A Family Plan - Homily Feast of the Holy Family

Praise be Jesus Christ forever and ever.   Merry Christmas.

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. A family of willing participants in God’s divine plan. The model  of a Holy Family all Christian families should strive to become.

In God’s divine plan for everything your family, my family, and the salvation of the world by forgiveness of sins was this Holy family. A family that loved and trusted one another. In their love was a family that knew peace, harmony and comfort.

It was a family that said “yes” to all that God asked of them. Mary said “yes.” Joseph said “yes.” Even Jesus said “yes,” to Father’s divine plan. In their “yes,” the Holy Family lived God’s divine plan.

The Holy Family, just like the rest of us, experienced problems now and them. That happens in today’s gospel.

The demands of love sometimes put us in a bind. Parents know this. As our children grow, we learn everyday how the demands of love continually unfold.

The modern family may look different from the Holy Family; but, by love all want the best for family. That is part of God’s plan.

Sadly, human love and family love can be focused on wrong things. Many thinks “best” are material things. Striving for material best, persons can lose sight of love from trust, peace, and harmony. This can lead a family lost from itself and from God's divine plan.

The best we should want for family is a loving relationship with God. The best is a relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The best is when a family knows who Jesus is, why He is, and why He is God. The best is for a family to know prayer, faith, and hope.

Wisdom of Sirach tells us with family “we store up riches; are made glad; and know comfort.” Those are intrinsic best for family.

As mentioned earlier, everyone experiences problems now and them This Holy Family that was the yes in God’s divine plan still faced troubles of this world.

The gospels of Matthew and Luke tell us about the birth of Jesus; but in today’s gospel it seems Mary and Joseph didn’t immediately see God in a missing little boy named Jesus.

They looked for him for three days. They looked like any parent would look, thinking like a little child. Looking in all the places a child would think wonderful in a place like Jerusalem.

They were worried parents. They probably thought the worst. They probably imagined horrible things. In the back of their mind, they knew God protected their little boy Jesus but he was still missing.

Many know this feeling. I know this feeling as I thought one of my daughters was lost once. She was 17 and worked at a coffee shop and often closed my herself.

When she wasn’t home at her regular time, I gave her 30 minutes and went looking. At the coffee shop, my daughter’s car was parked outside and inside was a man, with a gun, counting money.

I was a worried. I thought the worst, I imagined horrible things. And I pounded on the door to rescue my daughter from that man with a gun. By God’s grace, it was the owner, and he did not shoot and ask questions later about this man trying to knock his door down. He was as concerned as I was.

Her phone had no reception. Her best friend did not know anything. I was filled with anxiety. She showed up a couple of hours later and could not understand why I was worried.

When Mary and Joseph found Jesus, she said to him, “Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety. And he said to them, why were you looking for me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?”

Pretty much the same answer my daughter gave me. She just wasn’t at church. She was riding 4 wheelers. She was mad that I didn’t trust her. She was a teenager.

St. Paul gives us a guide to living as a Holy Family in God’s divine plan “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another….”

Bring Jesus to the center of your family. Want the best for them, a relationship with God. God’s divine plan for us is to be a Holy Family. All of us being one. A family of willing participants in God’s divine plan, a Holy Family that answers “yes” to God.

Friends may God’s love be evident in the trust, peace, harmony, and comfort that reign in our home and in the faith we profess.

Be Good, be holy, and preach the gospel by the way you live your life and love one another.  May Jesus Christ be praised forever and ever. Amen.