Homily

On this Sunday immediately following Christmas, the angel wastes no time in saying to us, as he said to Joseph, “Get up, take the child and his mother.” Yes! We have to take the child with us right away and welcome him in our hearts, our lives, and our thoughts. Indeed, this is Christmas: to take the child with us. This is not a moral teaching, as if to say, at Christmas we all just have to love each other a little more. That obviously needs to happen. But Christmas is so much more. And it has something to do with the family. Today the liturgy shows us the Holy Family of Nazareth. The Word of God suggests many ways to reflect on the family of Nazareth. We want to focus on two of them. The first thing we must say is that children need a mother and a father, just as Jesus did. This is something that is occasionally forgotten, perhaps because people are more concerned with their own desires and lose sight of the fact that children need a mother and a father. Without a family like the family of Nazareth, children cannot grow up with healthy bodies and healthy hearts. But we could also say that a family is sometimes not enough. This is true, especially when there is a lack of maternal or paternal love. Christmas comes back every year to tell everyone, to tell all families, to welcome Jesus, to welcome children. The Gospel of Christmas is like the angel who comes back and asks parents to take the child with them. This invitation is made to us as well! Yes! We have to take the child with us, and welcome him in our hearts, our lives, and our thoughts. Today, the liturgy of the Church wants us to contemplate Mary and Joseph with Jesus. They are the family of Nazareth. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that even Jesus needed a family; yes, even Jesus needed a family, just as all children need one.
But at the same time, it is also true that Mary and Joseph needed Jesus. Without him, this family would not have even started - it would have broken apart just as it was beginning. This means that two people’s love for each other is not enough if they are turned in on themselves. Family requires a love that generates love, a love that accepts the challenge of children. Jesus – and with him, all children – is the true treasure of the family of Nazareth, the meaning of Mary and Joseph’s lives. In this sense, they are both exemplary for Christian families. Parents are called to imitate Mary and Joseph’s obedience to the word of the angel, that is, to the Word of God, in order to fathers and mothers according to the Gospel. They need to follow Jesus with the same intensity as Mary and Joseph, in order to never lose him or at least to always be seeking him. And children, in turn, must imitate the love that Jesus had for Mary and Joseph. How can we forget the words of Jesus on the cross when he entrusted his elderly mother to the young disciple? Jesus remains the centre of the family and the teacher of love. Without Jesus, that is, without a love that is not turned in on itself but self-giving, the family of Nazareth would have broken apart just as it was beginning. Joseph obeyed the angel and took Mary and the baby and became a participant in God’s great plan.
Let us take Jesus with us, and we will know how to live together as families and with other people. Let us listen to the word of the Angel and we will know how to travel along life’s roads, we will know how to avoid danger and find our Egypt, our refuge, even if it calls for sacrifice and pain. If we look at that weak child and take him with us, we will know - as Sirach says- how to honour our elderly mothers and fathers. Even if their minds fail them, we will bear with them and not despise them. The child of Bethlehem teaches us to look at and love children, ours and other peoples’. And parents will learn to love each other more. Those who take Jesus with them learn to love; on the other hand, those who only take themselves remain closed in their selfishness and become wicked. The Gospel of Christmas comes so that Jesus’ feelings might dwell in our families. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other.” As we approach the end of this year and are about to begin another, we want our families to understand the importance of mutual love, the love that takes us out of ourselves and pushes us to think of others before ourselves. The family of Nazareth is still the icon we should look upon in order to make our families more steadfast in love and stronger in building a world of justice and peace.