Feast of the Holy Family

Friday, December 30, 2016 Holy Family 1st Reading: Sir 3:2-6,12-14 2nd
Reading: Col 3:12-21 Gospel: Matt. 2:13-15. 19-23

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)

Today’s feast of the Holy Family presents Jesus, Mary and Joseph as a fugitive family. An angel had warned Joseph in a dream that Herod was going to search for the child to destroy him. The Gospel tells us that he had to get up at night and take his family to Egypt away from the jurisdiction of Herod. What a selfless man Joseph was! Jesus was not even his child, for he was only a foster father. Yet he spared no strength in protecting the child.

Considering the machinery and stature of Herod, Joseph was a chicken. Yet he was able to defend the Son of God. How awesome to think that God should take refuge in the arms of a powerless man like Joseph. The family is safe, not always in the hands of a wealthy and powerful father but of a humble loving one.

This is an occasion for children to thank their fathers. Some children belittle their father for being poor and less gifted, and wish they were children of the more affluent ones. But secret are the hardships of a father in keeping the family alive. Children will never know the sufferings of their fathers in trying to make both ends meet for the family.
Fathers, for their part can learn from St. Joseph. They only need to dream and receive guidance from above for the family to be safe. On this great feast of the Holy Family let us pray: God our Father may families in the modern world become agents of grace to the whole world. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.

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