Fr. Louis Brioni sx
THE HOLY FAMILY (2019)
Reflection on the Feast by Fr. Louis Brioni sx
Not only He became man 2019 years ago, but Jesus also wanted to be family like all of us, for family, man and woman and children together, remains an essential component of humanity, from the very beginning of creation, as Pope Francis wrote in his exhortation Amoris Laetitia (the Joy of Love).
Jesus, after He was born in Bethlehem and escaped to Egypt, settled with Mary and Joseph in the forgotten village of Nazareth, a place where nothing good could come from (Jo 1:46). For about 30 years He lived there the normality of family life, mostly concerned to make a home holy, in mutual and necessary belonging to His mother and Joseph. No doubt, he Holy Family interacted with the village community in a normal way.
But how did our Family spend their time, day after day? We are all very curious how they lived the small details of a normal living. How did they plan their daily 24 hours? How did they relate to their extended family and neighbours? What about their carpentry business and necessary income? Were they poor or a middle class family? And did Jesus ever go to school? Did He play the games of the village teenagers? Would he enjoy any girlfriend, for that matter? And, finally, would their holiness cause some kind of jealousy around?
We have so many questions, but no answer is easily coming, for the Gospels do not say a word about those quiet 30 years. We will have to wait to join the heavenly mansions to know all this! But, in the meantime, nothing can stop us celebrating the Holy Family with gratitude and joy. With prayerful imitation.
Gratitude, because the Holy Family, in their love for one another and in their total obedience to God’s holy will, remains truly a sacramental gift to humanity over world history and geography. In their village of Nazareth they were totally and quietly with the Father, and the Father was totally with them. They were truly prayer, love, unity. We, as Christians, do recognize that their holiness is a gift that continues to overflow on us, making God’s Kingdom real and effective in our life.
Joy, because the Holy Family keeps sharing with us even today the promise Jesus gave to his followers at the last supper, “His complete joy” (Jo 15:11). For sure, there cannot be any true Christian family without the inner joy and peace from the Lord. As believing individuals and families, we have the right to the promise of Christ’s joy, always.
But can we really imitate the holiness of the Holy Family? This is a question we can only answer in the positive, for they were certainly a normal human family, like ours. Jesus wanted to be totally human, together both with His parents (Lk 2:51) and all of us.
As Christians then we need to take the possibility of this imitation for granted. Yes, it is possible to imitate them, but only if we decide so! At the same time, we need to apply their “holiness” to our local circumstances and cultures. Jesus, Mary and Joseph formed a nuclear family, unlike the extended family’s modality of marriage in most parts of Africa, especially in the villages. In the rural parish I just left a few months ago I do not recall a house with a nuclear family. The average members of a home there was usually between 8 and 10 people. Privacy here is practically unknown, for all feel belonging to one another and responsible for the wellbeing of all. It is in this context that children grow up with a deep sense of communion and co-responsibility. It is in this context that the blessings of the Holy Family can bear fruit of love, faithfulness, and perseverance.
We missionaries are witnesses to that, in particular when the gift of Christian faith has the chance to be sown among our people. And we know that here there are good families, who live well the values of holiness, love, prayer, chastity, generosity, and martyrdom.
In Africa we like to call the Church God’s Family. May it be always so in every marriage and every home, with gratitude, joy, imitation. This is and will be the most glorious history of Christianity in Africa!
.
THE HOLY FAMILY (2019)
Reflection on the Feast by Fr. Louis Brioni sx
Not only He became man 2019 years ago, but Jesus also wanted to be family like all of us, for family, man and woman and children together, remains an essential component of humanity, from the very beginning of creation, as Pope Francis wrote in his exhortation Amoris Laetitia (the Joy of Love).
Jesus, after He was born in Bethlehem and escaped to Egypt, settled with Mary and Joseph in the forgotten village of Nazareth, a place where nothing good could come from (Jo 1:46). For about 30 years He lived there the normality of family life, mostly concerned to make a home holy, in mutual and necessary belonging to His mother and Joseph. No doubt, he Holy Family interacted with the village community in a normal way.
But how did our Family spend their time, day after day? We are all very curious how they lived the small details of a normal living. How did they plan their daily 24 hours? How did they relate to their extended family and neighbours? What about their carpentry business and necessary income? Were they poor or a middle class family? And did Jesus ever go to school? Did He play the games of the village teenagers? Would he enjoy any girlfriend, for that matter? And, finally, would their holiness cause some kind of jealousy around?
We have so many questions, but no answer is easily coming, for the Gospels do not say a word about those quiet 30 years. We will have to wait to join the heavenly mansions to know all this! But, in the meantime, nothing can stop us celebrating the Holy Family with gratitude and joy. With prayerful imitation.
Gratitude, because the Holy Family, in their love for one another and in their total obedience to God’s holy will, remains truly a sacramental gift to humanity over world history and geography. In their village of Nazareth they were totally and quietly with the Father, and the Father was totally with them. They were truly prayer, love, unity. We, as Christians, do recognize that their holiness is a gift that continues to overflow on us, making God’s Kingdom real and effective in our life.
Joy, because the Holy Family keeps sharing with us even today the promise Jesus gave to his followers at the last supper, “His complete joy” (Jo 15:11). For sure, there cannot be any true Christian family without the inner joy and peace from the Lord. As believing individuals and families, we have the right to the promise of Christ’s joy, always.
But can we really imitate the holiness of the Holy Family? This is a question we can only answer in the positive, for they were certainly a normal human family, like ours. Jesus wanted to be totally human, together both with His parents (Lk 2:51) and all of us.
As Christians then we need to take the possibility of this imitation for granted. Yes, it is possible to imitate them, but only if we decide so! At the same time, we need to apply their “holiness” to our local circumstances and cultures. Jesus, Mary and Joseph formed a nuclear family, unlike the extended family’s modality of marriage in most parts of Africa, especially in the villages. In the rural parish I just left a few months ago I do not recall a house with a nuclear family. The average members of a home there was usually between 8 and 10 people. Privacy here is practically unknown, for all feel belonging to one another and responsible for the wellbeing of all. It is in this context that children grow up with a deep sense of communion and co-responsibility. It is in this context that the blessings of the Holy Family can bear fruit of love, faithfulness, and perseverance.
We missionaries are witnesses to that, in particular when the gift of Christian faith has the chance to be sown among our people. And we know that here there are good families, who live well the values of holiness, love, prayer, chastity, generosity, and martyrdom.
In Africa we like to call the Church God’s Family. May it be always so in every marriage and every home, with gratitude, joy, imitation. This is and will be the most glorious history of Christianity in Africa!
.