December 30, 2016

Holy Family

December 30, 2016:  Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

See about a dozen connections with today?
Legend below
Listen
Read
  • Sir 3:2-6, 12-14  God sets parents over their children.  Honor your parents:  atone for sins, preserve yourself, store up riches, have your prayers heard, and live long.  Take care of your father; your kindness won't be forgotten.
  • Ps 128:1-5  "Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways."  You'll eat the fruit of your handiwork; your wife shall be like a fruitful vine and your children like olive plants around your table.
Wordle: Readings 12-29-13

  • Col 3:12-21 [quintessential "dress your life" reading]:  Put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with and forgive one another.  Put on love, and let Christ's peace control you.  Teach one another, singing with gratitude to God.  Do everything in Jesus' name, giving God thanks through him.  Wives, be subordinate to your husbands; husbands, love your wives and don't provoke your children; children, obey your parents.
  • Mt 2:13-15, 19-23  Angel to Joseph:  “Flee to Egypt; Herod wants to destroy your child.”  They departed.  When Herod died, angel told Joseph: “Go to Israel; those who sought the child’s life are dead.”  They went, but when he heard Herod's son was ruling, he was afraid, departed for Galilee, and went to Nazareth.
Reflect
    • Creighton:  Ways the Holy Family is like ours:
      • Jesus had to develop like a normal kid:  learning language, prayer, craft,...
      • There were more than three:  “brothers” (Jacob, Joseph, Jude, Simon) and “sisters”:   cousins?  Joseph’s children from an earlier marriage?  They would have lived in the same compound with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.  Joseph and Jesus' profession is tektōn (builder, craftsman); since wood was rare, they might have been stone workers.
      • They were a Jewish family:  they understood family as embedded in covenant community; they lived according to the Scriptures and practices of Israel.  Their relationships with others were as important as their relationship with God.
      • Jesus looked at his disciples as a new kind of family.  His disciples were a community deeper than blood. This group formed by faith was intimate kinship with Jesus.  Jesus’ human experience of family, and extended family, may have inspired him to use kinship language for what was to become the church.
    Vatican Council II calls the Christian family “the domestic church.”  If, for Jesus, the church is a family, then family can be understood as a kind of church.  We should make the church community a place of loving intimacy. The early church grew because they lived like a family who took care of one another.  Jesus’ years as part of the Holy Family were the seed of this way of living.  We're still learning....
      The Holy Family/ Gutierrez
      (More art)
    • One Bread, One Body:  "The family fights back":  The Christian family is being assaulted.  Fewer are surviving.  May this season be a time Christian families fight the culture of death.  May we be ministers of reconciliation and peacemakers, praying and sharing together. In obedience and unity is power against enemies of the family, today's Herods, and power to promote love and life....
    • Passionist:  Imagine yourself as the stable-master who let Mary and Joseph in.  Jesus is born angels sing, then a crowd pours in:  the hungry, the lonely, the poor, the anxious....  "When you welcome me, you welcome all who come with me?"  That stable is each of our hearts, and we're the stable-masters.  Jesus wants to make his home in our hearts.  We may need to clean up:  get rid of anger, lust, prejudice, selfishness and unforgiveness.  Our hearts expand, and all find a home.  The more we give love away, the more we have.  May the Holy Family be at home in us....
    • DailyScripture.net:  "An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream":  Joseph and Mary raised Jesus in the reverence and wisdom of the Lord.  Joseph is a man of God, praying, obedient, and willing to serve.  He recognized God's hand in the Incarnation.  He cares for his family diligently, setting aside his own plans when called.  God has a plan for each of us and gives us grace and guidance.  Do I trust him?  Will I  sacrifice my plans for his sake?
    Dress legend
    • 'Hearts' suspenders:  Put on love; love your wives; love one another; grateful hearts; let Christ's peace control your hearts; if our hearts don't condemn us, we have confidence in God (2nd reading)
    • 'Peace sign' tie bar:  Let Christ's peace control you (2nd reading)
    • 'Owl' tie pin:  Teach each other in wisdom (2nd reading)
    • Angel:  Angel speaking to Joseph (gospel)
    • Tie with grapes and other fruit:  Your wife will be like a fruitful vine; You who walk in the Lord's ways shall eat the fruit of your handiwork (psalm)
    • "Happy birthday, Jesus" pin:  Christmas season; do everything in Jesus' name (2nd reading)
    • Dressing today:  'Put on' compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (2nd reading)
    • '[Koala] bear' tie bar:  'Bear' with one another (2nd reading)
    • 'Treble clef' tie pin:  Sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (2nd reading)
    • White shirt:  Color of today's celebration
    Special blessings to and prayers for our Holy Family parish and school communities
    in Artesia, Glendale, South Pasadena, and Wilmington!

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