A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 9, n. 5)
Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph, Year A – December 26, 2010 *
“Family Life in the Lord”
BIBLE READINGS
Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 // Col 3:12-21 // Mt 2:13-15, 19-23
(N.B. Series 9 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year A from the perspective of the Second Reading. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 3. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 6.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
The birthday celebration of the Christ child naturally leads us to contemplate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as model of Christian families. Baby Jesus was born into a human family. Nourished and formed by his mother Mary and guardian Joseph, Jesus would grow and mature into the person the heavenly Father meant him to be. Part of the Christmas celebration is the inspiration it gives to give depth and meaning to family, the basic unit of society all over the world.
The readings of today’s feast reveal the virtues of family life that need to be cultivated and lived. They also underline the call to enhance the quality of family, which is the primary cell of the Church and civil society. In a world in which supporting institutions are rapidly deteriorating, the role of Christian family to mould sterling characters and to facilitate people living together in peace is urgent and vital. The best healing program for the world’s ills is a stable family marked with integrity and spirituality.
Pope Paul VII asserts: “The Christian family, therefore, must change more and more into a community of love, such as to make it possible to overcome, in faithfulness and harmony, the inevitable difficulties of everyday life; into a community of life, in order to give rise to, and cultivate joyfully, precious new existences in the image of God; into a community of grace, which will make the Lord Jesus Christ its own center of gravity and focal point, in such a way as to make the commitment of each one fruitful and to draw new vigor in daily progress.”
The Second Reading (Col 3:12-21) is a prescription for ideal relationship among Church members as well as an injunction to an orderly, harmonious family life. Taken from the section of Colossians which urges the members of the body of Christ, the Church, to live according to the values of the community, it encourages works of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and love in Christ’s name. In the faith community and in its individual members, the peace of Christ must reign. Moreover, they should be filled with praise and thanksgiving. In a Christian family, mutual affection, respect, responsibility and care must thus prevail.
Mary Ehle comments: “Showing affection and paying attention to the feelings and desires of its members is the responsibility of each in the family, who live their lives in Christ – wives, husbands and children. For Catholics, the household or family is the basic unit of the Church. Because of this, it is called the domestic Church. In this Church, the love between parents and among parents and children identifies the family as a household of faith that gives thanks to God.”
The liturgy of Christmas invites us to be thankful. In today’s passage from the Colossians, we see how this could be done: letting Christ’s word dwell in us, teaching with all wisdom according to apostolic understanding, admonishing one another, worshipping and singing to God with grateful hearts, doing everything in word and deed in the name of Christ Jesus. The biblical scholar Ivan Havener remarks: “Seen in this light, thanksgiving to God the Father through Christ becomes a whole way of life. Christian life is eucharist, that is, thanksgiving.”
The following is a Christmas family story to warm the heart (cf. Doris Bennett, “God’s Littlest Caroler” in COUNTRY, December/January 2010, p.24). It illustrates the grace-filled quality of a Christian home and how a “family life in the Lord” is filled with thanksgiving and joyful song.
Farms, ranches and orchards made the foothills of San Francisco’s South Bay a wonderful place to live, especially at Christmas. My three boys didn’t have snow or sleds, but they had hills to climb, fields for kite-flying and fresh country air.
In 1962, Christmas was special, as we’d just had a baby girl, Suzanne. Our youngest boy, Ricky, 5, spent hours just watching her. “Mom”, he’d say, “If she gets any more beauty-fuller, I’ll just die!” Every night, Ricky thanked God for sending Sue, saying she was “the best Christmas present in the whole wide world”. His heart overflowed with joy.
On Christmas Eve, we snuggled around the fireplace. I read The Night Before Christmas and we watched a holiday movie. I was answering Ricky’s question about caroling, explaining that people used to do this to spread the joy of Christmas, when his brothers started yelling: “It’s snowing! Everybody look! It’s snowing!” Our entire neighborhood was blanketed in white. The hills glowed in the moonlight. It was unbelievable. Snow, in sunny California! My boys jumped all over the yard, the excitement and wonder almost more than they could handle.
