Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
WHEN [the Magi] had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." Joseph rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Rise, take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the Child’s life are dead." He rose, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazorean."
Crises in the family
In his 1981 Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio on the family, Pope John Paul II at one point traces the blueprint of what family life is all about. This is what he writes:
"In matrimony and in the family a complex of interpersonal relationships is set up – married life, fatherhood and motherhood, filiation and fraternity – through which each human being is introduced into the ‘human family’ and into the ‘family of God,’ which is the Church. Christian marriage and the Christian family build up the Church: For in the family the human person is not only brought into being and progressively introduced by means of education into the human community, but by means of the rebirth of baptism and education in the faith the child is also introduced into God’s family, which is the Church. The human family, disunited by sin, is reconstituted in its unity by the redemptive power of the death and resurrection of Christ (cf. Gaudium et Spes). Christian marriage, by participating in the salvific efficacy of this event, constitutes the natural setting in which the human person is introduced into the great family of the Church… The Church thus finds in the family, born from the sacrament (of matrimony), the cradle and the setting in which she can enter the human generations, and where these in their turn can enter the Church."
These words of the Pope show how noble and great is the role of each Christian family, and it is necessary for us to remember how precious a gift is each family to humankind and to the Church. However, this ideal picture of the family is just that: an ideal picture, a theoretical construct which omits for the sake of clarity the inherent difficulty for a concrete family to fulfill its sublime function in society. In practice, a family is like anything in this universe. It has its ups and downs, its good days and bad days, its moments of bliss and its crises. Especially in our modern times, the family is likely to experience many severe crises because of all the pressures exerted on it.
Well, if that can be of any consolation to us, it is good for us to remember that even the Holy Family had its share of crises. After all, Jesus was born practically on the road. Soon afterwards, the Holy Family was on the run from the law (the long arm of Herod) and had to flee to a foreign country. No doubt, too, there were other crises not recorded in the gospels, such as lack of income (when carpentry work was slack in Nazareth), occasional illnesses (Mary and Joseph could catch the flu just like any of us), the death of Joseph, tragedies in the extended families, and so on.
However, the good news is that crises can be occasions for growth. They can help us become more patient, wiser, more loving – provided we accept to learn from them.In conclusion, let us repeat today’s Opening Prayer:
"Father in heaven…teach us the sanctity of human love,show us the value of family life,and help us to live in peace with everyonethat we may share in your life forever."
SOURCE: "365 Days with the Lord," ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
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