Every year, on the first Sunday following Christmas, the Church celebrates the beautiful feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The purpose of this beautiful feast is to remind each and every one of us that the most important place where we are to encounter God’s love for us is within the family. Like all of us, Jesus was born into a human family so that we might all be reminded that it is first and foremost within the family that we are to make Christ’s love present to our brothers and sisters and where we are to encounter the love and acceptance that we all desire and long to know. This beautiful feast is to remind all of us that every family—mine and yours—is a sacred place where God’s love is to be encountered. Continue reading →

“Though He was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped at, rather He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”  Philippians 2:6-7

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Powerful rulers brought chaos and darkness to the earth. The times were very uncertain. Human life seemed of little value. The Holy Family had arrived in a place where they were not wanted and there was no place for the child to be born. King Herod, the local ruler at the time, was an arrogant, narcissistic man, who seemed to change his mind at every turn. He was so unstable, everyone feared him. Herod was so paranoid, that shortly after the birth of the child, Joseph and Mary had to flee their native country as refugees, afraid that the child would be put to death. At the time of the child’s birth, the country was inhabited by a foreign power. The Roman Emperor, living so far away, ordered a census that made the family homeless and sent them off on a journey that was beyond their control. Continue reading →

This past week, as part of my preparations for Advent, I re-watched a movie that came out a few years ago called The Star. In a way that is strangely accurate for a Hollywood movie, it tells the story of the first coming of Christ. The movie begins with the Annunciation by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, when she receives the news that she will be the Virgin Mother of the Christ child. It presents how difficult it was for Mary and Joseph to understand the task that had been entrusted to them to be mother and guardian of the Messiah and the extremely difficult circumstances that they undergo as the Christ child is born. As Mary and Joseph are forced to leave their home of Nazareth and go to Bethlehem to register for the census that has been called for by Caesar Augustus, we see that even for the Holy Family, life at times was very difficult. The movie also presents the story of the three Magi and the jealousy that King Herod had when he heard that a new king was to be born in his territory. He sent out soldiers to destroy the child and prevent him from reigning within his kingdom. The movie tells of the many shepherds and animals that are led to the simple birth place of the Messiah by a great star that lights up the skies and a heavenly choir. Continue reading →