Holy Family Homily -- Cycle C

Cycle C – Homily – Holy Family – 29 December 2024

Lectionary I Lectionary II

Regular readings Alternate readings

1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28 Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14

Psalm 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10 Psalm 128:1-5

1 John 3:1-2, 21-24 Colossians 3:12-21

Luke 2:41-52 Luke 2:41-52

The lectionary offers numerous alternative passages for today’s readings (some are listed above) – one from Samuel, more than one from Sirach (a book that in some translations of the Bible is considered to be Apocryphal), one from 1 John, more than one from Colossians, and two different choices for a Responsorial Psalm. All of the readings, however, have a common theme – family. The gospel (from Luke) is constant – the story of Jesus being lost in the Temple.

In looking over the non-gospel readings, it is easy to see why they were chosen. They all offer sage advice on family life. If we look at these readings carefully, we see the possibility of a happy and peaceful life. Actually, it is all rather idyllic – a goal, rather than a reality.

As I started thinking about the gospel reading, however, I began to have some serious questions. These are questions that have actually plagued me for quite some time. Holy Family….. How could this Holy Family be the perfect family – the ideal – when their family life seemed less than perfect? They were hardly being this perfect family if Mary and Joseph let their 12 year old get lost (and didn’t even realize he was missing for a whole day!) and if this same 12 year old stayed behind in Jerusalem and did not even bother telling his parents where he was.

This brought to mind two very serious topics – first, the humanity of the family and second, the question about what a family is.

Let’s look at the humanity first. Jesus stayed behind without clearing it with his folks. Kids do that! Yes, he was on the verge of official Jewish adultness, but he was still a kid and he did what kids sometimes do. How human! And look at Mary’s reprimand. “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” It is classic! And it is identical to what would be said now, 2000 years later. Mary and Joseph were distraught and they searched for him and when they found him, they were torn between relief and frustration. How human! These holy family members were human. We sometimes forget that Jesus had poopy diapers as a baby and classic growing pains as a child on the verge of becoming an adult!

Now look at Jesus’ excuse! He had to be about his father’s business – and, after all, his folks should have realized that. That sounds like a 12 year old, doesn’t it? But, he was teaching in the Temple and everyone was surprised at what he knew. I’m sure Mary and Joseph weren’t surprised. Well, maybe they were. Sometimes the humanity of parents causes them to realize that their child is very bright but that child is still a child – even when s/he surprises the parents with knowledge and wisdom. How human again!

What we have on one level, then, is a story about a very human family going through a trauma common to many parents and a wise innocence common to many young people. How human! How very, very human!

But, that does bring us to the other question. How could Mary and Joseph have possibly LOST Jesus? Weren’t they paying attention? Oh, but the other question is “What is family?” and on that question I think rests a major answer. Probably they weren’t paying close attention (how human!) but going one step further, they were all – Jesus included – a part of a larger phenomenon than the nuclear family.

The concept of the nuclear family (mom, dad, kid/s) is a rather recent sociological phenomenon – and one that is not universal by any means. The extended family is really the family. We call it “extended” today but in Biblical times, that extended family was the norm. Actually, the extended family has been the norm throughout much of history and across countless civilizations.

Scripture even tells us that Mary and Joseph were not traveling alone with Jesus. Most probably they were in a very large group – and most probably they were physically related to most of the people in the group, though maybe not to all of them. Why do we want to paste a modern concept – the nuclear family – onto a society that did not have the nuclear family as a norm? Do we make this holy family so UN-human, that we forget the true nature of the family?

So, what is the family? Sometimes we hear of the “family of choice” vs. the “family of origin” but I do not think that is necessarily the best image because it is an attempt to normalize strained relationships in an artificial setting.

We are ALL the holy family! We are all God’s kids! We are all here – complete with warts and frustrations. We are all here – complete with our failings and our humanity.

The ideal does not exist. It did not exist for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; it does not exist for us. We care for each other in the caravan that traverses life – regardless of whether the family member who needs our care is an immediate blood relative or a blood relative so distant we cannot even compute it. We are all a part of the family of God. We have a perfect example of the humanity of the family of God right in this story of the Holy Family. And, if this story of the humanity of the family of God is real – and is included as a part of Scripture to teach us something – then perhaps one of the lessons we need to learn is that we are all – all of us, saints and sinners alike – a part of this very Holy Family called God’s human people.

Look at the world around us.  Look at the turbulences.  Look at those turbulences as conflicts between human beings.  Those human beings are our sisters and brothers – regardless of their race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, political persuasion, economic status, or any other divisive factor we can think of.  And each of those human beings is a child of God; they are our brothers and sisters.  They are all a part of God’s Holy Family.  We need to remember that in all of our interactions – whether real time, vicarious time, or imaginary time.  Let us always remember that all are members of the all-inclusive Holy Family of God.

Rev Dr Roberta M Meehan