Guardian of the Holy Family

 Matthew 2: 13-15

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Matthew 2:19-23

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

 We celebrate the feast of the Holy Family this year in a climate of disruption and turmoil, be it because of weather or of war, or the threat of war, not to mention the deterioration of of traditional family structure and values.  We certainly need to look at the Holy Family as a model to which we must return. Despite being "unsettled" by two dramatic moves: to and from Egypt, Joseph the true and model head of the family obeyed the directives he received from God, giving us the first principle of solid family life:  adherence to the will of God, or even better, OBEDIENCE to the will of God.  Secondly, trust in the providential care of God, no matter what hardships or disruptions we might be called to face:  illness, financial or health problems. Joseph sets the bar, obeys God and holds the family together. This is the day to  pray for and with our families and to renews our commitments to make our families HOLY families like that of Joseph and Mary.

Bro. Rene