28 December 2024 – The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Year C) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, as I mentioned, we celebrate our own families as well because it is where in our families that we grow in wisdom, grow in love and grow in our identity as children of God.

In the First Reading of today, taken from Samuel. And here we see Hannah pleading and being grateful for this gift of the child that was given her. She was well on in years and she was blessed with this gift of child. And what did she do? She surrendered the child to God as a vow.

And here we see, dear friends, that as she grew in understanding and grew in appreciation of what the Lord has done for her, she was able to take what was given, filled with gratitude and she was able to acknowledge that as a blessing. And as she acknowledged that as a blessing, she dedicated that son, Samuel, to God.

If I may ask, how many of you are willing to offer your sons or your daughters to the convent or to the priesthood?

And we see Hannah, with her dedication, with her commitment, she was able to have that openness of heart because her heart was filled with gratitude. And that is the first thing, dear friends, that we need to learn in our families. We must allow ourselves to be filled with gratitude in the gift of each other. We must be able to recognise that God has put each and every one of us in our families as a blessing.

And I am sure with the same kind of enthusiasm and zeal, when the parent receive the firstborn child, how do we relate to them? And when you are able to embrace the firstborn child and embrace with gratitude what God has done for you, then you will be able to fill your hearts, to acknowledge that God has made His dwelling in your life. And because God has made a dwelling in your life, your heart is filled with appreciation and with gratitude.

And we need to remember that, dear friends, that with this aspect of gratitude. we also grow in the awareness of who we are as a person. And the First Reading also invites us to take a look at our giftedness, that each one of us are chosen by God, each one of us are gifted by God to belong to a family. And we must fill our hearts with that giftedness and with gratitude.

And the Second Reading today further tells us and he says:
Look at how the Father has lavished his love upon us, grace upon grace.

And here we are reminded that each time we look at the scriptures, each time we look at the Holy Family, we are reminded of that giftedness and that blessings that God brings to us. Because each time as we look at our families, dear friends, we must fill our hearts with gratitude and with thanksgiving. And again it is not to say that it is all rosy all the time. There are challenges, there are difficulties, there are obstacles that we need to face together.

But the Lord invites us, that God knows that each one of us are placed in a particular family because He knows we will support each other. It is because God’s love for us that has been given that we should express that love that we have from God with the way we relate to one another.

And when a child is born, it is easy to care even though I know caring for them may be difficult because the parents lose sleep. But as they grow older, then it becomes an opportunity for the young children now to care for the families. And the parents who perhaps may not remember what you tell them, maybe 5 minutes ago, it is where you are called also to show your love and to show your compassion. Sometimes, dear friends, God puts paths in our lives, situations like that so that we can grow in maturity, that we can grow in wisdom, in the perfection of God’s love as a family.

And as we look at the Holy Family, each one of them, Mary and Joseph, focused their attention on Jesus that is laid in the manger. And as you know, in the Gospel it mentions that Mary pondered all these things in her heart. And I am sure as parents, each one of you have worries for the future of your family, future of your children, and everything is refocused on them rather than on yourself. And as you focus on them, you also must realise that they are gifted to you. They are gifted to you so that you can grow in holiness, so that you can grow in this loving awareness of what you ought to be.

And I am sure whenever children show their tantrums, the best part of the parents comes out. Yes? No?

You know whenever the children are difficult, then the parents also can be difficult. And when you are difficult, then the inner part of you, what is in you, becomes manifested. And that also becomes an opportunity for you to know yourself, that certain situations and certain circumstances of life makes you react in a certain way.

And after that, you grow into this realisation of where you have perhaps been too prideful or perhaps where you have drifted. And that becomes an opportunity for you to acknowledge and realise that you need to make amends, to seek reconciliation and then move forward with a conviction that Jesus walks with you.

And for children as well, as you look at your parents, you always must look at them with a heart of gratitude, with a heart of gratitude because you are a fruit of their love. You are a fruit of their love because God has blessed them with this gift for you to become their children. And as you are able to embrace them with a heart of gratitude, not sometimes as dispensers or ATM machines. That can happen as well, you know?

But when you are able to embrace them with their own brokenness, with their own giftedness, with their own idiosyncrasies, you know that deep down, they love you. And when they show their appreciation and they show their love for you, you must allow them to grow as well. As much as you grow in love for them, they too also grow in appreciation and love for you.

And gradually, dear friends, the family becomes a context where we grow in maturity, where we grow in love. The family becomes an opportunity where we grow in values, grows in values of compassion, commitment, faithfulness, mercy, of honesty, of obedience, of charity. The family becomes an opportunity where we can grow more and more in our identity as persons.

And when we focus as a family at Jesus, like how Mary and Joseph seeks Jesus at the manger, we also grow in appreciation with one another. And as a community, this parish is so blessed with so many people who are responsible for the growth of our young people. And when these kind of opportunities are given to them, they also must learn to appreciate the gift of families within our community.

And as I mentioned always, it takes a village to raise a child. And the village that we have is this village of CHS. And you have invested your time, your talents, your giftedness in this parish so that you can grow as a family, you can grow as a community, so that you can grow in wisdom and grace.

And as you look at the Gospel today and as Jesus, Mary and Joseph went down to Nazareth and lived under the authority, his mother stored all these things in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature and in favour with God and men. 

And as we embrace our families, dear friends, today on this celebration of the Holy Family, let us remember that our families are little church, our families is a place where we grow like Jesus.

As Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and in favour with God and men, each one of us must be like Jesus, that we must grow and increase in wisdom, wisdom not of knowledge but wisdom of the heart, and grow in stature that we need to acknowledge how we stand before God in humility and all honesty. And we must grow in favour with God and with men.

And let us pray that as we commit ourselves and as we commend ourselves to the Lord today, on this Feast of the Holy Family, as we pray for our families today, let us pray that we may continue to value, to treasure and to cherish our families all through our lives.

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