December 29^th 2019. Feast of the Holy Family

GOSPEL: Matthew 2, 13-15, 19-23

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Matthew 2, 13-15, 19-23

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod had died, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream
to Joseph in Egypt and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
for those who sought the child's life are dead."
He rose, took the child and his mother,
and went to the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea
in place of his father Herod,
he was afraid to go back there.
And because he had been warned in a dream,
he departed for the region of Galilee.
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth,
so that what had been spoken through the prophets
might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The Gospel on Sunday highlights the fact that Joseph was the ideal husband and foster-father. He is up against the evil and bloodthirsty King Herod, but he finds a way to raise Jesus in safety and peace. But how does Joseph do it? Does he have exceptional qualities? Is he remarkably talented? The Gospel does not tell us, but it shows us that Joseph has one principal quality: he is a man in dialogue with God. He listens to the voice of God who speaks to him through the angel in his dreams. It is this relationship with God that gives St Joseph solidity, constancy, and strength. And that is often lacking in the fathers of our society. Our culture has developed a view of an autonomous humanity that does not need God. As a result, we have a generation of men who are unsure, confused, weak, tired, evasive, unfaithful. St Joseph did not have the technology or the means of the men of today, and he did not need it! To be good fathers, we need to be in constant dialogue with the Father, and then we will be wonderful fathers, husbands and priests.

Joseph fulfills his calling as Custodian of the Redeemer by finding a way to raise Jesus in safety

The story of the first years of Jesus' life is narrated dramatically in the Gospel of Matthew. The family escapes from the bloodthirsty King Herod and flees to Egypt. There they live the refugee life in a foreign land. Upon their return to Nazareth, they live a very simple and low-profile existence. The thirst for power of a tyrant obsessed with the terror of being replaced - which is reflected in the historical records on the character of Herod the Great – is in contrast to the most peaceful of beings, a newborn baby, and the most defenseless of institutions, a young family. How can these three innocent lambs escape this ferocious wolf? Yet Joseph responds well to the danger and in the midst of tribulations he carries out his task successfully. It is an unequal contest between a violent unrestrained king and a humble carpenter, but Joseph fulfills his calling as custodian of the Redeemer and manages all these dangers with his simplicity.

Joseph is the father and husband that every family would like to have. How does he do it? Has he particular skills or abilities? His secret is that he is a man in dialogue with God

He is the father that everyone would like to have. He does not give up on his child; he is not afraid to oppose those who threaten him; he finds a way to raise the child in security. He is the husband that any woman hopes to find, the father that is lacking in many families. He is the kind of priest that a parish hopes to have. He is the male that is missing from this generation of men who are afraid, uncertain, confused, turned in on themselves and lacking in firmness. Yes, there are people of substance around, but why are they so rare? What does Joseph have to be so good at in order to fulfill his calling? Does he have unusual qualities? Is he an exceptional man? As much as we rightly love and value Saint Joseph, it must be said that the text of Matthew’s gospel does not say that Joseph was remarkable, but highlights another thing: he is a man in dialogue with God. This is the one who listens to an angel and obeys his directions. This is his secret.

Modern ideologies develop accounts of humanity as an autonomous being with no need for a creator. The men who are formed by these ideologies are disappointing, evasive and weak. Having big muscles doesn’t make a man. A real man has a secret source of strength and power, and that is his relationship with God. When fathers dialogues with the Father then they can be wonderful dads indeed.

From the 1800s onwards, anthropologies arose that were based entirely on the autonomous human being in separation from his creator. Ideologies abounded about the super-man, the super-state, and the super-society. As a corollary to all of this, society found itself with disappointing and evasive fathers. And many, many single women. You can swell your muscles in the gym, you can have a fat wallet in your pocket, but unless you have a real backbone, unless you know the secret of the invisible and hidden source of strength, man becomes weary, tired, inconsistent. By contrast, St Joseph is strong and solid, even though he does not have all the technology or tools of today's men. All our acquisition of means and science, of statistics and techniques, does not move us one inch towards a better quality of humanity. In order to evade Herod, it is sufficient for Joseph to talk to God. We do not need particular talents: rather, what we need is to stop trying to do things by ourselves and ask the Father for help. We need fathers who dialogue with the Father. Then they will be wonderful indeed.