In all three readings today, we see the importance of family. The family is the center of our lives. It is our beginning, youth, and adulthood, a place in which vocations are nourished, and what we leave behind when we pass from this world. God, knowing the importance and power the family has, sent his only begotten Son into this world to be born and raised in a family. Today, as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, we acknowledge that in Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, we have the perfect model for our own families.
 
“The Church holds up the Holy Family as the model for every Christian family. First of all because the supremacy of God is strongly acknowledged: in the house of Nazareth God is always first, everything is subordinated to him: nothing outside his will is ever desired or done. Suffering is embraced in a deep spirit of faith because in every event they see the fulfillment of a divine plan painful vicissitudes do not trouble their peace precisely because everything is looked at in God’s light, because Jesus is the center of their affections, and because Mary and Joseph gravitate around him, forgetful of themselves and wholly involved in his mission." [1]
 
Who is the Holy Family? The Holy Family includes Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
 
What does God show us through the Holy Family? God shows us many things, but probably the most important and the most incredible is that God not only wanted to dwell with us, He wanted to be a part of a family just like us. “The feast of the Holy Family… makes it clear that when the Son of God came into the world, he wanted to be part of a family group like every other man…When he became man, he wanted to be like all other men: to have a country and an earthly family: a family so simple and humble as not to be distinguishable exteriorly in any way from other Jewish families" [2]
 
How is the Holy Family different from other families? The Holy Family is different because it included the only perfect human who ever lived (Mary) and the Son of God, Jesus, fully God and fully man. Jesus’s first sanctification was a home. [3]
 
How is the Holy Family the perfect example for families? While the Holy Family was in many ways like any other family, they also faced troubles and tribulations unlike any other family. “In the spirit the holy pair will embrace all the tribulations of their never easy life: the discomforts of the sudden flight to Egypt, the uncertainty attendant on settling in a strange country, the fatigues of hard work, the privation of a life of poverty, and later the anguish of losing their Son on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.” [4] Mary and Joseph lived with perfect faith and obedience to God’s will. Pope Benedict XVI said, “The family is the privileged setting where every person learns to give and receive love...” [5] The Holy Family had God himself, Love Incarnate in their presence. By their humility and obedience, they show us how to obtain that perfect love.
 
What did the Holy Family do? Their family life was much like ours. St. Joseph was the head of the house, and was the provider for the home, while Mary raised Jesus. By this, “Mary sanctifies the ordinary everyday things - what some people wrongly regard as unimportant and insignificant: everyday work, looking after those closest to you, visits to friends and relatives.” [6]
 
What do we learn from the Holy Family? “If the family is not founded on Christian love, it is very difficult for it to persevere in harmony and unity of heart. Every difficulty can be overcome and accepted when we love each other, but everything becomes an enormous burden when mutual love cools. And the only love which lasts, in spite of all the differences that are possible even in a family, is the love founded on the love of God.” [7]
 
Tradition tells us that Saint Joseph died prior to Jesus, with both Our Lord and Lady at his side. This was the first death the Holy Family encountered. The second was the death of Jesus, in which Mother and Child, Mary and Jesus were physically separated from each other and suffered great loss. The Holy Family and our own families can only deal with such loss and difficulties through Christian love.

[1] Divine Intimacy Vol. 1, pg. 96
[2] Ibid, pg. 95
[3] In conversation with God pg. 229
[4] Divine Intimacy Vol. 1, pg. 95
[5] Magnificat pg. 397
[6] Jose Escriva, Christ is passing by, 148
[7] Divine Intimacy Vol. 1, pg. 96