Suddenly, Ricky slammed through the front door, “Mommy, I just had a great idea!” he said. “I want to sing Christmas carols to God and our neighbors! Can I, Mommy? I have to sing carols to thank God for this great Christmas. He’ll hear me better outside, and I’ll stay just on our street!”
“But it’s dark and cold and I don’t want you wandering around alone”, I said. Billy, 11, and Louie, 8, had just come back inside. “Your brothers will go out and sing with you.”
“No way!” they yelled. “What if our friends see us?”
“No one will see you, because I want you to stay in our front yard”, I said. “God will hear you well enough from there. So hush up and bundle up.”
Ricky beamed with pride. Billy and Louie mumbled as they stomped out the door behind him, kicking imaginary rocks.
The three of them stood in the snow and the moonlight. Bundled up in coats, hats and gloves, they looked like figures in a Norman Rockwell painting – except that the two taller boys looked like they were facing a firing squad.
I was sure it’d be over after one lisping melody. Suddenly Ricky stepped forward, threw his little arms wide, tossed his head back, looked skyward and let ‘er rip. “Thy-a-lent night! Ho-oh-lee night!”
Sue jolted awake, screaming. Neighborhood dogs began yelping. Birds screeched and flew away. But never in my life have I heard a man or beast make purer sounds of love and joy. This little man made sure God heard every word he sang.
As Ricky belted out one Christmas carol after another, porch lights popped on up and down the block. One neighbor must have suspected mayhem, because a police car cruised slowly past our house. I expected Billy and Louie to trample each other fleeing the scene of the crime, but they didn’t. As a small crowd of smiling neighbors formed in front of our house, my heart swelled with pride. Billy and Louie were singing with their brother.
They faced the house, stocking caps down over their faces, coat collars pulled up high, hands cupped over their ears. They had no idea what was going on behind them – or that they were part of a wonderful Christmas none of us would ever forget.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
What is the connection between love of God and love of one’s parents? How do we show love, care and respect for our parents and for our children? What are the blessings given by God to those who honor their parents and care for their children?
What message do we glean from the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt and their eventual return to Israel? How strongly do we trust in divine providence and protection on our family?
How do we concretely exercise family life in the Lord? Do we put on the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love? Do we try to be mutually forgiving and allow the peace of Christ to reign in our hearts? How do we express our thankfulness to the Lord? How do we show mutual love, respect and service in family relationship?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving God,
we thank you for the gift of the Holy Family.
Inspired by the docile submission
of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to your saving plan,
we likewise put our trust in your providence and protection,
especially in trials and difficulties.
In union with Jesus Savior,
we are your “chosen ones” – holy and beloved.
Be with us and assist us
as we try to “put on” the virtues
of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and kindness.
Strengthen our faith community
and deepen family relationships by the bond of love.
Let the peace of Christ dwell in our hearts.
Teach us to be always thankful.
Let our praise and thanksgiving be expressed not only in joyful songs,
but also in word and deed.
Help us to do everything in the name of Jesus.
Deeply vulnerable to tides of fortune,
we turn to you for healing and grace,
for guidance and protection.
Transform our family
into a community of love, life and grace.
Let our family life reflect the beauty, dignity and grace
of the Holy Family of Jesus, Joseph and Mary.
By witnessing mutual love, respect and responsibility,
may Christian families be instruments of healing
for today’s fragmented humanity.
May they promote justice and peace, and the integrity of creation.
Together with the angels in heaven who sang at the Lord’s birth,
we joyfully proclaim:
“Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth!”
Assembly: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth!”
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (cf. Col 3:17)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that family life may always be lived in the Lord and that the Christian family may truly be a community of love, life and grace. Do something kind and “nice” for members of your family and/or community today.
ACTION PLAN: That we may experience deeply the blessings of family life, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year A, vol. 7, # 5).
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US