HOMILY – Feast of the Holy Family 2025

                                              ___________________________

If you want to know what a family truly is, don’t look at a picture frame — look at a suitcase.

A family is revealed not when everything is neatly arranged, but when you are forced to pack quickly, leave behind all the things you love, and trust God on the road ahead.

That is where today’s Gospel places the Holy Family — not in a quiet living room with soft light, but fleeing into Egypt in the dark of night.

(Tonight/Today) we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family — Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

And it is tempting to turn them into a stained-glass ideal: calm, perfectly ordered, untouched by fear or conflict. But the Word of God refuses to let us romanticize them.

Instead, Scripture shows us a family under pressure.

Herod wants the Child dead. Joseph has dreams not of peace but of warning. Mary carries in her arms the Savior of the world while crossing borders as a refugee. Jesus begins his life NOT in safety, but in exile.

The Holy Family is holy NOT because life was easy, but because love endured.

First, Sirach reminds us that Holiness Begins at Home.

The first reading from Sirach grounds holiness in ordinary family relationships — especially honoring parents:

“Whoever honors his father atones for sins… Whoever reveres his mother stores up riches.”

This is not sentimental advice. Sirach speaks honestly about aging, weakness, and patience:

“Even if his mind fails, be considerate of him; revile him not in the fullness of your strength.”

In other words, love is proven when it costs something.

Family life is where we learn our first language of love — or our first language of wounds.

And Sirach reminds us that reverence within the family is not optional; it is sacred work. How we treat one another at home shapes how we understand God Himself.

The Holy Family lived this reverence daily. Jesus, though Son of the Most High, obeyed Mary and Joseph. God placed Himself under human authority. That alone should stop us in our tracks.

Second, Colossians introduces us to The Clothing of Christian Families.

St. Paul, in Colossians, tells us what the Christian household should wear:

“Put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

Notice: these are not feelings. They are choices. Clothing is something you deliberately put on each day.

Paul knows that family life can strip us bare — expose our selfishness, our tempers, our impatience. So, he tells us to dress differently:

“Bear with one another and forgive one another… and over all these put on love.”

The Holy Family did not survive fear, displacement, and uncertainty by perfect communication or flawless planning. They survived because love governed their decisions — and because the peace of Christ ruled their hearts.

And Paul gives us the key to unity:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

Not scrolling endlessly. Not noise without rest. But the Word — spoken, prayed, sung, lived.

Lastly, the Gospel shows us Holiness on the Run.

Matthew’s Gospel today is striking for what it doesn’t include. No words from Mary. No dialogue from Jesus. Only Joseph acting — quietly, obediently, decisively.

Joseph dreams, listens, and moves.

He does not argue with God. He does not ask for guarantees. He protects his family by trusting God more than his own comfort.

This is holiness in action.

The Holy Family shows us that God’s Will does not always lead us into predictability, but it always leads us into life. Egypt, Nazareth, uncertainty — none of it is wasted. God is forming His Son in the midst of family life, hardship, and hiddenness.

And here is the quiet miracle: salvation grows in ordinary faithfulness.

So, What Does This Means for Us?

The Feast of the Holy Family is not meant to make us feel inadequate. It is meant to remind us that holiness is possible right where we are:

• In imperfect marriages
• In strained parent-child relationships
• In grief, illness, distance, and disappointment

Your family does not have to be flawless to be faithful. Like the Holy Family, your home can be a place where:

• Forgiveness is practiced more than blame
• Prayer is imperfect but sincere
• Love shows up even when it is tired

God does not wait for ideal conditions. He is born into real families.

And our real families are where our holiness comes from.

I remember struggling during formation to become a deacon.

The question I asked of God over and over again in prayer, “Is this where you are really calling me to serve?” So many other classmates are much holier than me.

The answer came in my final year before ordination.

In the fall of 2011, I sat at the bedside of my dying mother-in-law, in the final hour of her life, praying the Prayers for the Dying with her. Her end came suddenly, and I was the only person with her that day.

As she died, I realized it was the first time I had personally witnessed death. The day was October 4^th, feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, one of my favorite deacons in the Church.

In that moment, I realized that the first time I had witness a life being born was our first son, born on the feast day of one of the first seven deacons and the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, on December 26^th. Our son turned 35 on Friday.

From my own holy family, came an answer from God, I was to be a deacon. It was the will of the Father. (PAUSE)

And remember the suitcase?

Holiness is not framed on the wall — it is carried on the journey. It is found in patience learned over time, forgiveness chosen again and again and again, and trust that God is present even when the road turns unexpectedly.

Today we ask the Holy Family NOT to make our families perfect — but to make them faithful.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us and our families.