My friends, again—“staying in the minds” of those being talked and written about in the Scriptures today, is really, I think, the place to be in order to fully understand, and appreciate what is being lifted up for us.
“Holy Family Sunday,” as a concept might be easier for some to understand, and appreciate, especially for those who are part of a very, loving family, and are just perhaps coming off a wonderful time of celebrating with that family. Or, on the other hand, this Sunday may be a hard concept for those who don’t come from such a family.

Sirach, in our first reading today, gives us several, basic ideas that should help us to be a family that “gets along” with each other and even can grow to love and cherish each other more—it’s a balance he seems to say wherein we respect, care, show compassion, mercy and love for each other, parents toward children, children toward parents, and so on. And is that always easy? No, we all know that it is not! But, it is worth the effort, those with experience, wisdom, and maturity would tell us.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, speaks of many wonderful traits, some of which I have already mentioned, caring for and respecting each other, but adds to these, heartfelt compassion, gentleness, humility, kindness, and patience. He also uplifts the ability to forgive each other when we are less than our best. But what seems to be the “crème de la crème,” of all these traits in dealing with others, is love—and Paul says, “Love is what binds the rest together.”

Paul continues in his letter to the Colossians, that we should, “dedicate [our] selves to thankfulness,” for all that we have, and perhaps realize the importance of that, rather than lamenting over what we don’t have. He also seems to make clear that our stance in the world really can’t be just about us, especially if we are in relationship with others —“those in relationships must be submissive to each other.” Many of you probably remember the old version of this reading, “Wives be submissive to your husbands,” and “husbands love your wives.”

In my mind, the husband who truly “loves his wife” wouldn’t expect her “to be submissive to him, without doing the same for her. The Priests for Equality, whose Scriptural translation that we use here, surely agreed as they uplifted, “submission” for both toward each other, as well as being cognizant of more than heterosexual relationships. In addition, in the PFE translation, this two-way street approach that Paul lifts up in the traditional top-down relationship between “parents and children,” really calls for a “balance” –children, obey those responsible for you” [but] “parents, don’t nag your children.”

In our gospel from Luke today, we are given a sense through the prophets, Simeon and Anna, in the temple, of just what life will be for the new parents, Joseph and Mary, as they embrace their roles in parenting Jesus. Simeon tells them that this child that came into their lives in a rather miraculous way, if we believe the story, will be, “the downfall and the rise of many…and that he will be rejected.”

Understandably, “they marveled,” at all that was being said about their baby! Anna talked about what she had seen that day to all who would listen. With regard to the words that Mary, Jesus’ mother heard from Simeon, it would be good for each of us to ponder this day—this week—“a sword will pierce your heart.”

For those who have had the privilege of raising children, or participated in this endeavor, emotionally, or spiritually, if not physically, know this to be true—there are ups and downs in this awesome task of raising a life that eventually will be good not only for oneself, but also be an asset to the world.

Now, we followers of Jesus can look at this story of his life from hindsight, knowing in fact, all that will come to Jesus’ “holy” family, and to himself. Mary and Joseph didn’t have that knowledge of what it would ultimately mean to parent this child, and bring his life to fruition.

So friends, for this reason, it is good to place ourselves in their minds and hearts, to make meaningful, these familiar words on the page. And as we think about it, we could say that for any of us beginning parenthood, we too didn’t know what was ahead of us.

It takes a great deal of faith to parent a child, not ever really knowing if all that you tried to do, the “tough love” and all would form the child into someone who would become an asset to themselves and their world.

Mary and Joseph’s job in parenting the little Jesus into adulthood couldn’t have always been easy—something that I think many of us faith-filled people never really thought about over the years of our religious lives. When one thinks of all that can happen in anyone’s lifetime, amid all the joy possible, it stands to reason that Mary and Joseph knew, as do present-day parents, how “a sword [could] pierce [their] heart[s] along the way.

The psalmist today in 128 gives us a clue as to how we, parents—whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or any combination of the three, can find the strength for what life may hold—“happy are those who revere our God—who walk in God’s way” —trusting in the “author of life” to give us the needed strength to live with, and overcome both the sad times, as well as the happy ones, makes all the difference, I would humbly suggest.

Friends, I would like to conclude these musings on what being a “holy family” was possibly all about, for Mary, Joseph and Jesus, as well as the families that any of us have attempted to build, by shining a bright light on the relationship that Mary and Joseph more than likely had, and the family that, as a result, they were able to build.

Scripture doesn’t give us many details, other than that “Mary pondered [so] much in her heart.” And given that, I think it is right and good that we go ahead and make some assumptions. If we go back to Paul’s words today in the 2nd reading from Colossians, that in attempting to live lives worthy of the gift of life, we put on love, “which binds all the [other good deeds] together,” we have a definite clue as to what that “original holy family” was no doubt about.

So, to begin with, Mary and Joseph had to have been in love with each other in order to give the human Jesus what he needed to then, eventually, give back so profoundly to his world as an adult. To quote a lovely and true line from, The Sound of Music, “nothing comes from nothing.” Mary and Joseph showed Jesus, “the way,” through daily, “loving actions,” so that he could eventually, show the rest of us, “the way.”

Theologically, we sometimes, as a Church get, “lost in the weeds,” proclaiming a “sexless” relationship between Mary and Joseph, who for too long, in the person of Joseph being presented as “a care-taker” husband devoid of any physical or expressed love toward Mary, or for that matter, she for him. Sadly, because the celibate men of our Church have for too long had a “troubled” relationship with their own sexual selves, they gave that same, “troubled” relationship to these two significant people of that first, “holy” family.

We need say no more, except to lift up the good that our God most likely intended by giving us sexual bodies and desires to express in a myriad of ways; as celibates, married, or in some way, committed relationships that are expressed in hetero or homosexual ways in order to give strength, support, and affection to each other, in our personal ups and downs. Having the particular type of support that each of us is called to in our lives, then opens us up for additional loving-centered acts in our greater world.

Perhaps a final thought on this Holy Family Sunday is to lift up to the light of day, what all the “loving” was really intended to do, in the end. So many people, in Jesus’ time, awaiting “The Messiah,” wanted an earthly being of strength to establish a “kingdom” that would put down their “enemies”—but the trouble with that, and why Jesus would ultimately be rejected in his own time and place, was the fact that he came to establish a “kin-dom,” as opposed to a “kingdom” which was not about “power-over,” but “power-for,” each of us. Amen? Amen!