Sirach 3:3-7, 14-17 or Col 3:12-21 / Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
It is said that sometimes the very thing that you are looking for is the one thing you can't see, or don't seem to be able to see.
We look far and wide for the ideal or perfect thing but it may be the very thing that we are standing on, or even as close as our noses. And often we don't notice our noses isn't it.
Such may be the case with our families in general. The fact is that no family is ideal or perfect. And things have degenerated to such an extent that there are terms like broken families and dysfunctional families.
Yes, the family, which is the very basic social nucleus, faces many challenges and difficulties, and we care enough for our own families to pray for peace and unity.
And when we understand what the gospels say about the Holy Family, we will pray that our families will be spared of the challenges and difficulties that they went through.
But we will also pray that our families will take the Holy Family as a model of unity and understanding, as well as of care and concern, patience and kindness towards each other in the family.
The 1st reading gives us the fundamentals of family relationships and these must be highlighted, reiterated and seared into the very fabric of family life. It will be good to state this again:
- Whoever respects his father is atoning for his sins, he who honours his mother is like someone amassing a fortune.
- Whoever respects his father will be happy with children of his own, he shall be heard on the day when he prays.
- Long life comes to him who honours his father, he who sets his mother at ease is showing obedience to the Lord.
Yes, the Word of God has already stated what the family should be like. Let us heed what God our Father is telling us through His son and our families will be like that of the Holy Family.