Thank you.
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In
light of today’s Scriptures, I would not use this occasion to speak of the Holy
Family as a model of perfection or suggest that we simply imitate them. We must
avoid sentimentality. This "holy family" is on the run, its life threatened –
particularly the life of the innocent child. While our sanctuary still holds
tranquil Christmas mangers, the quiet, romantic image can mislead us. A week
after Christmas, the child must be cared for in exile. In Egypt, the family
becomes a refugee family. This passage invites reflection on the contemporary
reality of family life in our own country: the vulnerable must be protected;
many live in exile or under threat, facing powerful forces. In particular, many
poor families are under siege. Let us first look at the reading itself and then
consider a contemporary reflection.
Matthew’s Gospel
presents a deliberate echo of the Exodus. The chosen people were once exiles in
Egypt, led out by Moses. Matthew portrays Jesus as the New Moses, leading his
people out of Egypt – or, metaphorically, out of whatever exile (sin,
oppression, alienation) we find ourselves in. From the beginning, Matthew
emphasizes that God is actively delivering the people. And it is a "people" whom
God delivers – we are saved in community. God enters our human situation, even
accompanying us into places where we feel "away from home."
This is a story of
a poor, indistinguishable family facing the power of forces beyond their
control. In taking this family into exile, God stands in solidarity with all the
poor and displaced. As the year ends with a focus on the family, perhaps the new
year will help us become more "family conscious" and "family friendly." Perhaps
we will see ourselves as a community, connected to one another through our
parent God. This awareness calls us to care especially for the most vulnerable
members of the human family.
To mark the tenth
anniversary of their pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All, the bishops
issued a new message. They acknowledged that we have a remarkably strong and
creative economy, yet too little of its growth reaches everyone. They described
three "nations" or "families" living side by side:
The prospering, who
drive the new information economy and are doing well economically.
The squeezed, whose
real income is declining, leaving them uncertain about providing for their
children.
The discouraged and
despairing, an underclass whose children grow up in deep poverty.
The bishops remind
us that we are called to be a people of faith, not competing classes; brothers
and sisters, not economic statistics. Today’s feast brings this lesson home: the
newborn Savior was born away from home and had to flee into exile. This feast
sensitizes us to the families among us who live in exile today.
The bishops saw the
parish as an ideal place to promote the common good and contribute to a more
just and compassionate world. They encouraged participation in public life,
fostering respect for the dignity of every person. Parishes educate the faithful
about Church teaching, their responsibilities, and the need to measure public
policy against Gospel values. They call for speaking out with courage, skill,
and concern on public issues affecting human rights, social justice, and the
life of the Church. One guiding principle underlies all this: the "call to
family and community."
Pope Leo has
written about migrants, noting that migration is part of the history of God’s
people (as in the flight of Mary and Joseph), and that the Church "has always
recognized in migrants a living presence of the Lord." In his apostolic
exhortation Dilexi te ("I Have Loved You"), he writes:
"The Church, like a
mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she
sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges. She knows that her
proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures
of closeness and welcome. And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is
Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community."
Click here for a link
to this Sunday’s readings: