Gospel of Luke, chapter 2:40

There’s no escaping it. All of us have family connections. Even if we would want to escape some of these connections, our families continue to form the basis for our lives and our society. For the most part, our families are the source of our faith in the goodness of life and of our faith in God. Good families are hotbeds of love. And loving families can surely be called holy.

The book of Sirach 3:2-14 details the way families should live together; that is to say, they should revere one another, and grow in harmony. This lovely message is directed to both children and parents. Parents must teach the practice of virtue to their children: “the Lord sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority He confirms over her sons.” Children must respect their parents: “kindness to a father will not be forgotten, it will serve as a sin offering; it will take lasting root.”

St. Paul, in Colossians 3:12-21 calls on families to exercise Christian virtue. This may seem obvious to us today, but we must remember that he was speaking to a people who had recently been pagans. Their former way of life and way of relating to one another left much to be desired.

He gives them some practical Christian advice about how to live out the domestic virtues: “everything in Christ’s name,” and putting on “love which binds the rest together, and makes them perfect.” He urges families to “avoid any bitterness”; and He calls on children to “obey their parents” and for parents not to “nag children lest they lose heart.” Such practical advice is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. Parents need to recognize: “children may come through them but they are not from them.” They are from God who created them.

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 2, the prophet Simeon encounters the family of Jesus as they present Him in the temple. Simeon cradles the child in his arms, and then proclaims Him to be the Messiah, the Light of the World, the Glory of Israel. This is more than idle praise for the newborn. This magnificent Child is not taken to a king’s palace to be raised. Instead, He is returned to the arms of His mother, who with her husband, Joseph, take the child home and raise him as any other child should be raised at that time; simply and lovingly, without fanfare or privilege.
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The gospel makes it clear that God considered nothing to be too good for the Christ Child. So, He placed him in a loving human family. Jesus, grew to manhood and extended this love to every person He met.

As His followers, we should share that same love in the family we call, the Church. Today, take time to thank God for all parents, children, families, and friends you encountered and were influenced by throughout the journey of your life.
Fr. Hugh Duffy