I must admit that I find the Church’s calendar rather odd at this time of year. Our Gospel reading for today, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, is as we’ve just heard, is the story of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt and it begins,
‘When the Magi had departed….’
and yet, in the Church’s calendar, the Magi haven’t even arrived yet. So it is, as I say, rather odd that we do things in this order. Nevertheless, this is the way the Church’s calendar is organised and so today we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family.
Speaking of families may draw our minds to something we hear quite a bit about these days and that is family values. In particular in recent years, we seem to have heard a lot about the decline in family values in our society. As the Church holds up the Holy Family as an example of how family life should be, it stands to reason that we should be able to see in the example of the Holy Family something of what these much-vaunted and much-lamented family values are. So what do we see in the example of Jesus, Mary and Joseph that can help us to see just what family values we should aspire to in our own family life?
The first thing we see is that, even before they were a family as such, Mary and Joseph were God fearing people. In the Gospel account of the Annunciation, and in the account of Joseph’s dream, we find that they were both people who were attentive to God and obedient to the will of God. What God asked of them wasn’t easy, in fact it was frightening, we know that because the angel told both of them not to be afraid. The easy thing to do for both of them would have been to say ‘No’, and perhaps in human terms that would have been the smart thing to do. But for God fearing people faith overrides other concerns and so for Mary and Jospeh, obeying God’s call was more important than any difficulties doing it might present. And so it should be for us too. For Christian people, listening for God’s call and obeying it when it comes should be a value at the very heart of our lives.
We also see in the example of the Holy Family that they were law-abiding people. We know that, later in life, Jesus said quite explicitly that he hadn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.
But we also need to remember that, when he was asked about the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar, his said that it was, but implied that God’s call on our lives is more important.
“…render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
But this is something we find in the Holy Family more widely. Mary knew the potential legal consequences of obeying God’s call but obeyed anyway. Joseph knew what the law said he should do in the circumstances but even before God’s call for him to marry Mary anyway, he’d decided to be merciful and not make a public example of Mary, in other words, not to have Mary stoned to death. And we should also remember that, in that case, Jospeh would have been required to cast the first stone. And of course, Mary and Jospeh undertook the journey to Bethlehem in obedience to the secular law. And so it should be for us too. We should be law-abiding but, where possible, merciful and lenient in dealing with others, even when the law is on our side. And obedience to God should always be our first priority.
The Gospels also tell us that Mary and Joseph were people who thought long and hard before they made a decision. Again in the story of Joseph’s dream we’re told that he was considering what to do when he received God’s call to take Mary as his wife. And we read a number of times that Mary stored things up, treasured them and pondered them in her heart. So Mary and Joseph were not people to make quick decisions, they didn’t fly-off-the handle when the unexpected happened, or when things didn’t go the way they wanted them to. They thought things through and, in light of their faith, came to good, and what proved to be the right decisions. And that’s a value we all need in our lives generally, but perhaps especially in our family lives because how many families have been torn apart by arguments that have got out of hand? When someone has taken offence at what another family member has done or said, reacted badly in the heat of the moment and caused a hurt that has never been healed?
We also know that the Holy Family stuck together in hard times. We see that in the story of Joseph’s dream, but we see it in a lot of the Gospel readings at this time of year. The journey to Bethlehem wouldn’t have been an easy one in the best of circumstances but it would have been especially difficult with Mary being an expectant mother.
Finding no room at the inn apart, we don’t know what struggles the Holy Family went through during their time in Bethlehem but according to the Gospel account of the Magi, it’s likely that they stayed in Bethlehem for some considerable time after Jesus was born, up to two years perhaps. So they were away from their home in Nazareth for a considerable time. Perhaps they’d decided to make a new home for themselves in Bethlehem and, as I’m sure many of us will know, moving home and especially relocating to a new area can be very stressful. And then, as we heard this morning, the family had to flee for their lives, leave Bethlehem and undertake another, longer and even more difficult journey, this time to Egypt, to save the life of their young son. We know that there were Jewish communities in Egypt at that time so the Holy Family might have been able to join one of those, but even so, the fact that they eventually decided to return home suggests that they perhaps never really settled in Egypt. And neither were they able to return to the life they’d made in Bethlehem because they were still afraid to return there. And so they went back to Nazareth. So the Holy Family didn’t have an easy time of it, especially in those first few years. But nevertheless they stuck together. And how precious a value would that be in these days when families and family life seems to fall apart under the pressures of modern life which, for all they are, can’t be any worse than the pressures the Holy Family faced.
And there was also, clearly, a deep love at work between the members of the Holy Family. We see this in so much of the story but perhaps where we see it most of all is in an unlikely place, in the story of the young Jesus teaching in the temple. I say this is an unlikely place because, to us, not knowing that your 12 year-old son wasn’t with you when we set off home from a journey would seem like unbelievable neglect. Finding him after 3 days and saying nothing more than,
“What have you done this for? We’ve been worried sick about you.”
might seems a quite mild response. No matter how happy and relieved we’d be to have found him, our initial response might be a clout round the ear hole, and something along the lines of,
“You stupid little so and so. We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Don’t you care what you’ve put us through? Well that’s the last time we ever trust you to go off by yourself again. Get a move on you selfish little…..”
And if we received a reply that amounted to,
“What’s your problem? You ought to have known what I’d be doing.”
Well, I’ll leave it to your imagination what our response to that might be!
On the surface, none of this sounds very loving but it does actually reveal a great deal of love if we look a little deeper. The first thing we have to notice is that St Luke, in whose Gospel we read this story, is quite specific that Jesus was 12 years-old. In other words, in the eyes of his faith community, he was an adult. Luke also tells us that the Holy Family were travelling in a group, so it’s not hard to understand why Mary and Jospeh would have simply thought that Jesus, who was now an adult after all, was with the group even if not directly with them. Obviously, when they realised he wasn’t with the group they set off to look for him, but when they found him, their response to the way he answered them reveals a lot about the Holy Family. Mary and Joseph didn’t understand what Jesus meant (and actually his response is better translated as “be about my Father’s business” rather than “be in my Father’s house.”) but nevertheless, Jesus
‘…went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.’
And I think this reveals so much about the Holy Family. The love and respect between Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The love of parents who allow their child to grow. The love and respect of a son who submits to the authority of his parents even though he knows they don’t really understand him or what he does. And how much are those values of love and respect needed in so many families today? But also that patient, thoughtful nature, of Mary in this case, wondering and trying to understand what all this means rather than making snap, hasty judgements based on feelings in the heat of the moment. And overarching all this, for all of them, working out God’s will and purpose for them.
Given the Gospel reading for the Feast of the Holy Family, it is a little odd that we celebrate it before the arrival of the Magi on the Feast of the Epiphany, but perhaps there’s a case for celebrating it even earlier, before Christmas. Christmas is a time of year when families do get together, and so many of them argue and fall out when they do. Perhaps a timely reminder of the values of the Holy Family might just make some of those arguments a little less likely.
Amen.
Propers for Holy Family Sunday, 28th December 2025
Entrance Antiphon
The shepherds went in haste,
and found Mary and Joseph and the Infant lying in a manger.
The Collect
O God, who were pleased to give us
the shining example of the Holy Family,
graciously grant that we may imitate them
in practicing the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity,
and so, in the joy of your house,
delight one day in eternal rewards.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Psalm 128:1-5
Colossians3:12-21
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
Prayer after Communion
Bring those you refresh with this heavenly Sacrament,
most merciful Father,
to imitate constantly the example of the Holy Family,
so that, after the trials of this world,
we may share their company for ever.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 