite Our Story- And truly, today is a beautiful day. We celebrate today the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The term holy places this family within the sphere of holiness which is a gift from God but, at the same time, is free and responsible adherence to God’s plan. This was the case for the family of Nazareth: they were totally available to God’s will. How can we not wonder, for example, at Mary’s docility to the action of the Holy Spirit Who asks her to become the mother of the Messiah? Because Mary, like every young woman of her time, was about to realize her life project, that is, to marry Joseph. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2019)

Beloved Brothers and Sisters, today is a beautiful day. We celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus,Mary, and Joseph—a family that appears ordinary at first glance, yet whose very ordinariness becomes the dwelling place of God’s extraordinary action.

This Is Not the Life We Planned– a few years ago, a young couple shared their story with a priest. They had everything carefully planned: careers aligned, a home purchased, children to come at the right time. But within the first year of marriage, everything unraveled. A sudden job loss, a serious illness in the family, and the need to move to a city they had never imagined calling home. One evening, exhausted and overwhelmed, the husband said quietly: This is not the life we planned. His wife paused and replied: No—but maybe it is the life God is writing. That moment did not remove their fear or solve their problems. But it changed how they carried them. Slowly, they began to realize that their marriage was not failing because their plans had collapsed. It was being deepened because they were learning to trust God together—without having all the answers. Years later, they would say that the most formative season of their family life was not when everything was stable, but when they had to listen, move, wait, and hope—one step at a time.

Bridge to the Gospel-beloved brothers and sisters, the Holy Family of Nazareth would understand those words: This is not the life we planned. Mary did not plan exile. Joseph did not plan to flee in the night. They did not plan to raise the Son of God as refugees in a foreign land. And yet, by trusting God’s will more than their own expectations, their family became holy. This is the quiet but demanding lesson of today’s feast: holiness is not having the perfect story—it is allowing God to rewrite it.

Holiness Is Not Idealized Perfection, but God Dwelling in the Ordinary-In contemplating the Holy Family, the Church does not invite us into sentimental nostalgia or an unrealistic portrait of family life. Rather, we are led into a mystery: holiness does not remove life’s fragility; it sanctifies it. Nazareth was not a palace, but a home. Their life was not sheltered from hardship, but deeply immersed in it. And yet, God chose precisely this space to dwell.

Holiness as Gift and Task: Grace Inviting Human Freedom-The word holy places this family within the sphere of God’s own life. But holiness is never automatic. It is always a gift that calls forth a response. As Pope Francis reminds us, holiness is both God’s initiative and human cooperation. Grace does not eliminate freedom; it awakens it. The Holy Family becomes holy not by privilege, but by freely adhering to God’s will— even when that will is costly.

When God Interrupts Our Plans, He Reveals a Deeper Purpose-The Gospel today confronts us with an unsettling command. Joseph is told to rise in the night, to take the child and his mother, and to flee into Egypt. There is no explanation, no reassurance, no timeline. God interrupts the fragile stability of a young family. The Savior of the world becomes a refugee, and safety is found not in the promised land, but in foreign soil. Here we learn a difficult truth: God does not enter our lives to preserve our plans, but to transform them.

A Pilgrim Family: Fidelity Lived Through Displacement and Trust-Nazareth, Bethlehem, Egypt, and then back again—this is not the story of a settled family, but of a pilgrim one. The Holy Family lives by trust, not by control. Their journey reveals that fidelity to God is often lived through displacement—geographical, emotional, and spiritual. Faith matures not when life is predictable, but when God must be trusted step by step.

Mary’s Yes: Courageous Docility Beyond Personal Projects-Mary’s fiat did not end at the Annunciation. It continued into exile, uncertainty, and silence. As Pope Francis notes, Mary, like every young woman of her time, had a life project—marriage, stability, a future she could imagine. Yet her openness to the Holy Spirit meant allowing that project to be reshaped by God. Her docility was not passive submission, but courageous faith—a willingness to carry God’s promise without fully understanding its consequences. 

Joseph’s Silent Wisdom: Obedience Without Control-Joseph speaks no recorded words in Scripture, yet his actions reveal profound wisdom. He listens, discerns, and acts. He does not demand explanations from God. Philosophically, Joseph embodies a wisdom deeper than calculation—a wisdom rooted in attentiveness rather than mastery. He teaches us that righteousness is not rigidity, but responsiveness to the living God. 

Holiness in Fragility: God at Work in Uncertainty and Fear-The Holy Family is not holy because it was spared suffering, but because it trusted God within suffering. Fear, danger, exile, and return—all become places where God is mysteriously at work. Holiness, then, is not the absence of fragility, but the presence of trust within it. 

The Holy Family as a Mirror of Our Wounded and Hopeful Lives-This feast speaks directly to our own families and personal histories. Many of us carry dreams that have changed, plans that have collapsed, and stories that no longer resemble what we once imagined. The Holy Family assures us that God is not absent from these moments. On the contrary, it is often precisely there—where certainty ends—that grace begins to deepen. 

Letting God Rewrite Our Story: Trusting the Unfinished Narrative-Holiness is not about having everything resolved. It is about allowing God to be Lord of what remains unfinished. When we let God rewrite our story, even exile can become a path of salvation, and even fear can become a place of encounter. 

Cumulative Summary-The Feast of the Holy Family reveals that holiness is not found in idealized perfection or carefully protected plans, but in the humble readiness to let God shape our lives according to His will. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph show us that holiness is both a divine gift and a human response—a free, trusting cooperation with God’s grace even when His ways disrupt our expectations. Their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, into exile in Egypt and back again, teaches us that faith matures through trust rather than control, and that God is often at work most deeply in moments of uncertainty and displacement. 

Mary’s courageous fiat and Joseph’s silent obedience reveal a wisdom rooted not in mastery of outcomes, but in attentiveness to God’s voice. In the Holy Family, we see a mirror of our own wounded and hopeful lives, reminding us that God does not abandon us when our stories change, but rewrites them with saving purpose. Thus, holiness consists not in having everything resolved, but in allowing our homes and hearts to become living spaces where God’s will be trusted, followed, and loved. 

Epiphany, may Jesus, Mary, and Joseph teach us to welcome God not only when He confirms our plans, but when He transforms them. And may our families—imperfect, fragile, and hopeful—become living spaces where God’s will is trusted, followed, and loved. 

Prayer to the Holy Family of Nazareth 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love; to you we turn with trust! 
Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion 
and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel, and small domestic churches! 
Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience, violence, rejection, 
and division; may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing! 
Holy Family of Nazareth, make us once more mindful of the sacred and inviolable character of the family, 
and its beauty in God’s plan. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer. Amen! 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor