Sunday, December 30, 2018
First Sunday after Christmas
HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY
& JOSEPH
Psalm
128, Verse 1-4:
1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD, and who walk in his ways. 2 What your hands
provide you will enjoy; you will be blessed and prosper: 3 Your wife will be
like a fruitful vine within your home, your children like young olive plants
around your table.4
Just so will the man be blessed who fears
the LORD.
Those who fear the
Lord work to not react to their feelings but act from the principle of God’s
unconditional love to empower others even at personal cost. They practice the
three cardinal virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. The act of blessing works
both ways and bless’ all; both those who receive and those who give.
This psalm is a statement that the ever-reliable God
will bless the reverent. God’s blessing is concrete: satisfaction and
prosperity, a fertile spouse and abundant children. The perspective is that of
the adult male, ordinarily the ruler and representative of the household to the
community. The last verses extend the blessing to all the people for
generations to come.[1]
The annual Holy
Childhood procession, on the feast of the Holy Family, is one of the most
attractive ceremonies. In former years this procession was called the
"Shepherds' Procession" as the children marched through the church
dressed as shepherds and shepherdesses -- a lovely relic of popular medieval
piety (Holy Trinity Parish, 1844-1944, p. 37).
This feast is also an
ideal time to pray any of the devotions to the Holy Family that are given in
the Raccolta, the Church's old official list of indulgences. The
fact that many of these prayers are no longer indulgenced does not make them
any less meaningful or worthy of use. Let
us reflect that the Holy family was holy because of how they interacted with
each other and the world. A good practice during the twelve nights of Christmas would be to turn off the TV and to rest and have joyful prayer with the family. It is good to remember that Christ’s primary teachers in the faith were Joseph and Mary. We also should remember to not rely on schools to bring up our children in devotion to the Lord and that we are the primary teachers of Faith, Hope and Love in our families.
Things to
Do[3]
·
Let
us imitate the Holy Family in our Christian families, and our family will be a
stronghold and a prefiguration of the heavenly family. Say a prayer dedicating
your family to the Holy Family. Also pray for all families and for our country
to uphold the sanctity of the marriage bond which is under attack.
·
Read
more about Pope Leo XIII
who instituted the Feast of the Holy Family and read his encyclical On Christian Marriage. You can also check out the
Vatican's page of Papal documents on the Family.
·
Read
the explanation of Jesus' knowledge in the activities section. Read Pope Pius
X's Syllabus of
Errors which condemns the modernist assertion that Christ did
not always possess the consciousness of His Messianic dignity.
·
Have
the whole family participate in cooking dinner. You might try a Lebanese meal.
Some suggestions: stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage rolls, lentils and
rice, spinach and meat pies, chicken and dumplings, hummus, Lebanese bread,
tabbouleh — a Lebanese salad and kibbi, a traditional Lebanese dish of
specially ground meat mixed with spices and cracked wheat. This is the same
kind of food that Mary served Jesus and St. Joseph. It's healthy and delicious.
Christmas Calendar[4]
Read: Today, we honor the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and
Joseph. Take time to read Pope
Francis's homily on the Feast of the Holy Family in 2014. The ideas
and messages he presented are still relevant today.
Reflect: "Christmas celebrates the fruit of Mary
and Joseph's trust in God. The long-awaited Messiah, sent to save us from our
sins and win back the eternal blessedness lost by Adam's sin, is born. The Son
of God is like us in all things but sin. We learn from the Incarnation that our
success is in God's hands. Without the Father's love, we would be lost for all
eternity. Mary and Joseph sacrificed greatly to make the arduous journey to
Bethlehem, to obey God's directive to flee into Egypt, and to go to Nazareth to
raise Jesus. Ambiguity, uncertainty, and brokenness touched the Holy Family.
Their lives teach us that we cannot understand God's designs. This wonderful
lesson urges parents to put their families in God's hands and trust that their
efforts will bear fruit. Faithful parents are examples for us, single or
married. We, too, are to put ourselves in God's hands. In so doing, God's grace
helps us realize better the depths of who we are and what we are called to
become."
Pray: Pray for families.
Act: "A few minutes can be found each day to come
together before the living God, to tell him our worries, to ask for the needs
of our family, to pray for someone experiencing difficulty, to ask for help in
showing love, to give thanks for life and for its blessings, and to ask Our
Lady to protect us beneath her maternal mantle." —Pope Francis,
Amoris Laetitia, no. 318
At the start of this
New Year, make a commitment to pray together as a family every day.
Cup of Wisdom
For Christmas my wonderful wife brought me three
coffee mugs on being 1) a man of courage 2) a man of strength and 3) a man of
wisdom. To be a person of wisdom there is no better model for us than that of
the Holy Family. Here is what is on the wisdom mug my wife gave me: Blessed is
the man who uses knowledge and experience to improve the well-being of others
who guides with respect and encourages with love. “Make me to know your
ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25: 4)
1st Day: Creation of light and its
separation from darkness
2nd Day: Creation of the firmament and
division of the waters
3rd Day: Collection of waters (sea) and
formation of dry land (earth); creation of plants according to their own
likeness
4th Day: Creation of heavenly bodies in
the firmament (sun, moon, and stars)
5th Day: Creation of sea creatures and
winged fowl from the waters
6th Day: Creation of cattle, creeping
things, and beasts from the dry land; creation of mankind, male and female
49 Godly Character Traits[6]
During this Christmas season let us take up the nature of God by
reflecting on these traits that make us a model for our children and our
sisters and brothers in Christ. Today reflect on:
Orderliness
vs. Disorganization
Preparing myself and my surroundings so I will achieve the greatest efficiency (I Corinthians 14:40)
1899 The
authority required by the moral order derives from God: "Let every person
be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from
God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who
resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist
will incur judgment."
1901
If
authority belongs to the order established by God, "the choice of the
political regime and the appointment of rulers are left to the free decision of
the citizens."
The diversity of political regimes is
morally acceptable, provided they serve the legitimate good of the communities
that adopt them. Regimes whose nature is contrary to the natural law, to the
public order, and to the fundamental rights of persons cannot achieve the
common good of the nations on which they have been imposed.
2385 Divorce is immoral also because it
introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings
grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of
their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect
which makes it truly a plague on society.
Daily Devotions
·
Devotion to the
Holy Face Day 5
[3]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-12-30
[6]http://graceonlinelibrary.org/home-family/christian-parenting/49-godly-character-qualities/
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