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 Feast of the Holy Family, Year A: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: Imitating the Virtues of the Holy Family

Reading: Sirach 3:2-6,12-14; Col 3:12-21; Mt 2:13-15,19-23

Dear brothers and sisters, today the Church celebrates the beauty of an institution established by God from the beginning of creation: the family. By placing this feast on the last Sunday of the year, the Church invites us to end the year as a family and to enter the new year united in love and peace as a family. For this reason, she presents to us the beautiful and holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—a family where love, peace, and unity reigned—so that we may learn from their virtues and avoid the vices that can destroy our own families. Indeed, if we desire to live together in love, peace, and unity, we must embrace the responsibilities that come with family life.

The second reading invites every member of the family to embrace compassion, kindness, humility, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love, and peace. It encourages us to correct one another with wisdom rather than anger, to speak with love, and to do everything in the name of Jesus. It also reminds wives to show respect to their husbands as the heads of their families, and husbands to love and protect their wives.

There are many beautiful lessons we can learn from Jesus, Mary, and Joseph if we want our families to reflect the virtues highlighted in today’s readings.

The life of Joseph offers important virtues for every husband. Joseph showed perfect love, devotion, and care for Mary, even in the most difficult circumstances. Recall that when he discovered that Mary was pregnant before they lived together, he did not seek to disgrace her; instead, he sought to protect her from shame. What does this teach us? It teaches that every husband should seek what is best for his wife, not merely what is best for himself or simply what the custom says. We live in a world where people sometimes take pleasure in shaming others—even their own spouses. This should never be found in a Christian home. Like Joseph, and as the second reading instructs, every husband must be a man of selfless love, tolerance, and care in all circumstances.

Joseph was also the protector of the Holy Family, especially in times of danger. He guided Mary and Jesus to Egypt and back to protect them from Herod’s massacre, as we heard in today’s Gospel. Dear friends, every husband is called to protect his family from all threats to life and to their peaceful existence.

Together with Mary, Joseph searched anxiously for Jesus when He was lost in the temple. In the same way, loving parents always seek their children when they are not where they should be. Good parents do not allow their children to be lost to harmful influences or destructive friendships.

The life of Mary also offers beautiful virtues for wives. Her silence and her faith in God were golden. She was a woman of deep faith who placed herself at the service of God and her family. Dear wives, silence is not weakness. We know that remaining calm when one is angry is difficult, but many marital conflicts are not resolved through harsh words. Many challenges are overcome through love, understanding, and patience. Peace rarely survives where there is constant noise and tension.

The peaceful home of the Holy Family shows us that Mary was a woman of peace and gentle speech. Every woman is called to be a bearer of peace, love, and care within her home. Mary was a caring mother, attentive to her family and close to her Son. Every mother is called to be a homemaker in the best sense of the word—one who creates a loving environment and knows the needs and struggles of her children.

Parents have the responsibility to build a home where peace, love, care, and tolerance flourish—a home where children can grow in security and joy. The second reading also advises parents not to provoke their children.

Marriage is an institution of love. Husbands and wives who truly love their families do not turn their homes into courtrooms where each person argues like a lawyer to justify their behaviour because, in a courtroom, every victory is a defeat for the one party, leaving incurable wounds. Instead, Christian families should resemble confessionals—places where each person is willing to admit faults, seek forgiveness, and grow.

Parents also have the duty to form their children not only academically but spiritually. Dear parents, teach your children faith in God, moral integrity, and good values, and they will become treasures to you. The family is the “Domestic Church”, the first place where children learn about God and morality. Therefore, families should pray together and listen to the Word of God daily, for a family that prays together stays together. As Proverbs 22:6 teaches, “Train your child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

And what about the children? Obedience is the duty every child owes to parents. Jesus Himself was obedient: He returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph after being found in the temple, and He obeyed Mary at the wedding feast of Cana, leading to His first miracle. Today’s first reading urges children to honour and obey their parents even when it is difficult. It promises that God will bless those who show reverence and compassion toward their fathers and mothers. This reading insists that through obedience, children atone for their sins, receive material blessings and long life, and are heard by God when they pray.

Let us pray that God will pour out His grace and blessings upon all families.

May your family be blessed. Amen

Fr. Isaac C. Chima