Christmas is a Family Holiday

Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah. (Mt. 1:16)

The genealogy of Jesus is the genealogy of Joseph, notof Mary, as we would expect in our thinking becauseJesus is not the natural son of Joseph, but the naturalson of Mary. Here we are confronted with the difference between biblical thinking and our own. In the family of Nazareth, we touch in a special way the mystery ofmarriage. Mary and Joseph were a true marriage, that is, they were two of one flesh, but at the same time webelieve that they did not have sexual intercourse. Jesuswas conceived by the Holy Spirit, not by the naturalcoexistence of a man and a woman. From this we cansee how differently marriage in God's plan is, and howdifferently we see it.

Therefore, it is worth reflecting on the meaning of human marriage. St. Paul wrote about it. “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:32). Let us note that Christian marriage as a sacrament is a sign and at the same time the realization of Christ's spousal relationship with the Church. What does it mean in practice? Well, in marriage we are given the grace to enter into the spousal bond of God and man. It is given to us; it does not mean that we always recognize it and always truly enter into it. The fact that it is given to us means that if we open ourselves to this grace, this bond will become our share. To put it even more simply: marriage is for us a school of learning God's love, a place to experience his love for us and ours for him. We can live it in this way, we are called to do so, but we can also close ourselves in our own expectations and wounds and, as a result, all our lives seek confirmation of our legitimate grievances for an unfulfilled life, same as in marriage. In the life of the Holy Family, the mystery of God's love for us has received a very concrete expression in the form of a child who is a Son of God, that is, God himself. She received a wonderful fulfillment: God needs our love to fulfill His plan "from the beginning". This is a completely surprising situation. God's love is expressed itself in the fact that He needs our help and protection.

In this context, it is worth mentioning another definition of the same mystery of marriage. Namely, when unity or community is mentioned, it is really what the Bible expresses in the Greek word communion. What is communion? It is not a simple unity that threatens to obliterate the individuality of persons, nor is merely a community that does not give unity. Communion is a bond of persons in which they freely and completely give themselves to one another, forming a community in which each can say to the other: everything that is mine is yours and everything that is yours is mine. At the same time, "everything" is not limited to what we have, but also refers to who we are. Such communion exists in the life of the Triune God. Jesus says to the Father: “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me, I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are". (Jn 17:6-11)

I have taken the liberty of quoting a slightly longer text so that we may see two truths: the Father and the Son are in the unity that is communion: this is the communion they desire for us. The words "belong to you" and "are yours" must be understood in the context of communion. It has nothing to do with the subject. Just as the wife belongs to the husband and the husband to the wife. They belong to each other’s. This expression captures a deepest personal bond

And I would like to draw your attention to one more thing: this bond refers to people who originally belonged to the Father: " They belonged to you, and you gave them to me ". It is they who are to receive a share in full unity - communion. The Holy Spirit, being the communion of the Divine Persons, is the source and fullness of our communion. No communion is possible apart from God. Christian marriage is a sacrament, that is, a mystery rooted in God. Marriage becomes a school of love, a school of communion through a living relationship with God. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. To keep the word means to receive it, to believe in it and to live it. Elsewhere, the Lord Jesus establishes a new family bond based on this principle: “While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. [Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.”] But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mt 12:46-50)

This mystery was perfectly realized in the Holy Family. Mary and Joseph fully listened to and fulfilled God's Word, and therefore they were vividly endowed with the presence of this Word in their lives. It became flesh in their lives, and the unity of their body as marriage. Everything that was Mary belonged to Joseph and everything that was Joseph belonged to Mary. In Mary, Joseph is the father of Jesus, and in Joseph, Jesus, the Son of Mary, became the Son of David. Conjugal union is communion, not physical union. The most important dimension of this communion is mutual belonging to God and openness to this belonging.

Christmas is a family holiday. Christmas should remind us that they also make our families God's families. Children born in marriage are first and foremost children of God and only in God they are children of their parents. They are a gift given by God, and only if we accept this gift as his gift, they will truly become our children in a free personal relationship, in communion. May Christmas become in our families the feast of family communion.

Until Tomorrow

fr. george