In the context of family as an
institution, Mary as the mother, Jesus as Son, and Joseph as the father (as a foster father), endured all the complexities of life through virtues that do
not swerve neither to the left nor to the right but remained firmed and yielded
to the Will of the Father.
Mary had bravely faced, persevered
and endured the traumatic emotional and psychological pain while watching her
Son in a terrible pain at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25). Come to think of it, if you have personally witnessed your loved one’s suffering in sickness,
there is more pain that the observer feels than the one who is physically ill up to the point that we’re almost clueless where to go and what to do because
it haunts our mind and heart wherever we turn to.
The Blessed Mother who bore Jesus’
for eight months dealt with the extreme haughty rudeness of the Jews in utter
clemency. Never that we could find in
the Scripture that She behaved in a callous reaction against the barbaric
collaborators which is a manifestation that She turned to God’s mysterious Redemption Plan. How many of the parents
out there who know about their emotional duties, but condemn
their children with indigestible words when they’re tempted to swerve on the wrong path, than thinking of other intense alternatives to re-discipline them?
On the other hand, St. Joseph as a father was known for his dependability. He was a carpenter and a working
man "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't well-off for when he brought Jesus
to the Temple for His circumcision and Mary’s purification, he offered the
sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, permissible only to those
who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24), which demonstrates that poverty can
never be an encumbrance to be connected with God.
St. Joseph was an empathetic guy.
When he ascertained that Mary was pregnant after they had been affianced, he
discerned that the child was not his but was as yet oblivious that she was
conceiving the Son of God. He intended to divorce Mary according to the law but
he was anxious for her future anguish and security, as he was aware that women
indicted of adultery could be stoned to death, so he was determined to divorce
her secretly not to expose her to humiliation or vindictiveness (Matthew 1:19-25). In today’s generation,
sexuality turns to be a recreation to get pleasure out of it and leaves the
relationship when it results to untimely pregnancy or the most dangerous about
is when there’s a decision to abort the baby to conceal embarrassment and escape from accountability.
Jesus’ foster father was man of faith
and submissive to anything that God demanded of him without being haunted by
any foreseen result. When the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him
the truth about the child Mary was conceiving, Joseph instantly and without any
apprehension for a potential news-mongering, he took Mary as his spouse. When the angel
appeared again telling him that his family was in a menace, he urgently left
all of his possessions, his family and friends, and took flight to a strange
nation with his spouse and the infant Jesus. He hung around in Egypt without
question until the angel advised him of their security to return (Matthew 2:13-23). In our times today, we need also to occasionally leave our comfort zones to free ourselves from the danger of temptation both materially and physiologically.
St.
Joseph loved Jesus, whose concern was for the security of this Baby
entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to shield Jesus, but upon his
return he established an evidently secured subsistence in the incomprehensible
town of Nazareth out of trauma. When the twelve-year old Jesus stayed in the Temple, Joseph and his
spouse searched with great nervousness for three days that Jesus was nowhere to
find (Luke 2:48). Joseph nursed Jesus as his own son as people of Nazareth say of Jesus repeatedly, "Is this not the son of
Joseph?" (Luke 4:22) and attended Jesus’ throughout his public life.
Joseph respected God by keeping His
commands in managing Mary’s affairs taking his family to Jerusalem annually for
Passover, which is a strenuous task for a working man like him. He was a
virtuous man (Matthew 1:19).
The loving parents instead of giving in to the temptation, to be angered by the harsh treatments towards their Beloved Son, had remained calm and gentle. The mayhem that they had came across never flipped their hearts, mind, conscience and strength to backslide.
Although Son of God but this time in
a form of a man, Jesus as a Son to Mary and Joseph was not immunized from
suffering which hounded Him since birth wherein Herod needed to massacre the
children of age 2 years under (Matthew :16) because of the threat that somebody
from that lineage would sprout a King up to the time of His merciless execution
at Golgotha (John 19:17).
Jesus as a Son had been obedient to
His parents (Luke 2:51). With all the dedication and
enthusiasm that Jesus had been executed, we are assured that it made Joseph and
Mary to be proud of Him. How many
children are there on the row who make their parents proud than taking choices through
vices which eat up the school budget that their parents have allocated through
hard labor, and disrespect in spite of the psychological , financial, and emotional support
which caused their parents to be devastated than recompensed with flattering
output as a sibling?
Like any other ordinary family, the
Holy Family had gone through a lot of temptations. Jesus had conquered many
temptations emotionally and spiritually even up to the point that the tempter of the world had bid with Him exchanging security
with financial opulence (Matthew 4:9) which implies that no one in this earth is exempted by the same kind of a temptation.
In our turn today and to all the
generations to come, we are represented with the Image through the Holy Family
leading us to be a family who journeys in harmony, animating the love of God as
a foundation of firmness to stand for the truth, with ardor to live up
holiness, reliability to be submissive and dependent on God and simplicity to
be meek and possess untainted heart and conscience.
With the present condition that most
families are divided because of indifferences and immaturity brought by
illiteracy on the virtues of love, compassion, humility, forgiveness,
gentleness, acceptance; the impossibility of harmonizing them together can be
the biggest issue. Whether we like it or not, families have been divided
because generally we set aside God’s provision of grace through the significance of engagement in a community which the church builds up.
Whether young or adult, one has to
get out of his/her comfort zone by involvement in the community of believers
where these virtues can be nourished through team efforts of spiritual partners
and elders. The church is not an
institution for the holy, (just like what the Facebook page admin’s recent reaction
preventing me not to post something that is holy in an FB page that scrutinizes
the social ills especially the corrupt officials, rationalizing that holy things
do not be blend with unholy figures of the society), but a hospital for the
sinners.
Please forgive me if I may sound
harsh but we have to be transparent as reality check. Sincerity comes from the
truth. Speaking of the truth is being concerned of others. Being concerned is a
sign of love. And therefore speaking of the truth is not harsh but rather
enlightens. It only becomes harsh because it touches an ego because reality
bites. It's better to be hurt caused by the rebuke of a neighbor than to feel
sorry in the end after self-realization that love of thy neighbor through
speaking the truth really matters.
The spirituality that we have learned
in the Liturgy is reinforced inside the community where different stories of
rise and fall are gathered which serve as inspiration and reminder as one major
essence towards holiness because what we learn from them will be the same
strategies that we can upheld in facing the temptations and encouragements of
life.
The fulfillment that gives us and the
family with exterior satisfaction can be intensified with an interior joy and
contentment as we share our wisdom that bring us to a successful family to
those in the community who are fallen short of it, to strengthen the weak, to
give hope to the hopeless, to boost one's self-esteem. And when everyone's
wisdom is incorporated in everyone's life, we are gradually forming a holy
family, a family that we will present with a smile of confidence before the
Lord, a family that will give us ultimate joy of success as we face another new
phase of life in heaven, our eternal dwelling.
Acts 20:34-35 You know well that these very hands
have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by
hard work of that sort we must help the weak and keep in mind the works of the
Lord Jesus Who Himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound
in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you.
1 Corinthians 10:24 No one should seek his own advantage, but that
of his neighbor.
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 So whether you eat or drink or
whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Avoid giving offense,
whether to Jews or Greeks or the Church of God, just as I try to please
everyone in everyway, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that
they may be saved.
References:
- Pope John Paul II , January 11, 2012 , Co-redemptrix & Fifth Marian Dogma, http://www.fifthmariandogma.com
- http://www.catholic.org, Saint Joseph
- http://www.vatican.va, New American Bible
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