Contact
About me
HOMILIES
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
HOMILIES ARCHIVE
HOMILIES
Dear Audience,For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Year C)
2076
24
0First Reading
A reading from the first Book of Samuel (1:20-22, 24-28)
In those days Hannah conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the Lord for him. The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, "Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and to remain there forever; I will offer him as a perpetual nazirite."
Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the temple of the Lord in Shiloh. After the boy's father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said: "Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. Now I in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord." Hannah left Samuel there.
(P) The word of the Lord.(R) Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms of David (84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10)
(R) Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (R)
Happy are they who dwell in your house! Continually they praise you. Happy the men whose strength you are! Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage. (R)
O Lord of hosts, hear our prayer; hearken, O God of Jacob! O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of your anointed. (R)
Second Reading
A reading from the first Letter of Saint John (3:1-2, 21-24)
Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. And so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be had not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.
(P) The word of the Lord.(R) Thanks be to God.
Gospel
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (2:41-52)
Each year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astounded, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety." And he said to them, "Why are you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.
(P) The Gospel of the Lord.(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily
A group of friends were in a bar for a special celebration. During the conversation, one of them said, "You know, my wife is the most beautiful woman in the world". Others were a bit amused to hear him say that because many of them knew his wife and had heard he himself say in the past that she was not beautiful. So they said, "Hey what has got into you? You are probably just drunk to say something you don't mean. Has she been chosen Miss World?" He replied, "She has not been chosen Miss World. She told me herself. You know! I am a faithful husband. Whatever she says I believe. She said that she is the most beautiful woman in the world, and I said, "You are perfectly right; I will go and tell my friends.""
It is nice to be acknowledged and appreciated as being pretty, cute, handsome, beautiful, charming, attractive, smart, intelligent and so on. But becoming a true and beautiful child of God is the most important thing that can ever happen to us.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I believe they are called the "Holy Family" not just because Jesus, who is divine, was born into a human family but because all three of them lived a holy life. Even though Jesus was at the center of this family, as a child of God, He and His parents together belonged to God's family. Hence each of them lived up to their roles and God's expectations of them as a family. They became true children of God by their obedience to His will.
In one sense it is true that we are all children of God, in that we are created by Him and made in His image, according to His likeness, Genesis (1:26). Of course, from the beginning of creation God wanted us to be part of His family and not part of the kingdom of Satan. He does not want us to have any association with demons and devils. However, Adam and Eve rather than remaining as children of God by being obedient, became the children of disobedience and the devil. As children of Adam, we have all inherited Adam's sinful nature. But God does not want us to sin and suffer. So, to redeem us from our own sins and the sin of Adam, God gives Himself to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the greatest gift of God. He gives us Jesus Christ to live in us, so we could and would live like children of God.
Saint John in today's second reading (3:1-2, 21-24) reminds us, "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God." Sadly most of the human race does not have any idea what it means to be a child of God or how to become a child of God. As a result, we are missing out on the promises of God. To become a child of God, the Bible clearly states that we must receive Jesus and believe in His name and obey His commandments. Yes. To see if we are worthy to receive this awesome gift from God - to become His child and be part of His family - God searches our hearts for our intents, thoughts, words and actions. In the very opening words of his Gospel (1:1-18), which we read on Christmas day, John affirms boldly, "He (That is, God in the person of Jesus) came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God."
Yes. God gives us the power to become His children only when He is sure of our love for and acceptance of Him. God does not accept, anyone who may decide he or she no longer needs to obey Him and who may choose to go his or her own way, into His family. In order to belong to His family, God wants to see us take on His perfect, holy and righteous character. But to many of us, becoming like God perhaps seems to be out of our reach, completely impossible. Yet that is what God wants and expects of us. Though we might worry that it is impossible for us to grow into God's character in every way - in thought, word and deed - Matthew in his gospel (19:26) encourages us to trust in the words of Jesus who said, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Therefore, if we surrender ourselves to God, unconditionally and completely, and adopt His way in everything, He will work His will in us. The Psalmist echoes the same when he says, "Stay quiet before Yahweh, wait longingly for Him." (Psalm 37:7) John, in today's second reading (3:1-2, 21-24) does assert that "we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
As we celebrate the great feast of the Holy Family, just a few days after the celebration of God's miraculous birth among us, the most beautiful thing we can think of is what I can give to God. When we love someone with all our heart, we would like to show our love for them by giving them the best gift that we can give them. So too if we truly love God and appreciate all the great things He has done for us, including the greatest gift of all - His Son Jesus Christ - then the gift that will please Him the most is, the gift of myself and ourselves.
That is, welcome Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our Life. Accept God's gift of Himself and thank God for it. Like Jesus, Mary and Joseph, let us do everything that we can to become a true and faithful child of God. When we live up to God's expectations in accordance with the scriptures in our own homes, our families also can be "holy families." Being a "holy family" means that we, each of us as God's child, must try to lovingly and faithfully obey the voice of God. "And if we are children", as Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (3:17), "We are heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, provided that we share his suffering, so as to share his glory."
(P) Amen.God Bless You!
Content Options
to download the audio file Sign In » or
Register ».
generate Google Translate Layout ».
share this homily via:
More Homilies this Month
Use the Prev or Next buttons to read or listen to the other homilies of the month.