Walking with Jesus: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph C

For Sunday, December 29, 2024

1 Samuel 20-22, 24-28; 1 John 3:1-22, 21-24; Luke 2:41-52


We have made it through Christmas. Our days have been sacred as we've remembered Jesus’ birth and God’s love. They also have been anxious: Such days seem to occur when families assemble and old hurts surface. To this we add new difficulties, sicknesses, looming diseases and surgeries. Sometimes we feel all alone in our little worlds with dwindling hopes alongside looming fears. The readings today examine Biblical stories with people just like us who have similar worries and fears — who wonder about their own future and where God is. Does He care? Are we alone to map a directionless course? What meaning is there to our lives? God said He is always with us, but we wonder: Where? We need Him now.

I imagine Hanna and her husband Elkanah when they are promised they will have a son after so many years putting up with the mockery of being childless. Now they're experiencing a blessed moment, realizing the love of God who keeps His promises. We are told the birth story of the prophet Samuel. Hanna has vowed to dedicate her son to God if her prayers are answered. They are! Imagine the faith of these stunned  parents, now being blessed with their only child. They bring him to the temple to begin his ministry to God. Hanna names the child Samuel, which comes from Hebrew for “God has heard.” Hanna and Elkanah raise Samuel following the prescriptions listed in Numbers 6:1-21: “When men or women solemnly take the Nazarite vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord, they shall abstain from wine and strong drink … they shall not eat anything of the produce of the grapevine … no razor shall touch their hair … they shall not come near a dead person … they are holy to the Lord … they shall offer up … sacrifices … as a burnt offering, thus making atonement for the sins they have committed.”

Sirach also lists the blessings that follow such a way of life. The dedicated child is promised life itself (vv. 1-6), remissions of sins (vv. 3 &14), riches (v. 4), the blessing of children (v. 5), and the answer to prayer ( vv. 5-6). The child must care for their father in his declining years — this was a patriarchal society — and they are to care for their parents' needs. It is interesting that this is addressed to an adult child and the responsibilities of respect and obedience are those of a mature offspring. Life today hasn't changed from this very much, has it? So many of us have “been there, done that.” How much help do we ask from God? He is always present — loving, caring, and leading us to our heavenly home.

1 John uses family language to convey God’s activity and its effects. So often we feel we have to do all the work — BUT where do I need God? Do I ask for God’s help? Do I realize that God’s help is called GRACE, asking me to call on HIM to help? And do I? FATHER God bestows upon believers the status of being His “children.” This is an ACT OF LOVE. Think on this: AS CHRISTIANS, each of us is God’s chosen, holy and beloved — and therefore, we should act accordingly. “And His commandment is this: We should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as HE commanded us. Those who keep His commandments remain in Him, and He in them, and the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He gave us.” [1 John 23-24]

SO the BOTTOM LINE is, if our relationships with God and others do not reflect such love, then it is NOT from the Spirit God has placed in each of us, but from something else entirely: So often it’s from me, with my mentality of doing everything for ME — the most important individual. My dad used to say: “You’ll meet people who say, ‘I used to be proud; now I don’t have any faults.'”

Luke depicts the Holy Family as pious Jews who journey to the temple annually to celebrate Passover with thousands of other Jewish pilgrims. Jesus' parents are devastated at a losing the 12-year-old, but Jesus is not like other children — he now is of the age to assume the religious responsibilities of an adult. What makes Him different? Luke describes Him as a great teacher, unlike any other — astounding even the learned adult teachers. Also, Jesus’ question to His human parents reveals His unique identity as God’s Son. This event and its implications are not lost on Mary, even though she may not understand them in her heart. I’m sure that following Jesus’ death, Resurrection and Pentecost, the apostles spent time, when they could, sitting at Mary’s feet, listening to a mother’s account of “all these things she kept in her heart.” In a similar way, God's plans for us unfold in each of our lives. Think on them. God is with us every moment. Am I aware … listening … grateful? Am I a believer? What do I need from God who loves each of us so immensely?

So I reflect on:

• The word “family” has many connotations  today, especially at Christmas. Many struggle or are dissociated: Do I pray, affirm, or uplift the hurting in tangible ways? Am I good to myself? I could have been a victim: What have I learned about forgiving?
• Many have children; I do not. But we have been children. What does it mean to me personally to be called one of God’s children … a beloved child of God?

Sacred Space 2025 states:

“Jesus mixed so well with relatives and acquaintances that His parents could set out for home trusting He was with their friends. We thank the Father for sending His only Son into our world as a full human being, making it easier for us to relate to Him.

“Most of Jesus’ life on earth was spent in a small, unimportant town doing the very ordinary work of carpentry. We go to God through our humanity. There is a great lesson to be learned here. We can link our own, often humdrum lives to His and, like Mary, ponder in prayer the mystery of God with us.”