Today is the feast of the Holy Family. It is also the last Sunday of 2025.
I hope you had a good Christmas.
This year we have stories about St. Joseph on two consecutive Sundays. As was the case last week his faith and willingness to act decisively are on display. He is a great role model for all of us, especially for men.
Since I wrote about St. Joseph last week I want to comment on something else that came up in my men’s prayer group this week. Someone commented about the way Matthew mentions that certain things happen in order to fulfill prophesy. For example, in today’s Gospel we hear twice that something happened so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled.
In those cases we should remember that God exists outside of time and sees the future as well as the past. While God may arrange things so that prophesy will be fulfilled, even as He is accomplishing other things, mortal man isn’t really in a position to do that. We should not think that a man, even a man like St. Joseph, is doing things in order to fulfill prophesy. Joseph was trying to save the life of his stepson, Jesus, and to protect his family. To think otherwise is to assign too much to human beings, even special ones like Joseph and Mary.
Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience and was referencing the fulfillment of prophesy, just as he did in writing the genealogy of Jesus, in order to provide that audience with evidence that Jesus was/is the awaited Messiah.
Finally, today’s feast of the Holy Family isn’t just about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, it’s about our families too. We are called to become holy and to help those we love to do the same. The Holy Family is the model for us to follow in our various roles. As we live out our lives building up the Kingdom Jesus established, we are to begin doing that in our own homes and with our own families. I know many families, here and in Springfield, who are also excellent role models for others. If you think about it I bet you know families like that too. We should pray for them and for ourselves that we can become holy in our families and serve as an example for others.
One last thing. I received an email today (Saturday) from Word on Fire offering free access to the Catholicism video series online. I’m not sure if there are any strings attached but here’s the link if you want to check it out: Free Screening – Catholicism
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
As Fr. Jeff might say I hope you have a healthy, happy, and holy New Year.
Peace, Bob
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