It is such a great blessing that on Christmas weekend, we also celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family so that we can reflect together on the purpose of being family.

In God’s plan, the family is supposed to be a “school of love” in which every member is loved and inspired to give of one’s self in love to others, with Jesus, Mary and Joseph as our models for this “school of love”.
As much as Joseph and Mary are the parents of Jesus, the Son of God, they were also ordinary people who followed traditional customs and complied with the laws of their nation. They raised Jesus as any normal parents would raise their son. They taught Him and disciplined Him. Jesus probably had to do daily chores and learn basic education like any other boy living in Nazareth. Joseph probably had to work hard for a living and Mary did her share of the housework.

This ordinary life as a family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus make them role models for any modern Christian family. And even though they led a typical family life, they also led a life enveloped by love, responsibility and care for each other.

We have perhaps read and heard of the difficulties and challenges of the family in the 21st century. Maybe we have experienced these difficulties ourselves. Perhaps we worry how our children will grow up or how we can continue providing for their basic needs and education. We are anxious about the people who influence how they think and act, and how media impact their lives. True? But if we remember Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and their commitment to each other despite all their difficulties, we can draw from this and realize that our families, too, can weather and hurdle any challenge or obstacle. It takes care, responsibility, and most of all – love.

At a time when many families are breaking up and breaking down all over, the Holy Family presents itself as our source of great hope and consolation. There is perhaps no other way to keep each family intact and moving onwards except through the virtue of sheer self-sacrifice and self-giving for each other in the family.

We come now to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Christmas weekend; and embrace the simple truth and boundless opportunity to make our homes, the domestic church, the “school of love”. Spouses need to imitate Christ’s love for His bride – the Church, sacrificing for each other to make the other holy. For any marriage to thrive, for any family to thrive, they need to come together to the Holy Eucharist where they will receive the Lord of love inside them and be able to share His complete and total love with each other. To the crisis of the family we recognize the world and the Church face today, God has given a solution: Holy the Eucharist, the “school of love”. Gather in the Holy Eucharist to receive, bring Him home, and allow Him to be shared to others out of care, responsibility, and love.

A blessed season of Christmas – from our home here at Saint Raymond’s to yours!