Mt2:13-5, 19-23
Dear Friends. The fundamental message of our Christmas Season is that “the Word was made flesh” (Jn 1:14). The emphasis is not the baby story of Jesus. It is about the humanity unveiling the divinity, about grace and love entering a sinful world. The paradoxes of the Gospel penetrate the infancy narratives of Luke and Matthew. The divine becoming human exposes the incessant pull of birth and death, innocence and suffering. This is the light and the way to our journey in our search for God.
The stuff of every family, regardless of the vast cultural differences of the relations of spouses and that of parents to children, is found in the Holy Family. It was through the institution of the family that God chose to relate to humanity. Jesus learned to live and to love in his relations to Mary and Joseph. In spite of the shock and trial of being refugees and immigrants and the horror of unimaginable violence in the Holy Innocents, love opened a way for them.
Matthew had an additional message beyond the family relationship of the three. He intended to offer us a prologue of the Gospel. Jesus was to summarize in the dramatic story of his infancy the saving history of Israel. In this way Jesus was modeling and addressing the Messianic expectations of Israel.
There are three stories in Matthew’s Infancy narrative: the escape to Egypt, the massacre of the Holy Innocents and the return from Egypt to Nazareth. They all mirror a particular experience of the Chosen People and Moses.
Our faith calls us to accept Jesus as truly human. In this genuine humanity he grew as we all do. He was part of a family, a truly holy family. It was in the context of these family relations that Jesus learned who God intended him to be. In his role as Savior, Jesus learned how to respond to life and its many mysteries of good and evil in the warmth and acceptance of his loving parents, Mary and Joseph.
The message for us today is clear. No matter what the cultural variations and limits, the family is the school of love. All our fundamental relations and responsibilities are filtered through the basic foundation of a family experience that gives us our personal identity. Our task is to build on the good points and eliminate the elements of selfishness and entitlement to let love flow openly in spite of all the inherent conflicts. Privilege and power in family life have to give way to acceptance, service and humility if we expect to continue to create a joyful and meaningful life for all.
Joseph and Mary found themselves drenched in confusion and bewilderment. They were uprooted, impoverished, exiled, threatened and isolated all in a matter of weeks. All this was the result of a child promised to be a Savior. Only the deepest commitment of faith and trust allowed them to continue the struggle. They were not following script. They were living an apparent tragedy of monumental depth. We need to ponder the beauty of their simplicity and generosity in the midst of a situation that would challenge any our lives.
Today’s feast invites us into this mystery of darkness and pain. We are invited to bring our story of family struggles to find light and direction. The message was eventually clear to Mary and Joseph as it will be to us as we walk in faith. God is with us no matter how desperate the circumstances. “The Word was made flesh” and we are gifted with the best all gifts, Emmanuel! God is with us!
