1 Sam 1:11, 20-22,
24-28; 1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24; Lk 2:41-52
Two brothers were playing on the sandbanks by a
river. One ran after another up a large mound of sand. Unfortunately, the mound
was not solid, and their weight caused them to sink in quickly.
When the boys did not return home for dinner, the family and neighbours organized a search. They found the younger brother unconscious, with his head and shoulders sticking out above the sand. When they cleared the sand to his waist, he awakened. The searchers asked, "Where is your brother?"
The child replied, "I'm standing on his shoulders"
With the sacrifice of his own life, the older brother lifted the younger to safety. The tangible and sacrificial love of the older brother literally served as a foundation for the younger brother's life.
Years ago another brother was asked “Where is
your brother?" He asked back, “Am I the custodian of my
brother?" That is the story of the first family, the family of Adam, Eve,
Cain and Abel. The first family failed to hold themselves together. The family
that was broken at the inception requires to be united once again. That was
done in the Holy Family of Nazareth. St. Paul describes Jesus Christ's
willingness to be like the older brother to us: "In bringing many sons to
glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists,
should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering."
Dear brothers and sisters, all of us are part of
God's family. We are children of God. We are extension of the Family of
Nazareth.
The Holy Family was
a family with special graces but yet a family with trials.
We can imagine how
misunderstood both Mary and Joseph when Mary conceived through Holy Spirit. She
experienced the threat of divorce. Jesus was born in animal's shelter in
Bethlehem. The family had to flee to Egypt as refugees because Jesus' life was
in danger due to Herod. Mary Joseph suffered the awful experience of
losing Jesus for three days when he was twelve years old. They
experienced the pain of bereavement and separation through death. There
was growing hostility to Jesus by the Jewish authorities. The saddest
moment came when the mother watched her son die on the cross.
What kept the Holy Family together in spite of
these troubles is Love for each other and God, their willingness to accept one another, their
concern for each other. We never find them blaming each other. We never find
them justifying themselves and pushing the responsibility to others. Rather
they bore everything silently.
Jesus spent 30 of
his 33 earthly years in Nazareth. Some spiritual writers have called these the
'hidden years', because there is so little written about them in the Gospel
narratives. At this stage as a human child Jesus grew physically,
intellectually, emotionally and spiritually in preparation for the work
that lay ahead of him. In the holy habitation of Nazareth Jesus transformed
family life. In our own Christian family we can learn the way of selfless love
in the School of Nazareth.
In the whole of creation, human being is the most
vulnerable one at the point of birth. A calf can stand on its feet merely
30 minutes after its birth. The next day, it could be jumping and running
around all over the place. A duckling begins to swim on the same day it
is hatched. But the human baby so fragile and vulnerable. All these
details mean that we need the family. The human baby needs a group of
humans who will 'naturally' and 'instinctively' take care of it. The care
is physical, emotional, mental, moral and social growth. A baby should learn
from the family respect, sympathy, kindness, love, humility, gentleness,
patience, forgiveness, wisdom, and obedience.
It is important that
our families reflect on this occasion whether we are able to impart these
values to our children. It is a global phenomenon that the modern families are becoming
nuclear families. But the danger is that
children could be really pampered. They could be just allowed to do as
they please. Those who work in educational institutions with larger
number of young people in the classroom experience the challenge of it.
Everyone in the classroom is desperately seeking the teacher's
attention – often being restless and naughty. The right proportion of
freedom and responsibility; the right sense of being the focus of attention and
being alone; and giving access to all that a child needs and restraining from
all that the child wants, is a challenge today. It calls for a wise
decision to create a balanced ambient in our families.
Just as the holy family survived all its crises
through love for each other and faith in God, let us pray during this Mass that
our families will conquer all difficulties through love for each other and
faith in God.
Satish