December
29th 2013. FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY 2013
Gospel:
Matthew 2:13-15;19-23
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini,
broadcast on Vatican Radio
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We continue to pray for
Christians that are suffering terrible persecution in Syria, Iraq, and many
other places
Don Fabio’s reflection follows
the Gospel reading ...
GOSPEL: Matthew 2:13-15;19-23
After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you,
and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends
to search for the child and do away with him'. So Joseph got up and, taking the
child and his mother with him left that night or Egypt, where he stayed until
Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the
prophet: 'I called my son out of Egypt.'
After Herod's death, the
angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 'Get up,
take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for
those who wanted to kill the child are dead'. So Joseph got up and, taking the
child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he
learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was
afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of
Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words
spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
Kieran’s summary . . . . This passage recounts
an event from the life of the Holy Family. Joseph is in a difficult situation
because he wishes to protect his family whose very existence is threatened by
Herod. In a dream he receives a revelation from God. His obedience to the
promptings of the Lord enables him to protect his family. . .
There is a great crisis of manliness in modern society because we have
constructed a model of masculinity that is cut off from God. Men try to base
their mission in life on their own capacities and abilities. The result is
often aggressive and disordered actions, or completely inactive men who allow
their wives to do everything. By contrast Joseph placed himself before God in
his moment of vulnerability. His relationship with God and his obedience to the
promptings of God were the source of his extraordinary capacity to be a father.
Each of us is confronted on a daily
basis by the many Herods that threaten our family stability and security. In
the face of these difficulties, all of us, men and women, must exercise our
role in the family by founding our actions on our relationship with God and
obedience to him.
This passage speaks to us about the role of the
father in a family
The Sunday after Christmas is
traditionally the Feast of the Holy Family. The Son of God becomes incarnate
and grows up at the heart of a regular human family. The family is not just
some sort of functional institution. It is an existential reality. The ideal
way to raise a child is as part of a family with a mother and father, but this
feast speaks also to people who are not part of an ideal family in this sense.
In order to live authentically, all of us have a definite role to play. This
passage from Matthew speaks to us about the role of the father in a family, a
role that is in a state of crisis in the modern world. The father’s role is to
have custody of his family. Divine Providence ordained that this role for the
Holy Family would fall to Joseph, a man of great humility and obedience. It is
essential that the men of today rediscover their mission and importance.
Joseph is a difficult situation and must make a
decision
Joseph has certain revelations from
the Lord while he is dreaming. This does not refer to subconscious activity,
but to a state of being in which we go beyond ourselves, allowing God to act on
us in our weakness. Joseph is confronted
with problems that he cannot resolve with his own natural capacities. The men
of our generation, too, do not know how to carry out their mission properly. Many
women today are angry and aggressive for various reasons, and men find that they
do not know what their role is anymore. This can lead to unhappiness and violent
behaviour on the part of men.
Joseph listens to the angel of the Lord in his
weakness. Thus he enters into collaboration with God. The crisis of masculinity
that besets modern society is that we have constructed a masculinity that does
not collaborate with God. As such is it destined to collapse.
Joseph feels weak in the face of the
terrible spectre of Herod who threatens the existence of his wife and child,
the only things in the world that matter to him. In this situation of weakness,
Joseph does not retreat or run away but allows the angel to speak. Thus Joseph
enters into collaboration with God. The men of our generation need to discover
how to exercise their masculinity, not a masculinity founded on themselves but
founded on a relationship with God. It is the exercise of a masculinity without
God that has led to the current crisis. The strong, courageous and protective
attitude that men ought to exercise is not just reserved to fathers. All men,
whether single or in the consecrated life, are called to develop attitudes of
help, support, clarity, decisiveness and generosity. Why did Joseph succeed in
his mission to be a father of this sort? Because his departure point was
obedience to the Lord. In the weakness of his sleep, which represents his not
knowing what to do, the angel speaks to him and reveals the correct course of
action. Instead of turning to the Lord, we can try to rely on ourselves, but
this often results in aggressive and disordered actions. Or we can end up like
a piece of furniture in the house, taking no action at all, while our wives
have to do everything. And women do not want to have to exercise the authority
of the father in their homes. They would prefer to have the space to carry out
their own proper role in the family, whilst being supported, consoled and
confirmed by their husbands.
The source of the extraordinary capacity to be a father
is obedience to God
What is the source of the
extraordinary capacity to carry out the service of being a father? Obedience to
God! Joseph knew how to be a father because he knew how to relate to the Lord
as a son. He knew how to govern the home because he allowed himself to be
guided from above. We do now have to search in our own limited capacities for
the solutions to the many Herods that threaten and menace our lives. We must
seek those solutions in our relationship with God. This is the fountain and
source of all that we must do. Once we ground our family role in our
relationship with God, then we become the men and women, brothers and sisters,
colleagues and friends that we are called to be. All we have to do is consign
our weakness into the hands of God.
Don
Fabio takes this occasion to wish everyone a happy feast of the birth of our
Lord Jesus Christ, asking that the Lord will visit everyone and through all of
us make himself present to others.
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