Word to the Wise
Friday, December 30, 2016 -
[Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 or Colossians 3:12-21 and Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23]FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016 THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH. [Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 or Colossians 3:12-21 and Matthew 2:13-15] 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. [Matthew] With all the warm glow of Christmas and its "all is calm, all is bright" peaceful scene in a stable rapidly receding in memory, the realities of family life once more take over. We have to suspend notions of time in the interests of the story because our typical manger scene seems to put all the characters on stage and we are left to sort it out. Subsequent events tell us that the Holy Family faced a number of crises that could endear them to us more than an imagined ideal family. These included Joseph having to decide what to do about Mary when she became pregnant, having to flee into the desert at night - a very dangerous thing to do then and now - and losing the child in the crowds at a festival. Emergencies are part of family life! One of the Prefaces for Christmas Day has the phrase, "in the wonder of the incarnation..." Incarnation is more than some abstract notion. Family life is an "incarnation" of the Kingdom, with all the love, messiness, emergencies, forgiveness, healing and hope that human life, united with the Spirit, can offer. When we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, we celebrate not just God becoming human with the help of human parents, we celebrate Christ becoming human in our own families. We are the Body of Christ and so are our families. Maybe leaving that manger scene up for awhile longer can remind us of this. AMEN
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