In the gospel, we find the angel of the Lord warning St. Joseph in a dream that King Herod wants to kill the Christ-Child, since He feared a threat to his throne. But Joseph did as the angel told him in a dream and took the Child and His mother to Egypt, where they stayed for a time. They stayed there until they heard news of King Herod's death. When they found it safe to return, Herod's son, Archelaus, took over the throne. St. Joseph was still apprehensive about this situation, and so he took the Child to Galilee and settled in Nazareth. Thus was it made known that Jesus grew up in Nazareth and became known in His ministry as a Nazarean.
Today, we hear of many news about Bethlehem sets being vandalized and Nativity plays being parodied in a bad light. It seems that the world once again wants to kill the spirit of the Christ-Child by killing the spirit of Christmas. But many Catholics and fellow Christians still respect the spirit of Christmas, want to keep it as an enduring and undying Christian tradition for succeeding generations of their families. These Catholics and Christians know that just as the Lord God saved His Son from the clutches of King Herod, so shall He be faithful with all Catholics and Christians who want to save the spirit of Christmas from being destroyed.
This Sunday, we also celebrate and honor the feast of the Holy Family. The Holy Family - St. Joseph, the Blessed Mother, and Jesus, the Christ-Child. A perfect family. One that all Catholics and Christian families would truly want to emulate in virtue. There are still many families who are able to faithfully live their Christian life and strengthen the family's bonding and links with each other. These families are often living ordinary lives - families in the West and the East, the North and the South, living out the Gospel values and witnessing with a simple presence to other people in their neighborhood.
Perhaps the gospel this Sunday calls us to trust more and more in the divinity of Christ, more than what we see as the usual securities in the world. If we do trust in Christ's divinity and power, then we would not be assailed with anxieties and be troubled when everything around us seems to be falling apart or crumbling. The more we make our hearts filled with the spirit of the Holy Family, rather than with the spirit of Herod, then we will be assured of God's protection. We can also ask the special intercession of St. Joseph, patron of the Catholic Church, to protect our families from the onslaughts of the world's values which tempts us to displace God's rightful place in the center of our hearts and lives. May Christ our Light always remain in our families and dispel the darkness of sin and the darkness of greed for power and riches.
St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment