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 Feast of the Holy Family (Year A)

Dec 29, 2019

1319

Listen Read

First Reading

A reading from the Book of Sirach (3:2-6, 12-14)

God sets a father in honor over His children; a mother's authority He confirmed over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.

My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins - a house raised in justice to you.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (128:1-2, 3, 4-5)

(R) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways.

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored. (R)

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table. (R)

Behold, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion: may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians (3:12-21)

Brothers and sisters: As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (2:13-15, 19-23)

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazarean.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A metaphor is a figure of speech which describes unfamiliar situations or ideas or concepts through the use of familiar objects. In other words, a metaphor is used to make a comparison between two different things which share some common characteristics. The Bible uses many metaphors to illustrate spiritual concepts. One of the most famous biblical metaphors is "The Lord is my shepherd." In this metaphor, God is compared to a shepherd who tends to and protects his flock.

Another metaphor found extensively in the Bible is "clothing" or "garments" representing man's standing before God. The pure, bright, white clothes symbolize a man's righteousness while soiled clothes and nakedness, or no clothing, represent a person's lack of righteousness. This metaphor applies to whoever wishes to have a relationship with God or to be received into God's presence, in that he or she must cover himself or herself with the robe of righteousness, Revelation (4:4; 7:9); Exodus (29:21); Leviticus (8:30); Numbers (19:7); Zechariah (3:3-5) and Matthew (22:1-14).

As a matter of fact, the use of the clothing metaphor goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve, after knowing that they had sinned, immediately felt ashamed of their nakedness and tried to hide from God by covering themselves with fig leaves sewed by their own hands, Genesis (3:7). Since they were not adequate to hide their nakedness and shame, God made garments of skin to clothe them; accordingly, this required the shedding of blood of an animal, Genesis (3:21). The animal was a symbolic precursor to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who would shed His blood to atone for man's sin. It is altogether evident that the introduction of clothing for mankind was a symbolic representation to cover up both the spiritual and physical nakedness of man.

Saint Paul has repeatedly used the same clothing metaphor in his letters to the early churches, including in the letter to the church in Colossae which was made up primarily of Gentile believers. At the time, the early Christians were facing several serious doctrinal and practical problems. One of the main issues was the centrality of the Lordship of Christ. So, in order to call the Christians to rid themselves of their old way of life and to live their lives in a manner worthy of Christ, Paul used the language of changing clothes: "putting off" one set of clothes in order to "put on" another set.

In the verses before today's text, He had urged them to "put off" or "put to death" all sexual sins, such as "sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed", all wrong attitudes and evil speech such as, "anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language", and the sin of deception, that is, the lie, Colossians (3:5; 3:8; 3:9). In other words, he wanted them to strip away from their lives everything that was not the attribute of God, so that they could put on a new self, the self that bore the image of God. In today's text, he describes what kind of spiritual clothing the followers of Jesus must put on deliberately. It should be noted here that for our reflection we take the short form of the second reading today, Colossians (3:12-17).

As we celebrate today the feast of Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we are reminded of Saint Paul's exhortation to Colossians about how we can build a family life that is truly founded upon Christian virtues. Let us, therefore, imagine that Paul is directly addressing us: "Brothers and sisters: as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another; if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also do", Colossians (3:12-13).

First of all, Paul's exhortation reminds us that we are the people specially chosen, and made holy and loved by God. In other words, we are men and women who have given ourselves over completely to become believers in Jesus Christ. And, therefore, St. Paul calls us to "put on":

Compassion - Compassion is described as a strong emotion coming from the bowels, meaning the emotion is so deep and forceful that it makes a person's stomach churn. In other words, it is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow that arise when you see someone suffering and that motivates you to alleviate that suffering. Jesus' whole life demonstrated compassion. Take, for example, when Jesus saw the people, He was moved with compassion for them because they were troubled and scattered like sheep that had no shepherd, Matthew (9:36) and Mark (6:34).

And then in his preaching, which is now known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus included "mercy" which is a reflection of compassion, as one of the godly characteristics of those who are part of the kingdom of heaven. He said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy", Matthew (5:7).Furthermore, in pardoning sins, healing the sick, listening to the cries of the hurting, and comforting the afflicted, Jesus showed the face of God's mercy, John (6:10-11); Matthew (26:6-7); Mark (10:49) and Luke (7:13, 18:38). One of the ways that we, Christ's followers, can display His righteousness is by having compassion for our children, parents, siblings and the elderly in our families, as Jesus did so for those who were around Him. Let us not forget that whoever shows mercy to others, will certainly receive mercy from God.
Kindness - Kindness is defined as the action that manifests the feeling of compassion. Nonetheless, one can feel compassion without acting on it and not all helpful acts are motivated by compassion. Kindness is not just about having positive thoughts and words but putting them into action. Kindness is doing and it can just be a smile or a gentle touch or a pat on the shoulder or a friendly word or an offer of help or a physical presence.

