One
of the English-speaking world’s more popular modern Christmas traditions is the
Service of Nine Lessons and Carols created in 1918 at King’s College,
Cambridge. It begins with a single choirboy singing the 1st verse of
the 19th century English hymn Once
in David’s Royal. The choir and
eventually the whole congregation soon join in the singing. One of the verses
seems to have been tailor-made for today’s feast of the Holy Family: And
through all His wondrous childhood / He would honor and obey, Love
and watch the lowly Maiden, / In whose gentle arms He lay: Christian
children all must be / Mild, obedient, good as He.
Of
course, today’s feast of the Holy Family is about more than children being told
to obey their parents. Introduced by Pope Leo XIII in 1892, it reflects the
modern Church’s concern, in the wake of so much revolutionary social change, to
reaffirm the fundamental importance of the family as a natural institution in
society and as the unique human community through which society
institutionalizes its commitment to the next generation. Addressing that
concern is inevitably a critical component of the Church’s social mission in
the modern world, one of the reasons why two sessions of the Synod of Bishops,
last year and this, were both devoted to the family, specifically to the
family’s vocation and mission in the church and in the contemporary world.
Like
those Old Testament parents Hannah and Elkanah, about whom we heard in today’s
1st reading [1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28] , the Gospel [Luke 2:41-52] depicts Jesus, Mary, and Joseph a devout
family, faithful to their religious obligations, which include the annual
Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So, in the story we just heard, Mary, and
Joseph travel to the Temple in Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus is now at an age
when he will soon assume his responsibilities and obligations as a member of
God’s Chosen People, and so Jesus also accompanies his parents and their
extended familial and social network on the pilgrimage.
In
one sense, this can be thought of as a kind of “vocation” story – Jesus’ first
public acknowledgment of who he is and what his mission will be. Already anticipating
his later behavior as an adult, Jesus here puts his priority on his
relationship with his heavenly Father rather than his earthly family. Hence,
his mission is to be in his Father’s
house, rather than in the caravan
among relatives and acquaintances. Likewise, the wonder experienced by the
teachers in the Temple anticipates the wonder which so many will soon experience at
Jesus’ teaching during his public life - and the wonder we continue to
experience as we experience his continued life among us in his Church.
Like
Hannah and Elkanah, Mary and Joseph had a son dedicated to the Lord, a son
whose mission in life would take him – and his followers – beyond the limits of
natural human relationships. We can hear this in the contrasting uses of the
word “Father,” first in Mary’s question and then in Jesus’ surprising response.
Through the Church, our new relationship with God in Jesus incorporates us into
a new network of relationships both wider and more inclusive than any natural
human relationships – including even the family. As this year’s Synod said,
“Jesus made family relations relative in the context of the Kingdom of God.”
Jesus introduced what the Synod called a “revolution in affection,” which
represents “a radical call to universal brotherhood” [Synod 2015 Final
Report, 41].
At
the same time, just like the 12-year old Jesus, we Christians continue to be
involved in and dependent upon that natural network of human relationships, of
which the family is the first. Hence,
“the Church has developed over the centuries a rich teaching on marriage and
family” [Synod
2015 Final Report, 42].
Thus, Pope Francis has called the family “the fundamental cell of society,
where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one
another; it is also the place where parents pass on the faith to their
children” [Evangelii
Gaudium, 66].
On
the other hand, as we are all so well aware, the family today is experiencing
what Pope Francis has called “a profound cultural crisis, as are all
communities and social bonds.” [Evangelii Gaudium, 66]
The
reality in our society is increasingly one in which fewer and fewer people feel
that they are able to get married and form families. And many who do marry experience that their
marriages do not last. There are obviously all sorts of social problems, such
as decades of stagnant wages, which contribute to these difficulties. And then there
are all sorts of social problems which follow from these difficulties. Obviously,
wise public policies are needed to address these problems and their social and
economic causes.
The
Church meanwhile is called upon not only to advocate for such sound public
policies but also to accompany families that are stressed in these various
ways. The Synod stressed the importance of the parish as a “family of
families,” [Synod
2015 Final Report, 77] and
the need to “instill in families a sense of belonging to the Church, a sense of
‘we’ in which no member is forgotten” [Synod 2015 Final Report, 90].
The
Jerusalem Temple to which Jesus, Mary, and Joseph went on pilgrimage, was the
principal and privileged place where one would experience God’s presence among
his People. Likewise, what happens here in our uniquely privileged encounter
with the Risen Lord in the Eucharist is intended to intrude into and transform
everything else and all those day-to-day natural human relationships, including
our families.
Today’s
feast calls our attention to the transforming effect of the Incarnation in all
aspects of our daily life. When he established this feast, Pope Leo XIII wrote:
“When Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are invoked in the home, there they foster
charity, there they exert a good influence over conduct, set an example of
virtue, and make more bearable the hardships of every life.”
Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family, Immaculate Conception Church, Knoxville, TN, December 27, 2015.
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