The Holy Family – A model for our times
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATES the mystery of the Word made flesh, God becoming man to make clear the prominence mankind’s existence in God’s Divine order.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights an interplay between a first Adam and a second Adam. The first Adam was created and stamped with the image of God as the origin of mankind. Accordingly, the Book of Wisdom (2:23-24) confirms that mankind was created to be immortal, but became subject to death because the first Adam yielded to the trap of the Devil’s envy. In order not to lose what He created and stamped in His own image, God The Son, Jesus Christ, in the role of the second Adam and through an act of redemption, restored mankind to whom we were predestined to be according to the Divine plan.
Thus, St Paul (1 Cor 15:45-50, 53) states, “So the first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; and the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. But first came the natural body, not the spiritual one; that came only afterwards. The first man, being made of earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. The earthly man is the pattern for earthly people, the heavenly man for heavenly ones. And as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly one. What I am saying, brothers, is that mere human nature cannot inherit the kingdom of God: what is perishable cannot inherit what is imperishable ... because this perishable nature of ours must put on imperishability, this mortal nature must put on immortality.”
Therefore, in the midst of all the December festivities, may each of us reflect that Christmas celebrates God’s commitment to restore of mankind’s immortality, a mark of human dignity. Thus, God becoming Man must motivate us to acknowledge the dignity of each person so that we work for justice and peace in our country and the world.
Merry Christmas!
THE FEAST of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in honour of Jesus, his mother, Mary, and his foster father, Joseph, as a family. It is celebrated on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, that is, the Sunday between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The primary purpose of this feast is to present the Holy Family as a model for families.
However, today, our society looks as if it is intent on destroying the family. Marriage is threatened by divorce and secularisation. Statistics show that divorce is not only common, but it is expected in almost half of today’s marriages as most persons are not committed to family life. Many children are raised without both parents in their lives and so discipline and their potential development are ruined by abuse or neglect as there is no father figure.
In our Jamaican society, the fathers are unknown as the mother is unsure as to who fathered her child as she has had multiple sexual
BURCHELL MCPHERSON
partners, with the hope that this time, this man would be the one who would stay around to assist with financial support for their ‘new’ child (children).
It is difficult to make a comparison between the Holy Family and families today. But reflecting on the roles of Mary as the mother, Joseph as the father, and Jesus as the child gives us a spiritual perspective that can shape our understanding of our roles in our families.
Our homes should be sanctuaries from the world. The more negative