Feast of the Holy Family

 The feast of the Holy Family helps us to deepen the implications of Jesus in his Incarnation. No human being exists in a vacuum. Even though we think of Joseph, Mary and Jesus as the Holy Family of Nazareth on this day we are also mindful elsewhere in the liturgical year of the parents of Mary, hence grandparents of Jesus, in Joachim and Anne. Even today we hear: "Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends." (Lk 2: 44) It is within this matrix of relationships that Jesus: "... increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour." (Lk 2: 52) As we move on from Christmas day let us be mindful of our families and our obligation to strive for harmony throughout the rest of the year. As we see from the gospel, all families, including the Holy Family, have moments of drama, panic and miscommunication. In doing so, we not only need to be in the Father's house we also need to be like Jesus who, although the Son of Man, was obedient to his parents.