Homily for Holy Family Sunday Year C: What makes a family holy?

29 December 2024, Holy Family Sunday Year C What makes a family holy? On the Sunday after the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas, we consider the family. The heart of our parish is not this church. The heart of the universal church is not the Vatican. The heart of the church is the family. That is why we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family. What makes a family Holy? We are inclined just to dismiss the possibility that our families can be like the Holy Family. Being a holy family means being a family separate for the Lord. To be holy means to be set distinct from all that is not holy. So for our families to be holy we have to choose that which is often contrary to the choices made by other families. For example, we keep immoral material, shows, etc out of our houses because we ask God to dwell there. At the same time we, have to be very careful of where our children are visiting or staying overnight because other families might allow immorality into their homes, or, simply, not supervise their own children. Being a holy family demands that our homes be places of prayer. We come to Church on Sundays to be united to Christ in Word and Sacrament so that we can strengthen the union that takes place in our homes. Some families do this through the family rosary. Others have family prayer at bedtime. Most make it a point to have family prayer before meals. To the question what makes a Family Holy? Pope Francis tells us three things: The family prays, the family keeps the faith and the family experiences joy. He said this in the homily given during the Holy Mass for the Family Day on the Occasion of the Year of Faith in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, October 27, 2013. New technological gadgets like the TV and smartphones have become the great family killers of our time. Conviviality, dialogue and prayer have been relegated to the final positions. This can be measured by what Pope Francis calls the Family’s Thermometer. In fact at one of his General Audiences, Pope Francis insists that “If there is no talk at the table but everyone watches TV or their smartphone, then the family is ‘hardly a family’” He also insists on the issue of Conviviality as the reliable thermometer to measure the health of the relationships. He insists on the table as one of the points of putting the family together: “If there is something wrong in a family, or if there is a hidden wound, it soon becomes clear at table.” Consequently when the children at the table are attached to their computer, to the cell phone, and do not listen to each other, this is not a family; it is a boarding house.” We must strive to make our families Holy. The Holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was modeled on the practice of prayer, tenderness, love, patience, work and daily sacrifices. In the majority of cases, family problems have their roots in the fact that God has not been enthroned in the family. Family prayer is absent. It could be useful to say: the family that prays together stays together. We pray today, that all our families might be holy families.