FAMILIES UNDER ATTACK

Reflections on the Feast of the Holy Family: Sirach 3:2-6,12-14, Col 3:12-21, Luke 2:41-52

Pope John Paul II, in his address to the members of the Pontifical Council for the Family on 04th June 1999 said, “For some time now the family institution has been under repeated attack. These attacks are all the more dangerous and insidious since they ignore the irreplaceable value of the family based on marriage”.  Pope Francis echoed this concern on 01st September 2022, when he remarked, “We often see that the nature of the family is under attack by various ideologies which shake the foundations that support the personality of the human being and, in general, society as a whole”. Families are under continuous attack by forces including divorce, gender ideologies, materialism, patriarchy, abuse, the decline in moral standards, the disintegration of traditional values, etc. What message can we learn from the Holy Family to help our families encounter these threats today?

The Holy Family, by all accounts, is a ‘special’ family. Mary and Joseph have already been betrothed to each other when Angel Gabriel interferes. In the Jewish world of the time and still today in the Middle East, being betrothed means that the marriage contract has been concluded between the families of Joseph and Mary and the great wedding feast has already taken place. All that remained was for Joseph to take Mary home and for Mary to make Joseph’s home their new family.  The Good News of Angel Gabriel throws their future and engagement into question. Joseph was not consulted before the virginal conception. Neither was Mary given any guarantee about the safety of her engagement with Joseph. After learning about her future bride’s pregnancy, Joseph, the ‘righteous man’, decides to break off the engagement in private so that Mary and her family are spared from disgrace and public humiliation. God intervenes again in a dream and Joseph accepts Mary and his future son.

At every step, the beginnings of the Holy Family were filled with unexpected twists, surprises, and revelations. Isn’t this a fitting model of the realities facing our families today? Aren’t we torn apart by the surprises that life throws on our paths? Don’t we descend into despair, anguish, and doubt when things don’t go the ‘normal’ way? How do we react when unexpected events and situations threaten to derail our plans and goals? Where do we find the courage and strength to face accidents, challenges, heartbreaks, and failures? What happens when the parent or child does not seem to fulfill the traditional roles that society has designed for them? How do we dare to step up against abuse, violence, and oppression in marriage and families? When faced with similar situations, Mary and Joseph seem to find the courage to expect the unexpected. What is their secret? Their decisions, priorities, and choices are oriented by their openness to God’s will and plan for them.

Mary listens to God and ponders on the meaning of God’s revelation and the events of her life. She ponders the meaning of Gabriel’s greeting (Luke 1:29). She treasures the shepherds' words and ponders them in her heart (Luke 2:19). When her son is lost and found among the teachers of the temple, she treasures everything in her heart (Luke 2:51). Joseph does not speak a single word in the gospels but remains sensitive and open to God’s guidance and plan for his family. Joseph is alert even in his dreams. As Matthew’s gospel testifies, Joseph guides the Holy Family drawing inspiration and revelation from four of his dreams. In his dreams, God assures Joseph: 1. Not to worry about taking pregnant Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20); 2. To flee with Mary and Jesus from Herod to Egypt (Matthew 2:13); 3. To return to Israel after Herod’s death (Matthew 2:19); and 4. To settle in Galilee and avoid Judea because of the reign of Herod’s son, Archelaus, as regional tetrarch (Matthew 2:22).

Mary and Joseph teach us that radical openness to God’s word, will, and ways can help us face the storms and torrents that threaten to destabilise and weaken our families. We need to prioritise God’s plan for us and our family in our decision-making and in our way of living, spending, and relating. Sirach, in the first reading, and Paul, in the second reading, highlight that God is the ultimate foundation of our family life and our roles and responsibilities as parents or children. In the context of the attacks on the family, the Holy Family invites us to find strength in the truth that God is the foundation of our marriage and family.