Last week I was visiting a 97-year-old woman in a nursing home and her daughter was with her.  The mother spoke about how, as she was now older, the roles were reversed.  Because of the frailty of old age her daughter now assumed many of the roles that the mother had.  We kidded around saying, "Be kind to people on your way up because you meet them on the way down." This experience made the first reading for today’s feast very real.  The reading comes from the Old Testament book of Sirach and is one of the most inspiring and beautiful passages about family life: "My son take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.  Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten." In my own life I had the privilege and blessing of helping to care for my father as he was dying and under hospice care at home.  I often was moved by the thought that the very simple and basic things I was helping him to do he did for me when I was a child.  It was a wonderful opportunity to love my father in a unique way.  That is an experience that stays with me always.

Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family it is a great opportunity to look at our own families and to give thanks for the life and love we receive from them and bring to them.  We hear a lot today about the pressures on the modern family, but the foundation of any family is the love each person has for the other.  Other than the Holy Family we probably don’t have the experience of a family perfectly in harmony with one another and trusting in God totally and completely.  Even with the faith that Mary and Joseph had, they encountered many difficulties and problems.  The dilemma began when Joseph found that Mary was pregnant before they came together as husband and wife.  But because of his strong faith he believed the message of the angel in a dream that the child in Mary’s womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  In today’s gospel we see Joseph again responding to divine communication and taking Mary and the newborn Jesus to Egypt to protect him from the wrath of Herod.  When he returns to Israel he avoids another harsh ruler who could have continued the evil ways of his father Herod and settles in Nazareth.  Joseph does what any parent would do: he protects, shelters and is a refuge and strength to those God has entrusted to him. One of the questions I ask couples who come in to arrange their weddings is whether or not they go to Sunday Mass.  When they say that they don’t, I encourage them to do so.  I tell them that as they seek to love each other to the best of their ability, they can love in no better way than how God has loved us in Jesus.  Jesus humbled himself and became human and lived among us.  He gave his life on the cross so

our sins would be forgiven and we could be one with God. That is pure, unconditional love.  It is that same Jesus that becomes part of our very being every time we come to Mass and receive him in Holy Communion.  If we want to love to the best of our ability and desire, we have no better model or source of nourishment than Jesus.  Staying away from Sunday Mass and the Eucharist deprives us of the life and love of God and deprives our families of the fullness of love we are only capable of with the loving presence of Jesus. 

I thank all who are part of our parish family.  We are far from perfect, but we are a great source of encouragement, inspiration and love for one another.  All who were involved made our Christmas celebrations experiences and expressions of joy and gratitude.  Together as people of faith we do what none of us could ever do by ourselves.  How good it is that we are part of God’s family, the Church.  The foundation of the Church is Jesus and the domestic churches in our homes, our families.  May our parish family and all the families in our parish grow in their knowledge and love of God and one another during this holy season and everyday of the new year.  I encourage everyone to take some time to read the second reading from Colossians 3:12-17 from today’s Mass.  The more we can live out what St. Paul says, the holier, healthier and happier our families will be.

Father Walden