THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

HOLY FAMILY OF
JESUS, MARY & JOSEPH

     At various times in the past

     and in various different ways,
     God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
     but in our own time, the last days,
     he has spoken to us through his Son. HEB 1:1-2

GENESIS 15:1-6,21:1-3

My Soul's Beloved,

Abraham had grown old and his barren wife too was long past her childbearing years and he wondered what good would God's promise of great reward since he was without a child and heir. All he possessed would be inherited by someone who was not of his blood. 

But You, our Lord and our God, drew him out of his own personal darkness and fear. You led him out into the open and directed his gaze at the myriad stars saying, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants.’ Abraham believed and his faith was rewarded. Sarah conceived the child of promise and bore him a son, his only son, in his old age. 

This son of promise is a foreshadow of the Son of Promise that God would send into our world making us. Through You, His firstborn, we would become His adopted children. All who believe in You are made righteous in You. God's children are as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the shore. In You, we are members of the family of God and heirs to the Kingdom.

PSALM 105:1-6,8-9

My Soul's Beloved,

We are a people of praise and we ought to have a never-ending song on our lips telling the whole world of how good You are and all You have done to save us.

We ought never to be ashamed of the Name of the holy one of God for we are saved by the power of this Name. You are our boast in God and we must rejoice always, giving thanks to God for making it possible for mere humans to come into His presence and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

We are indebted to the Church, Your Bride, for through the Liturgical Cycles she keeps us mindful of the wonders our God has done for us in and through You. We celebrate as one body the sacred events that redeemed us and won for us so glorious an inheritance as Your sisters and brothers. We dare to call Your Father our Father and we have received from Your hand Your Mother as well.

You, Beloved, are the fulfillment of every covenant God made with His creatures from the beginning and this Covenant made with Your flesh and blood is an everlasting Covenant. It makes us one with You and irrevocably one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Thank You. 

HEBREWS 11:8,11-12,17-19

My Soul's Beloved.

Today the author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that when we have faith in God we are unstoppable for then He can do the impossible in us, with us, and for us. Right through the pages of salvation history, we see how God intervenes in the affairs of humans and slowly but surely, despite all our errors, our stubbornness, our brokenness, he ultimately can make something beautiful and eternal with our lives through faith in You.

Abraham's faith wrought the impossible for him and Sarah. Mary's faith made it possible for You to be conceived in her womb. Joseph's faith enabled Him to take God at His Word and to embrace both Jesus and Mary as his own.

Faith in God gave Abraham the strength to sacrifice his only son Isaac. And Your implicit faith in Your Father made it possible for You to become the Living Sacrifice that brought about the salvation of the world. Abraham was spared the life of his son, Isaac. But God did not spare His only Son and because of it, we are saved.   

LUKE 2:22-40

My Soul's Beloved,

You, Mary, and Joseph teach us how to model our own homes on the home of Nazareth. All we need to be truly happy and content is to put God above and before all else and to spend our lives in loving service to each member of our family. Each spouse lays down his/her life for the other counting all they do, all they sacrifice as joy, for the good of one is the good of the other.

Our children are given to us as a gift by God - they are not a right that we demand to have no matter the cost. Once blessed with children we must raise them as Mary and Joseph raised You - in the fear of the Lord, in the shadow of the Lord's presence, obedient to God and to them in accordance with the Law.

Mary had much to contemplate through all the events in her life and she pondered all of them silently in her heart. We would do well to imitate her in this regard especially when the storms around us get rough and we are unable to make sense of it all. 

 

Joseph is the most wonderful role model for all fathers. His silence speaks of his strength of character. He was a man of action rather than words thus God could speak to him and act through him in caring for and protecting Jesus and Mary.

Mary and Joseph were poor and unashamed of it. They lived within their means, offering a pair of turtle doves in sacrifice as that was what they could offer at the presentation of Jesus.  

Simeon and Anna the prophetess also teach us to listen, discern, believe in God's promises, and proclaim His word in faith as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Although both Joseph and Mary did not understand much of all that Simeon said concerning their Son, they were filled with wonder and awe. Simeon blessed Mary and speaking directly to her said, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’ Her young soul would have trembled at his words but she treasured them all in her heart. 

The Gospel passage concludes by saying that once they had done all that the Law of the Lord required them to do, they returned to their home and both Mary and Joseph watched over the Child lovingly and he grew to manhood under their watchful, vigilant care. How proud they would have been with You, Beloved as You grew radiant with every grace, virtue, and wisdom.