Homily: Feast of the Holy Family

December 28, 2025

My dear brothers and sisters, today, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Through this feast, the Church invites us to reflect on the beauty, the challenges and the sacredness of family life. This feast comes right after Christmas, reminding us that the mystery of the incarnation is not only about God becoming man, but also about God choosing to be part of a human family. So, today’s feast is of utmost importance to all of us since we all belong to families. We can say that the family is the first and the greatest institution God created. The family is like the nursery, the kindergarten, the elementary and the high school that produces good and responsible citizens for the society. Destroy the family and society itself will crumble. Weaken the family and the society also will be weakened. Renew the family and the society and the Church will be renewed.

In our world today, families face many pressures and challenges: economic struggles, misunderstandings, character differences, past and present hurts, lack of commitment to family life, anti-religious teachings. All these can constitute burdens in the heart of family members which if unchecked can gradually destroy love, destroy family and relationship and ultimately destroy the society. For this reason, the Church places the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph before us as a beacon of light and hope. When we are tempted to give up on family because of family challenges, a sober reflection on the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph can indeed be very helpful.

The Holy Family did not just have challenges; their challenges were huge. For instance, both Mary and Joseph had to bear the burden of heart of accepting a pregnancy which their normal human mind could not fully explain. At a very crucial and delicate stage in the life of Mary and the unborn Jesus, they were homeless, no doubt, not sure from where the next meal and water would come from and they ended up in the animal pen where Mary gave birth to Jesus. At some point in their life, the dreaded devil incarnate Herod who had the whole State military and ammunition at his beck and call were after them to destroy them. Mary and Joseph with their very fragile newborn Jesus had to flee to another country for safety. Imagine the means of transportation they used, this journey was before the invention of motor vehicles and airplanes. Imagine what it meant for such a poor family to cope as new immigrants in a foreign country.

Reflecting deeply on the story of the Holy family, it is shown this family really went through hell. When Jesus finally matured as a man, the antagonism of the Jews became unbearable against Him and a conspiracy was made and they had him a executed in a most brutal way. It is documented in the bible that Mary was an eyewitness to the brutal killing of His only Son. In all this, not a word of complaint or frustration was heard from Mary or from Joseph. It was not heard that Mary and Joseph were quarrelling and fighting and calling 911. It was not heard that either Joseph or Mary abandoned family and turned into an alcoholic, emptying about 6 bottles every night or started using drugs as a coping mechanism. It was not heard that either of them started using the tool of silent treatment, verbal and emotional abuse on the other.

Looking at their life, it is easily seen that it was not easy for them, but the two remained a model of peace, harmony, faith and love. What was uppermost in their life was for them to know the will of God and they submitted to divine guidance as the angel of God directed. Brothers and sisters, we have to keep these characters of the Holy Family before our eyes and model our families like theirs. The gospel tells us that Jesus, Mary and Joseph later made a home in Nazareth. This was where Jesus spent thirty years of his life. When He returned to Nazareth during his public life, the only thing neighbors knew of Him was an ordinary boy, a carpenter with his dad, obedient to his parents, he attended the synagogue service. Jesus Himself left us an example of obedience to a human parent in a human family, He has all divine and human powers but worked hard to earn a living under his dad, He conformed to parental directions, religious and societal laws. Both Jesus, Mary and Joseph strongly teach us that we have to be committed in strengthening our families even amidst challenges and not helping to tear them into pieces.