The Holy Family {The Feast of The Holy Family}

In the Catholic church, the Feast of the Holy Family is relatively new, being added to the church calendar in 1921.  It was added to counteract the breakdown of what was happening to the family at the time, and still, nearly 100 years later.

That being said, it was not until last year that I really paid attention to the day. I am sure I had heard about it before, maybe in passing.  Last year, however, on the feast day (which was Dec 29-as it changes to be the first weekend after Christmas) was when my beloved husband proposed to me.  He says he did that on purpose, perhaps to ask for the extra intersession of the Holy Family to bring together ours. 

Family is complicated. No two families are alike. Some are big, some are small. Some have one parent, some have two. Some have step parents, some have grandparents being parents again.  Regardless of the make up of the family, they are still made by God.

In our family, we are always in a constant 'battle'. We are a blended family, and when children return from the other parents home,  we have to do our best to remain calm, and remember that they are living in a different world when they are not at home.  This is challenging, as we never want to speak poorly of the other parent, even though in our heads we want to just scream. Yet, it is not the children's fault and that is what I try to keep in mind when, for example they came home after their Christmas with their dad. All the expensive new toys they got, and I knew what was still wrapped under our humble tree, it is hard to hold back what I want to say. Instead, I pray silently in my head that the children learn to know Christ and His humble life.

They (the children) do take me by surprise though. On Christmas morning, they opened their few gifts that we and family got for them, and the few from Santa (yes we believe in Santa more on that another time), and they were over joyed and thankful. So maybe they do get the meaning after all. Maybe the time we spent focusing on our family, watching holiday movies together, playing family games, having dinner every night together and going to church as a family all pulled together.

Last night during the homily, our deacon spoke about families, and the challenges that families face in today's society to stay together.  Financial hardships, resisting the urge to "keep up" with everyone else. To take from one of my favorite bible verses, Philippians 4:12-13; "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."
I know that our family, this verse is one we sometimes struggle with. It is hard to look at the situation, and say "I know we are going to be ok because God will not abandon us".
When we look at today's readings, we see that God keeps His promises to those who are faithful. During the homily when the deacon said "sometimes we wonder if God has abandoned us when we have been faithful" my husband let out a quiet sigh. I was thinking the same thing...ok God, what more do I need to do? Patience is not my highest virtue. It is easy for me to say "ok this is a test by God (God has been testing us for a long time, come on now, lets pass!) we need to figure out the lesson". I think the lesson is to rely more on God than on anything or anyone else.
It is discouraging when we think we are finally getting ahead, we are brought back down to be reminded that it is not that time, just yet. God isn't finished with this stage of our life.

So, maybe it was with God's intention that my husband proposed on the Feast of the Holy Family. That this family will follow the guideline of the most Holy family in our life. To stay faithful, and work for the Lord.