Most often we think of the Feast of the Holy Family as being about Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Let’s expand our thinking today to a much broader concept of family.
In today’s first reading the Lord takes Abraham outside to see the countless stars in the sky and tells him his descendants will number like these. Abraham trusted God and believed When Anna and Simeon first saw the Christ child, they were in awe. They knew what they had heard about this Savior of the world and they trusted and believed. But they saw Jesus as Savior not just for them but also for the entire universe. They got it! Now think about Mary. From the Day the Angel Gabriel appeared to her she trusted and believed even knowing the responsibility she assumed in giving birth to this child--not only within her small town of Nazareth but also in “big picture” salvation of the world.
Yes, when we think of family we need to go beyond the small circle of believers we’ve created and see the world as our family. If the rest of the world is falling apart and we do nothing about it, are we really doing justice to our “small” family? Are we teaching them to see the bigger picture? Do you see your star as one of many in God’s world or do you see it as the only star?
This is really what the Feast of the Holy Family is all about—seeing that we are just a small part of a much larger family and then trust and believe.