Friday 30th December

Feast of the Holy Family

Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6, 12-14; Psalm 128:1-5; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23.

Holy challenges

As we remember the ‘holy family’ of Jesus, Mary and Joseph it is helpful to remember their experience was a migrant - refugee family seeking to return ‘home’. In fact, the area around Joseph’s home area (Bethlehem) was too unstable, so they settled further away in Galilee - Nazareth. Perhaps the readings today can lead us into the challenging reality of daily life - which Joseph and Mary knew deeply from their own experience. As we see statues of the holy family in church or in our homes, perhaps we can also reflect on their faithfulness through the great challenges they experienced. Their lives are close to our experiences too - and they became a holy family through it all.