The Holy Family of Jesus,Mary, and Joseph (Feast)

Sunday, 30 December 2012 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - Feast
Holy Family in a Storm The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus—the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us... A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the Carpenter's Son," in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work." — (Paul VI at Nazareth, January 5, 1964) The Holy Family models for us what family life should exemplify. It is a school of virtue for both parents and children. There we find God, and learn how to connect with God and with others. The family is where love is freely given without self-interest. It is where we learn to love, to pray and to practice the gift of charity. Pope John Paul II has said, “The family, more than any other human reality, is the place in which the person is loved for himself and in which he learns to live the sincere gift of self”. Father, help us to live as the holy family, united in respect and love. Bring us to the joy and peace of your eternal home. Amen.