Throughout His earthly ministry, whenever moved by compassion, Jesus showed His kindness to others by laying His hands on the sick, touching the lepers which was unheard of during His time, letting the deaf and the blind feel His hands over their ears and eyes, Matthew (9:27-31; 20:29-34); Mark (8:22-26; 10:46-52) and John (9:1-7), feeding the hungry crowd, Matthew (14:13-21; 15:32) and Mark (6:30-42), forgiving the prostitutes and adulterers, Luke (7:36-50) and John (8:1-11), and dining with the tax collectors and sinners. Today, Paul calls us, together with the Colossians, to show small, simple acts of kindness to our friends and family members.
Humility - "Humility" comes from the Latin word humilis, which literally means low. Humility is the quality of having a modest opinion or low estimate of one's importance. In other words, humility means putting God and the interests of others before our own; it is the exact opposite of the worst of sins, pride. Throughout his life on earth, Jesus demonstrated a spirit of profound humility. He was the embodiment of God, yet, He identified Himself with us, human beings, John (1:14). He preached saying that he came "not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many", Matthew (20:28).

At the last supper with his disciples, Jesus took a towel and basin and washed their dirty feet, John (13:1-11). Jesus also often instructed the people to follow His example of servanthood with one another, John (13:12-17). He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross, Philippians (2:8). As Christians, we are also called to always keep our hearts on Christ's humility and follow His example.
Gentleness - Gentleness means restraining one's own strength and power toward others' weaknesses and limitations. It involves humility, politeness, consideration, the willingness to waive one's rights or suffer loss for the sake of a good cause and as well as, thankfulness towards God. Gentleness is also known as meekness. Jesus displayed His gentleness and meekness wonderfully in His interactions with people, and it is evident in the way he dealt with Nicodemus, the prominent teacher of the Old Testament, who came to see Jesus "at night", the Samaritan woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery, John (3:1-21; 4:1-26 and 9:1-11).

Furthermore, Jesus affirmed His gentleness when He said to his followers, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart", and the tremendous value of gentleness when he said that only the gentle would inherit the earth, Matthew (11:29 and 5:55). Paul desires that we may likewise cultivate a gentle and quiet spirit, and display it in our interaction with others, especially in our dealings with children, siblings, aging parents and grandparents.
Patience - The word "patience" literally means a "longsuffering". It is the art of enduring hardship, trial, persecution, opposition, ridicule, and insults from others without giving in to the temptation of anger and rage. Jesus repeatedly showed patience with his disciples who lacked faith, and those who accused Him of breaking the law on a Sabbath, the great multitudes that came to Him for healing, those who hurled insults at Him, Mark (4:40) and Matthew (8:26; 12:2; 15:29-31; 11:19 and 26:67) and so on. Paul urges us to have the same patience in all our sufferings and persecutions as Christ had.
Forbearance or Bearing with one another - The literal meaning of "forbearance" is "holding back" or "putting up with". It is the quality of being patient and being self-restraint under provocation and stress, especially when faced with the long-term hardships and, at the same time, being benevolent. Jesus showed extraordinary forbearance to His disciples on numerous occasions.

For example, on one occasion, Jesus warned His disciples "to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees". But the disciples completely misunderstood what Jesus meant, thinking that Jesus was angry with them for failing to bring bread for their next meal. After some questioning, Jesus rebuked His followers for their lack of faith and understanding and pointed to the miraculous feeding of five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, Matthew (16:6-12). Then the disciples understood that Jesus did not caution them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

