Two days before Christmas, on the 23rd December, there was a meeting between two prominent men.
One has the world’s spotlight on him, while the other has stepped away from the spotlight.
Pope Francis, Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” has something like over 10million followers on Twitter.
Some are of the opinion that Pope Francis is the most influential world leader in 2013.
For someone who became Pope on March 13 this year, the attention on him is quite phenomenal.
By and large, the attention is positive and hence we the Catholic Church should be proud of the Pope.
Well, on the 23rd December, Pope Francis paid a visit to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the monastery of Mater Ecclesiae.
As we will certainly remember, it was Benedict’s resignation from the papacy that opened the way for the eventual election of Pope Francis.
It was a meeting that did not generate much headlines or interest.
Pope Francis paid a visit to Benedict XVI to give his best wishes for Christmas in advance.
They chatted and Pope Francis even told Benedict that he was happy to see him looking well and good.
Finally, before leaving, the two men prayed together in the chapel.
It was a significant moment for them as one prepares to celebrate his first Christmas as the Pope, whereas the other will spend his first Christmas after resigning as a Pope.
Yet, many anxious moments have gone by before coming to this point in time.
When the Vatican announced the unexpected resignation of Benedict XVI on the 11th February, the Church was thrown into a bit of turmoil and confusion.
The reason given was his declining health due to old age. But he also said that he was resigning for the good of the Church.
At that time, we wouldn’t have understood what it meant. But by now we probably would have understood and maybe there will be more things to understand in time to come.
So, the Church as a community, and as a family, has seen anxious and disturbing moments, as well as calm and consoling moments.
As it is with the Church, so it was with the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
And today’s gospel gives us a glimpse of the turmoil and distress that they experienced as a family.
They are not a “no-worries be-happy” family without anxieties and difficulties.
They were a real family, who faced real emergencies and life-threatening situations in their lives.
Immediately, after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had to flee from their homeland to escape the death squads that were going after them.
Even though Jesus was the “Emmanuel”, the “God-is-with-us” the Holy Family was not spared of the trauma and the danger of the chaos of life.
Yet, for better or for worse, in good times or in bad, they stayed together.
Joseph did not abandon mother and child in the time of need. Mary did not abandon the child Jesus for her own safety.
Their staying together in the face of trials showed us this truth- that God is with us when we are united.
So it is with the Holy Family, and so it will be with our families, so it will be with the Church community.
Whether it is family or community, we need each other in order to become what God wants us to be.
There is this interesting story about porcupines. An extremely cold winter was coming and the porcupines had to find a way to survive.
At first they decided to group together to keep warm and protect one another.
But unfortunately, their sharp spiky quills poked at each other as their huddled together, so they dispersed.
Of course this left them exposed to the bitter cold and they started to freeze to the point of death.
So they had to make a fundamental life or death choice – either they stay apart and die, or they tolerate and accept each other’s thorns and survive.
And to think of it, we are a bit like porcupines.
We have our own “spiky quills” and with that we hurt others and others hurt us too.
At times, living as members of the family and community can be so painful and hurtful, that we think it might be better off living alone.
But if the porcupines know how to stay together in order to survive, then we must also learn to accept and live with the spiky quills of others.
The Church has suffered much from its own sharp quills. The Church has seen painful and hurtful times.
But under the leadership of Pope Francis, there is healing and restoration.
And the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has committed himself to praying for the Church as he spends his days in retirement.
We are seeing the fruits of his prayers in Pope Francis and in what God wants the Church to be.
And may their prayers and the prayers of Mary and Joseph also help our families to be what God wants us to be.