St Ignatius Parish

The feast of the Holy Family on the last day of 2000 invited us to consider how this mystery of Christmas, where God chooses to become part us and of our world affects us in our family. At Christmas, we looked at the baby in the stable at Bethlehem, and we knew that the world was going to be a different place from then on. And the fact that this baby lives in a human reality of family, formed by the ordinary relationships that we are familiar with, somehow makes a difference to us in our most intimate and formative space.

We are used to looking at the family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus as the Holy Family, and we used to have a picture of this in our home somewhere, often above mum and dad’s bed. And that’s right, because its not so much that family as sacred, but that family points to the sacred in every family. It’s as if God wants to say to all of us that the reality of God is discovered within this family we belong to, beginning with the relationship of husband and wife, of the reality of mutual sacrifice which is so much part of our relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters. That relationship which becomes fertile and gives birth makes us partners of God’s creative power, not only because of the biological giving birth, but because of the spiritual values shared, of the culture passed on, of the sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves. To stop simply at the mechanics of it, whether physical or scientific, of the ability to create life in a laboratory, is somehow to belittle the deep mystery of this unique relationship of husband and wife as a unique expression of God’s love – expressed of course in a very human way.

This relationship of husband and wife, creating an environment for life, for the nurturing of life, seems to me to be the beginning of our journey towards God, not only for the married couple, but for the children that are born and nurtured in that union. It’s very sacred.

The figure of Mary (and Joseph), confused and perplexed, not understanding all these things, and pondering them, is very much indicative of our situation, of being confronted by a deep mystery we don’t understand, of emotions that run beyond our ability to control, of children who grow independent of us and what we are able to teach. We are told Mary contemplated all these things in her heart. It’s a life of faith that brings us to a reality of God beyond our control. Our faith too is very sacred.

Love God and love each other: two aspects of the great commandment. This is what the family is about, it’s where we begin to learn this. It’s what makes our family sacred.