On another occasion, immediately after the transfiguration, a frustrated father approached Jesus with a complaint that His disciples were unable to expel a demon from his son and wanted Jesus to heal him. After healing the boy, the disciples asked Jesus why they could not do it - after all, Jesus had already given them the power to cast out demons and cure illnesses. Jesus rebuked and blamed the disciples for their unbelief, Luke (9:37-43); Matthew (17:14-2) and Mark (9:14-29). Paul tells us that we must also develop the godly character of forbearance, show mercy to others, especially to our family members, while we wait for them to change, just as Jesus forbore His disciples.
Forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, you must also do, Colossians (3:13). Paul deliberately puts "offering forgiveness" as the last thing that we are to "clothe" ourselves with. In this instance, Paul is not talking about receiving forgiveness, but extending it to others. Forgiving does not mean condoning evil or injustices and unfairness but rather letting go of past grudges or lingering anger against others. For Jesus, forgiveness was of paramount importance. He often spoke about forgiveness, forgave those who sinned against others, forgave those who sinned against Him, forgave even those who crucified Him, whilst urged His disciples to pray daily for the ability to forgive, and offer gracious forgiveness to others, Luke (23:34); Matthew (6:12; 18:21-35). Just as Christ forgave others, Paul wants us to forgive our fellowmen.

Having given us these seven beautiful qualities, Paul exhorts us to wrap it all around with the bond of love. He writes, "And over all these, put on love, that is, the bond of perfection", Colossians (3:14). In other words, just as a belt or sash is used to hold together all other pieces of clothing, Paul means that love is the quality that binds together everything - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and forgiving. Love is like an overcoat where all of these qualities are wrapped up. Thus, Paul encourages us, the new creation in Christ, to make conscious and relentless efforts to emulate all of these eight qualities of Jesus Christ, as well as continually renew ourselves in knowledge and desire to be like Jesus Christ.

Paul further writes, "Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful", Colossians (3:15). Here, Paul adds two additional qualities for Christians to pursue. One is "the peace of Christ". By "the peace of Christ" Paul means not the temporary peace that the world gives or the peace in the sense of an absence of conflict or trouble but the permanent and eternal peace that Christ brought when He reconciled the people to God and to Himself as their Lord, through His death on the cross. Paul wants us to "let the peace of Christ control or rule our hearts". In other words, he wants us to make the peace of Christ the focus of our lives. Because as Christians we are called to live and gather in peace as one body, the Church, of which Christ is the Head.

Although the church here refers to the universal church, that is, all Christians everywhere throughout history and the local church, it can also apply to our own families and homes which are domestic churches. Accordingly, Christ as the Head of the Church is also the Head of each Christian family. On this occasion of the Feast of Holy Family, Paul's exhortation serves as a timely reminder that to have a peaceful Christian family, every member in the family has to believe and seek the peace of Christ. Likes, dislikes, preferences, interests, needs, values and opinions of each member might at times lead to conflicts between adults, between children and adults, or between siblings, but seeking peace will help resolve issues in the context of Christian love.

The second additional quality Paul tells the Christians to pursue is "thankfulness". Thankfulness is a central theme in the Bible. Over and over again, we hear God's command to be "thankful" for everything in all circumstances. However, Paul entreats us to be thankful not only for food and drinks, families and friends, money and wealth, and other material possessions, but also for calling us together as a body so that we may learn to "live in peace with everyone", Hebrews (12:44).

Furthermore, Paul writes, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God", Colossians (3:15-16). The word "dwell" means to "live in" or "to be at home". By this, what Paul wants to point out here is that the Word of Christ is the central means of growing in Christian qualities and in living them out. Through His Word, the Bible, God directs us in our relationships and activities and guides us in the ways of faith and worship. And Paul wants us to use God's Word and to grow by means of it, in two ways.

One way that we can let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly is through teaching, by means of narrating stories about Jesus Christ, stories such as those we now have in the Gospels and by admonishing one another on practical matters wisely. The other way we can let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly is through singing; the forms of singing should be a variety of song types - psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Thus, teaching and admonition can help us understand and obey the Word of Christ, whereas singing can help us experience and remember His Word.

Finally, Paul concludes by saying, "Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him", Colossians (3:17). It goes without saying that Paul wants "all things" except sinning, to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, which means to do all by the authority and command of Christ, to do all in the power and strength of Christ, to do all for the glory and honour of Christ, to do all after the pattern and example of Christ. In addition to following and imitating Christ, altogether in our thoughts, inclinations, words, and actions, Paul also encourages us to give thanks to God the Father through Christ which is, in fact, an act of worship and the proper response to God's goodness and steadfast love toward us in Christ.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

Content Options

to download the audio file Sign In » or Register ».
generate Google Translate Layout ».
share this homily via:

Top of Page

More Homilies this Month

Use the Prev or Next buttons to read or listen to the other homilies of the month.

« Prev The Nativity of the Lord (Year A) Next »