Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family “A”, 26 December 2010

Did the Holy Family have a happy Christmas? Well of course they did. Our Blessed Lady had the natural joy of any mother giving birth to her son, to which must be added the far greater supernatural joy she had in being mother of the Messiah, the Son of God. St. Joseph similarly rejoiced in this wonderful birth, and gladly took up his awesomely great mission, certain of the constant love and companionship of his blessed spouse. Jesus himself, from the purely human or baby point of view, on Christmas day entered a world dominated by the all encompassing love of his mother and foster father. So yes, each of them, and the Holy Family as a whole, certainly experienced great happiness on Christmas day.

Yet it would seem that by any normal standards their Christmas cannot have been happy. St. Luke tells us how the birth took place in conditions of abject poverty. St. Matthew for his part emphasises how, soon afterwards, the family had to flee for its life; to become refugees, in a land of exile; alone among strangers, cut off from home and friends, and ever in fear of a blood thirsty tyrant seeking the child’s life.

This year Christians in Iraq, already in deep mourning following recent killings, have been unable to celebrate Christmas in any way, for fear of provoking further attack. They are not unique in the world. Many other Christians have to live in fear, in poverty, in exile; discriminated against, persecuted, even killed, simply because of their faith. Can any of these be expected to have had yesterday a Happy Christmas?

Today we contemplate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and we are reminded of what is the ultimate source of all our happiness in this life. Certainly the natural blessings of a loving and united family should not be underestimated, and the holy family enjoyed them all, to the highest degree. In that they were rich indeed, and continue to offer themselves as model and inspiration for all families. But precisely as The unique Holy Family, they point to another dimension entirely. Their communion was not only with one another, but with God. That family was holy, because it was filled with God, directed towards God, blessed by God as no other could ever be. Wherever they were, there was also God’s Kingdom, his life - that is, divine and eternal life - and his light, and his love, ever communicating itself, ever pouring itself out. In a very real sense then, they already lived in heaven, anticipating already here on earth the bliss without end which God possesses and calls us all to share.

To underline that point, we might ask what sort of Christmas King Herod or Caesar Augustus might have had? Again the purely natural level should not be underestimated. The throne of political power is never a very comfortable place to sit. Even amid every physical luxury, there’s always the gnawing thirst for more power, more wealth, that can never be satisfied, and the ever present worry that what is possessed may be lost through treachery or open attack. But more deeply than that: one who has reached and retained his position by wading through blood cannot be in the grace of God; and in this sense cannot be truly happy. The same would apply to all whose lives set them in stark contrast with the holiness described in the Beatitudes: for example those engaged even now in intimidating the Christians in Iraq. A fanatic whose heart is filled with hatred, whose ideology has trained him to put aside all natural human compassion, cannot be in God’s friendship, cannot be open to God’s life and love: and so cannot truly be happy.

So as we gaze today at the scene of our crib, so peaceful, so silent, yet also so fragile, we consider how the little drama it portrays stands at the centre of all human history: how it is able to touch and sanctify in principle every single human life. Here we see God among us; received with love and veneration; communicating to all around his perfect holiness, his perfect happiness. In the eyes of the world these three are of no consequence whatever. In the eyes of God, in the sight of the angels, in the light of eternity, they are the truly significant ones on this earth. As for the tyrants, or the men of violence, or the mere worldlings indulging in every carnal excess: they are setting their course, unless they change it, towards eternal alienation, eternal frustration and misery.

All those, then, who share in whatever way in the qualities and characteristics of the Holy Family must be specially blessed by Jesus, Mary and Joseph. People like the Christians of Iraq may indeed be wretched, and it is for us to pray that they find whatever relief is possible. But they remind us also where our own focus should be: where our own happiness most deeply lies. If we have all material comforts, if all our earthly projects go well, and all our ambitions are satisfied - yet at cost of separation from Christ - then of all creatures we are most to be pitied. But if we have Christ: then even if all other things whatever are taken away, we are rich, blessed, happy, even now, beyond measure. May we all then rejoice this Christmastide in possession of Christ, in friendship with him: ever in union with his Immaculate Mother and St. Joseph. And may the Holy Family lead all whom we love, all who are in trouble, and all who have gone astray, to come at last to the fullness of joy in God that has no end.

Fr Benedict OSB