Sunday Meditation: Feast of the Holy Family

Merry Christmas.  Again!  It is still Christmas season, and how appropriate that the first Sunday after Christmas Day, the birth of our Lord and Savior, we celebrate the family through the invocation of the Holy Family.  I carry four religious medals on a chain on my chest, and one of them is that of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  Jesus is depicted as a boy and stands in front of His parents.  It must be alluding to today’s Gospel passage.

 

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast

of Passover,

and when he was twelve years old,

they went up according to festival custom.

After they had completed its days, as they were returning,

the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,

but his parents did not know it.

Thinking that he was in the caravan,

they journeyed for a day

and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,

but not finding him,

they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.

After three days they found him in the temple,

sitting in the midst of the teachers,

listening to them and asking them questions,

and all who heard him were astounded

at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him,

they were astonished,

and his mother said to him,

“Son, why have you done this to us?

Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”

And he said to them,

“Why were you looking for me?

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

But they did not understand what he said to them.

He went down with them and came to Nazareth,

and was obedient to them;

and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor

before God and man.

~Lk 2:41-52

 

Fr. Geoffrey Plant outdoes himself with explaining this passage.  It is outstanding.

That is the exegesis homily.  Now for the significance homily I want to provide this from Fr. Peter Marsalek of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, abbreviated as SOLT. 

I had not known of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity before.  I had seen SOLT, but I did not know what it stood for.  Their website says they were founded in 1958 and their stated charism is “Disciples of Jesus through Mary, living in Marian-Trinitarian communion, serving on ecclesial family teams in areas of deepest apostolic need.”  Headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas but founded by Fr. James Flanagan, within the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, SOLT includes priests, religious brothers and sisters, and even a lay association.  It sounds like a wonderful order.  Fr. Peter gave a great homily.

 

Sunday Meditation: “Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

 

For today’s hymn, I’m going to go off the beaten path to a song I have never heard, “Lord, I'm Amazed (The Holy Family Song).” The song was presented by Country House Media, and I have no clue who they are or whether they wrote and performed the song. 

 

It’s a really lovely song and they provide the lyrics for you at their channel:

 

Son of God, You became man

Born of a woman conceived without sin

Mary entrusted with hands full of grace

To hold our Messiah

Lord, I'm amazed.

 

Son of Man, come down from heaven

Given a father of highest honor

Joseph entrusted with hands full of faith

To teach how to labor

Lord, I'm amazed.

 

O, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

So pure and holy, image of love

A family entrusted with hearts set ablaze 

To guide us forever

Lord, I'm amazed.

 

They seem Catholic, but even that I’m not totally sure.  I love this little song!