Homily for Holy Family Sunday

The Holy Family by G.E. Mullan

(Scriptures for today's liturgy)

On this Holy Family Sunday,
between Christmas and New Year's,
we find ourselves in the middle of that season when:
some of us can’t get enough of our family;
some of us have had enough of our family;
and some of us pine for family members
who have gone before us
or live too far away for visiting…

Christmas can bring out the best in families,
and the not-so-best as well.
Christmas certainly draws families together
but it also has a way of reminding us
of the problems in our families:
the estrangements, the grudges,
and the unsettled arguments that divide us
and keep us from being one.

And Christmas has a way of opening our hearts and our wallets
to our extended family, the family of God's poor:
the needy, the homeless and the hungry.
At the same time, Christmas highlights the great divide
that keeps the poor poor, and the rest of us not poor
– the balance of the year.

And the joy and peace of Christmas
arrive against a background of
war, terrorism and international tension.
What does it mean to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace
while war is waged in so many places and more often than not,
on the doorsteps of our poorest relatives in the global family?

On this feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
what might we pray for families near and far?

As saturated with ancient cultural norms
as today’s first scripture is,
Sirach offers a plan or code of family behavior
good for any generation.
Listen again to the virtues listed in Sirach:
honor, respect, prayer, reverence, obedience,
care, kindness and consideration of others –
all meant to establish a loving, united household of peace.

St. Paul offers a similar kind of “house order,”
calling us to “put on," like a garment, a cloak of these virtues:
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience,
forgiveness of those who offend us, gratitude
and a willingness to let Christ rule our hearts.

To some, these words may sound pious or old fashioned.
These aren’t the categories by which our culture judges success.

But on the eve of a new year, might we not do well to ask
if and how these virtues need to find a home in our own hearts.

I know that as consider I those virtues
I notice the ones I’m lacking in and need to work on.

Do some of them strike you in the same way?

Maybe there’s good material here for us
as we consider making New Year’s resolutions.

I don’t think it will hurt us to hear those virtues again:
honor, respect, prayer, reverence, obedience,
care, kindness and consideration of others, justice,
heartfelt compassion, humility, gentleness, patience,
forgiveness of those who offend us, gratitude
and a willingness to let Christ rule our hearts…

Think of these as gifts under a Christmas tree.
Which of these do each of us need to open this Christmas?

Which of these do we need to share with others in our lives?

From which of these gifts rise up our resolutions?

The Eucharist we celebrate and receive
is for nourishing these virtues in our hearts, in our households,
in our parish, and in how we hope to shape our world.

Pray with me that the Supper we offer and share
at this altar, this family table in our household of faith,
will help us live as the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph:
in peace with God and with one another.