Today is the feast of the Holy Family. Where does its sanctity the family come from? While we can trace the history of the feast to the eighteenth century, the sanctity of the family comes from the fact that at creation God gave man and woman as companions to each other and gave them the gift of procreation. The family is God’s creation as much as human kind is. The family is as much in the image and likeness of God as human beings are. We know God as family, as community: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is the image of every family. Its sanctity also emerges from the fact that of all the innumerable ways God had to be incarnated in the world and in our lives, he chose the family. Jesus was born into a family and grew up in a family. By that choice God reiterates the sanctity of the human family.

Today's second reading gives us some practical ways to keep our families holy. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love -  these virtues are indispensible for any family. They are virtues for a community not an individual. If I was the only person living on the face of the earth, I would not need these virtues. Unfortunately, selfishness and self-centeredness, individualism and self- aggrandizement, while living in a family is the cause of families breaking up.

Our culture stresses freedom and independence. In themselves, they are positive values. But they are not monolithic. Freedom? No! Responsible freedom? Yes! Independence? No! Accountable independence? Yes! Unbridled and irresponsible freedom and independence makes of us self-seeking, self-pampering, self-justifying, uncaring, unforgiving, petulant and egoistic individuals. These values and family do not go together. It took a lot of selfless sacrifices for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to be a family. It took compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love to be the family they were. It is in prayer and sincere seeking of God’s will that we can develop virtues of heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love that keeps the family together.

Today. let us pray for our families and every family, especially those in need of help. Let us pray for those families that are broken. Let us also pray for the families that are doing well so that they may continue to become examples and models of faith.

- Fr. Satish Joseph