The Holy Family
When we say a holy family, we think of a family whose members are holy people. Makes sense, right? Holy members make up holy family; a holy family is where holy people live. This is certainly true for the Holy Family, of which Jesus is the Son of God the Father, Mary is the Immaculate, and Joseph is a holy and righteous man. They were good people—not ordinary good, but “holy good.” They are perfect! They lived their normal lives in such extraordinary ways that they became the role model (the super star, if you like) for our families. But if you were to ask one of them, say, Joseph (because he was the head of the family), if their lives were always easy, what do you think he would say? “No way, Jose!” (Get it?) In all seriousness, life for the Holy Family wasn’t all that smooth as we might think. They had their love and joy, but they also faced misunderstanding and misery, as we see in the narratives of the Gospels. In this article we will see a couple of challenges Jesus, Mary, and Joseph faced as a family and how they pulled through them.
The first incident which almost split the family was when Joseph found out about Mary’s pregnancy. Right in the beginnning, there was miscommunication and thoughts of infidelity. But Joseph didn’t know it was the Holy Spirit miraculously overshadowed Mary. On Mary’s part, she could’ve been stoned to death if Joseph publicized her pregnancy, and we wouldn’t have Jesus as our Savior. He continued to care for the family until the day he accomplished his mission and God called him home to Himself.
The second incident which drove the Holy Family to despair was King Herod searching for Baby Jesus to kill him. Again, neither Joseph nor Mary knew anything about this. Their journey wasn’t easy because they have to flee overnight, run for their lives, not comfortable as we travel today. Thank Goodness, they were able to slip away into Egypt to save Baby Jesus from his premature death.
These are two examples of the struggles the Holy Family went through. They have many more like the lost of Jesus in the Temple for three days, the death of Joseph, and the Passion of Jesus. February is the month for us to reflect on our family. Even with the Son of God being in their midst, Mary and Joseph couldn’t avoid the struggles that came to them. They made it through because they did it with Jesus and for Him with love. Next time when you find a hardship coming your way, look to the example of the Holy Family, pray to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to help you overcome that hardship. Invite them to be a part of our family and ask them to teach you to love one another as they did. Remember that everyone has a role in a family! Each of us is a gift with a mission in our family. What is that mission: it is to be em Ấu Nhi ngoan biết vâng lời người lớn, em Thiếu Nhi biết hy sinh giúp đỡ cha mẹ, em Nghĩa Sĩ chinh phục chính mình và gia đình làm người con cái Chúa tốt, em Hiệp Sĩ hăng say dấn thân, và Huynh Trưởng phụng sự mọi người within your family. Do that and our family will be a holier family!
O Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, come and be a part of my family. Teach us to love one another as you did. Amen.
-Fr. Steven Tran