30 December 2022

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

The Gospel reading for today’s feast speaks of movement and transition points in the life of the Holy Family: the flight into Egypt, the return to Israel, and the journey from Judea to Nazareth in Galilee. A great deal of what occurs in between, however, is not spelled out in the Scripture; rather, it is left to our prayer and contemplation, where we must be guided by the Spirit. It can be a fruitful exercise for all of us, regardless of our state in life, to contemplate the family life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It is a life filled with ordinary scenes of a man and woman raising their young son. And yet, in these ordinary moments, the secrets of God’s life and love are revealed and communicated in tangible form.

Today, we can take time in prayer to contemplate the daily life of the Holy Family, the everyday moments in which God’s love is made visible in a new way: a family meal, a trip to the well, a day of work. Let us ask to see how these ordinary activites are transformed and reveal the life God offers to us, that our everyday tasks might be similarly transformed.