Feast of the Holy Family – Year B
First Reading (Gen. 15: 1-6; 21: 1-3) the God of wonders and miracles promises to the childless and aged Abraham an heir and many descendants.
Second Reading (Heb. 11: 8. 11-12. 17-19) the second reading stresses the faith of Abraham and Sarah, and the fulfillment of God’s promise in their lives.
Gospel (Lk 2: 22-40) the child Jesus is presented in the temple by his family, we also read in the Gospel a glimpse of Jesus’ life at Nazareth.
Homily
The feast of the nativity or Christmas is a family feast. We gather together as family. Close friends also do join us being part of the family. Let me ask a question: ‘with guests at your family Christmas dinner, would you feel comfortable to ask any of your children to say grace?’
One of the key concerns of a family is Prayer Life. A family that prays together is a family which is united. How can the family strengthen its prayer life? There are three settings in which the family can reinforce its prayer life.
First there is a Personal setting: in this setting, family members pray to God on their own. For example, a father can pray on his way to work, a mother can do the same or while cooking, she can pray. A boy or a girl child prays before going to bed or before starting school. This kind of prayer is called personal family prayer. It is highly recommended to keep the family together. There are many other several ways to pray alone with family in mind. Jesus often prayed alone for the family God gave him. That family is you and I. he prayed during his preaching ministry, he prayed in the garden and he always took time to go away alone early in the mornings to pray. One of the most precious gifts a parent can give to a child is to teach a child a personal prayer. The better way to do it is to teach by example.
The second family prayer setting is in a group: in this setting, the family members pray together. For example, to pray together at table at meal times. To pray together before going to bed, they pray together before going in a journey. Jesus prayed often with his family as was the custom of the Jews to pray together before meals. Reason why an ancient Jewish proverb says that whoever eats food without giving thanks to God steals from God. Jesus prayed often within the context of a meal. When he fed the crowd on the hillside, Jesus prayed (Lk 9: 16). At the last supper Jesus prayed (Lk 22: 19). He prayed with the two disciples at Emmaus (Lk 24: 30). Again, one of the precious gift a parent can give to a child is to pray in a group-family prayer.
The third and final setting is communal prayer setting: in this setting, the family gathers with other families to pray together. In the context of parish, we have what we call zones. In our different zones we gather every Wednesday evening to pray. This is one of the perfect communal prayer setting.
The feast of the Holy Family which we celebrate today invites us to ask ourselves about the quality of family prayer life. In particular, it invites to ask ourselves, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters - how do we contribute to the prayer life of our families?
