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We celebrate Holy Family Sunday on December 30 between Christmas and the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.
Holy Family Sunday reminds us that the infant Jesus was raised in a family. Under Mary and Joseph’s guidance, in his human nature, Jesus grew in wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.
Colleen Townsend Evans, a devout Christian, listened to Mother Teresa give a talk. She was so impressed that she asked, “Mother, how can we help you?” She would have given anything to assist her: money, food, volunteers, prayers. Mother Teresa replied simply, “Love your family.”
There is an urgent need to do what Mother Teresa suggested, because today’s families often face many challenges: divorce, anti-child propaganda, and the pan-sexualism of our age which tends to separate sex from marriage and true love.
Faith begins and is nourished in the family. In no. 2252 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it says, “Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children in the faith, prayer, and all the virtues.”
Good families are schools of love where parents love each other in Christ-like ways. Parents lay down their lives for each other and their children. They teach their children to love. Like St. Francis, they often teach best not by words, but by good example.
On Holy Family Sunday, we can ask Jesus, Mary, and Joseph to help us to love our family and others in good and bad times. We can worship God as a family and give each member the gift of respect.
May the love we have for our family spill over into love for others, especially the unwanted, lonely, poor, abandoned, and exploited. We pray that when we die, God in his merciful love, will gift us with eternal love in heaven. There we hope to join Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the angels, saints, family, friends, and countless others.
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.