Sunday, 12/29/2019, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
The Fourth Commandment
First Reading Commentary: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Today’s prophecy from Sirach is all about obeying the Fourth Commandment: Thou shall honor your father and your mother. Obeying our parents is a significant part of honoring our parents. So much so, that the Fourth Commandment is often quoted as: Obey your father and your mother. Sirach tells us that great rewards come to those who obey this commandment.
We receive atonement for our sins and we are gladdened with children if we honor our fathers. Our prayers are heard if we honor and revere our fathers. Sirach also tells us that we will live a long life if we revere our fathers. In addition, if we take care of our fathers when they get old, our kindness will not be forgotten but will be firmly planted against the debt of our sins.
Is it possible to honor God if we do not honor our fathers? One might think that we can because our father is not God. But the answer is; no. The Fourth Commandment is directly linked to the Second Greatest Commandment from Christ which is to love thy neighbor as thyself. It is not possible to break that Commandment without also breaking the First Greatest Commandment which is to love God with everything.
God is our Creator and our Father in heaven and if we break the Fourth Commandment, we will also break the First Commandment because we fail to honor God or show our love for Him because of our disobedience and we separate ourselves from Him. This is why great rewards will come to those who honor their fathers.
Sirach tells us that a father confirms a mother’s authority over her sons. If we revere our mother, we will store up riches. In other words, we should show no, less honor to mom than we show to dad and everything that we should do for dad when he gets old; we should do for mom when she gets old.
This part of Sirach’s prophecy should also remind us of Mary, our mother in heaven. It is through Mary that Jesus came into the world and the Word became flesh. As the Word came through Mary, so does God’s grace come through Mary which; is why she is the Mediatrix of All Grace.
As we cannot honor our Father in heaven if we do not honor our father on earth, we cannot revere our mother in heaven if we do not revere our mother on earth. Not everyone understands the relationship of Mary to the Trinity but those who do also understand that they cannot expect God’s grace to flow upon them if they do not revere both of their mothers.
Many Non-Catholics misconstrue the high honor that Catholics have for Mary as worship. We only worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But we do honor Mary because of her special relationship to the Trinity as the mother of Jesus. As the Father passes all things through the Son, the Son brought the Word through Mary by bringing Himself through Mary.
As we meditate on Sirach’s prophecy today, we have to remember once again that Jesus was one hundred percent human as well as one hundred percent divine. The Son obeyed all of the Commandments including the Fourth. Jesus honored and obeyed His human mother and his human father.
Sometimes we hear defiant teenagers say, “I can do whatever I want to do.” Well, Jesus, being the Almighty, really could have done whatever He wanted to do. But Jesus was obedient. This should tell us two things. 1- God is serious enough about His Commandments to obey them Himself in the person of the Son while He was here on earth. Jesus was not only obedient to Mary and Joseph; He was also obedient and showed humility to His Father in heaven. 2- God does not expect us to do anything that He is not willing to do nor does He ask us for more than what He is willing to give. Sirach’s prophecy is telling us that if we obey the fourth commandment, God will give us everything.
The Perfect Family
Second Reading Commentary: Colossians 3:12-21
I want to focus on the second part of today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians because it is the essence of why we celebrate the Holy Family. In this short paragraph, Paul gives counsel on what makes a perfect family.
“Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them.” Marriages fail because at least one of the people involved, fail to take this advice from Paul. In fact, most people do not understand what it really means. This is because some people make the mistake of getting caught up in the words and therefore, miss the message.
That said; forget how the dictionary defines the word “subordinate.” Paul is not saying that a wife should do as her husband says simply because he said it or vice-versa. People get hung up on the word “obey” in marriage vows too. Some people refuse to take that part of the marriage vows because of their hang up on the word “obey.”
I have said this in prior commentaries: If you get hung up on the human definitions of words, you will miss God’s message. It is not about subordination or obedience as we understand those words in the dictionary. It is about standing by your partner. Marriages fail because somebody did not stand by their partner. Paul is saying that husbands and wives must stand by each other at all times.
Paul says, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.” This is the Fourth Commandment which we explored in Sirach’s prophecy. But notice Paul’s use of the word, “everything.”
We should be reminded once again of Jesus and His obedience, especially to the Father. Why? Because: Jesus was obedient in everything even to the point of sacrificing Himself to the cross for our sake. In return, it is pleasing to Him that we be obedient to our parents.
Paul also says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.” Before I explore this, remember that Sirach told us that a father confirms a mother’s authority. Therefore, mothers should not provoke their children either.
All of the things which can and will give children legitimate reasons to rebel against their parents, a parent should never do. A parent should never hate, abuse, neglect, abandon or lie to their children. A parent should never break their word. If a punishment is threatened, it must be carried out if the offense is repeated. If a reward is promised, it must be granted.
When parents fail to do the things which will cause their children to become discouraged, their children will honor them and with that will come respect and obedience. I am not saying that in this imperfect world that this is easy, but it is that simple. Just follow God’s lead and treat parents the same way that He treats us.
Why is Paul’s advice in this letter the essence of a perfect family? Because it is God’s way which means that it is the only way that it (the family) will work!
Our Exodus Begins
Gospel Commentary: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
A child looks to his parents for protection and the ultimate source of protection within the family comes from the father. Joseph protected the baby Jesus by taking his family to Egypt and when the time was right, he left Egypt but again, to protect the baby Jesus, he did not return to Bethlehem.
We all know the story in today’s gospel and we know that Joseph was given God’s word through an angel in a dream each time that Joseph moved his family. But there is more to this gospel than Joseph protecting his family by following God’s direction. Joseph was carrying out God’s plan in fulfillment of God’s promise to save His people as was prophesized in Scripture.
When we look at the life of Christ and compare His life to the Old Testament, we find that Jesus fulfilled His mission of Salvation by reliving events in the Old Testament. In today’s gospel, Jesus relives events in the life of Moses and the Exodus.
When Moses was an infant, Pharaoh was putting all first-born Israelite sons to death. So, Moses’ mother put him into a basket and placed the basket in the river hoping that Moses would be found by someone who would raise him, thereby saving his life. The life of the infant Jesus was in danger because Herod wanted to find Jesus and kill Him and so, the Holy Family fled to Egypt.
Egypt was not a random choice. It was out of Egypt that God, through Moses, led the Israelites to the promised land of milk and honey. Because Jesus leads us on an exodus from this life to the next, it was necessary for Him to be called from Egypt. This was God’s plan as was prophesized in Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
After Herod died, the angel of the Lord told Joseph to leave Egypt and return to the land of Israel. But because Joseph had been warned in yet another dream, he did not take Mary and Jesus back to Bethlehem. Notice, that Joseph did not go to Jerusalem either. Instead, he went to Nazareth. Again, there is a similarity to the Israelites who did not go straight to the land promised to them by God.
Matthew tells us that this is also a fulfillment of the prophecies by saying, “He shall be called a Nazorean.” According to the bible’s footnotes, there is no prophecy which mentions the town of Nazareth by name.
However, in Isaiah 11:1, the Davidic king of the future is called “a bud” that shall blossom from the roots of Jesse and the Hebrew word for bud is Neser. Matthew could also be drawing on the word “nester” which means, branch and the word “nazir” which means, one who shall be consecrated to God. All of this is true about Jesus.
With God’s direction, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. God used Mary to bring Jesus into the world and with God’s direction, Joseph led Mary and Jesus out of Egypt. With this, the exodus for all of us from this life to the next life in the Kingdom of Heaven began with the Light of Jesus leading the way. Happy are those who follow.
