The Holy Family: A Triple Threat

I would suspect that when most people think about the Holy Family--if they think about it at all--they imagine a picture of perfect happiness, where there is no worry or suffering of any kind and where every day just turns out, well, perfectly. Yes, Jesus and Mary were completely sinless, and Joseph was a most chaste and righteous man. But, they still had their struggles. For example, we know that Mary and Joseph had quite a scare when, for three days, they had no clue where to find their son. Just imagine losing the Savior of the World!!

Lk 2:41-49 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; 43 and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company they went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; 47 and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously."

The movie The Nativity Story also gave me a better sense of the struggles that the Holy Family had to endure, at least in the beginning. These include public scorn, hunger, harsh environments and traveling conditions, a power-hungry and blood-thirsty king, a tyrannical government, and the pressures--and ultimately the suffering--that comes with the knowledge that your son is the Lamb of God who must be led to the slaughter in order to take away the sins of the world.

My point in emphasizing all of this is to show that the Holy Family can relate to the struggles that our families have to overcome every day. After all, a sword pierced Mary's heart also, so that the thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed (cf. Lk 2:35). If anyone knows what it is like to suffer, it is Jesus Christ. Joseph, the father of the Family, had always on his shoulders the task of protecting and ensuring the livelihood of this holiest of holy families. They know what it is to struggle both as individuals and as a family. More important still, they know how to overcome and how to survive.

Thus, they are great models for us of how to live as a family, and they are powerful intercessors when we struggle with family issues. If you suffer because of your mother, find solace in your spiritual mother. My words in an earlier post are very pertinent here:

[Mary] cares greatly for the entire Body of Christ, just as she cared for the literal body of Christ. Just as Sarah was the spiritual mother of the Jews (and of all who "do right", cf. 1 Pet 3:6), Mary is the spiritual mother of "those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus" (Rev 12:17). Her prayer for us will always be powerful because her will was always united with her Son's, and because "the prayer of the righteous availeth much" (Jas 5:16).

Mary will never let you down. She loves you with a wonderful, motherly love, and she will love you forever.

If you suffer because of your father, find solace in St. Joseph, Jesus' father in this world. St. Joseph will never forsake his fatherly duty. He is the patron saint and the protector of families. With his powerful intercession, he protects God's children, just like he protected God's Child. As Mary's most chaste spouse, he also teaches boys how to be men, and men how to be men too. Pray that St. Joseph will help your father to be the man that God would have him to be.

Of course, there is no intercession, no solace, no love, no source of strength, and courage, and hope like that of the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our Rock and our Salvation. In Him, we can do all things, overcome all things, be all things. Together, the mother, the father, and the Son are a triple threat against all who would dare threaten the integrity of the family.

For more on the Holy Family, see the following articles. I conclude with the words from a song about the Holy Family that we often sing at Mass.

Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary ... have mercy on us.
Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church ... pray for us.
Joseph, Protector of Families ... pray for us.

Pax Christi,
phatcatholic

- - - - - - - - - -

Articles:

• Liturgical Calendar: Feast of the Holy Family
• Holy Family Radiates Example of True Love
• Holy Family Teaches Us What Is Essential
• The Family at the Heart of a Culture of Life
• The Family for Families
• Mary and Joseph Lived Gift of Virginity
• The Holy Family as the Model for Contemporary Catholic Families
• The Holy Family: A Model for the Catholic Home
• Flight Into Egypt
• The World's Happiest Marriage
• What Makes a Marriage?: Consent, Consummation, and the Special Case of the Holy Family
• What Your Family Can Learn from the Holy Family
• Benedict XVI: General Address on the Feast of the Holy Family (12-28-08)

- - - - - - - - - -

Sing of Mary

Sing of Mary, pure and lowly, Virgin mothjer undefiled.
Sing of God's own Son most holy, Who became her little child.
Fairest child of fairest mother, God the Lord who came to earth;
Word made flesh, our very brother, Takes our nature by His birth.

Sing of Mary, pure and spotless, Born to bear the Holy Child;
Blest was she, to do God's bidding, Blessed, gentle, meek and mild.
Blessed, too, was good Saint Joseph, Foster father to the Lord;
Let us praise God's Holy Family Who brought forth God's Holy Word.

Sing of Mary, sing of Joseph, keepers of the wondrous Boy,
Called by God to high vocation, Sharing sorrow, sharing joy;
Sharing love, and by that loving in their home in Nazareth,
Forming One whose grace and glory suffered, died and conquered death.

Glory be to God the Father; Glory be to God the Son;
Glory be to God the Spirit; Glory to the Three in One.
From the blessed Virgin Mary, From Saint Joseph praise ascends,
And the Church the strain reechoes Unto earth's remotest ends.
- - - - -
Text: Vss. 1-2, Roland F. Palmer, SSJE, 1891-1985, © Estate of Roland Palmer. All rights reserved. Vs. 3, Herbert O'Driscoll, ©. Melody: Christian Lyre, 1830.