The Holy Family (2025)
The Holy Family – This is your annual reminder that Holiness is not only for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Catechism tells us that “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.” All are called to holiness… CCC 2013.
But what is holiness?
St. Thomas Aquinas defines holiness as the virtue by which we make all our acts subservient to God. It is a gift, not a decision or an act itself. God freely justifies us through grace, setting us free from sin so that we are free to claim God as our beginning and our end – the destination we seek, then to act like it.
So, holiness is being faithful to the purpose God has for us.
- We have holy vessels and bells – they are holy because they are used in the service of God.
- The Pope is the Holy Father when he acts as an earthly father to the Children of God
- We receive the Holy Eucharist, transformed to be and to make us the Body of Christ.
- The Holy Angels are faithful to their mission as guardians and messengers.
- We ask for help from the Saints, those Holy Men and Women, and especially Holy Mary, Mother of God, who was always faithful to God’s purpose for her life.
Since the Blessed Virgin is Holy, and because, by the Grace of God and the merits of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, she is preserved from all sin, we can confidently say that everything she is and does and says is holy. Therefore, I want to offer you two things that were fresh to me as I thought about the Holy Family, and the Holy Mother of God, in particular.
Something New
There is no doubt the Blessed Virgin was perfect in charity, but it is not necessary for her to be perfect in the gift of knowledge. We see that she didn’t know where Jesus was, and often she meditated upon things until God revealed their full meaning. God gradually developed the fullness of the gift of knowledge within her, and left her unaware of some details connected with her Son until the time was right. So… you do not have to know everything to be holy. Do not allow not-knowing to be an obstacle to holiness. Holiness only requires that we are faithful to what we do know.
I also noticed what the Holy Mother of God had to say upon finally finding Jesus in the temple:
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.
The Holy Family was anxious.
Our separated Christian brethren tell us that any anxiety is a sign we need to trust God. Did Mary lack trust? The world offers behavioral and chemical solutions. Was Mary behaving in an unhealthy way? Did she need drugs?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.
If everything the Virgin is and does and says is holy (and it is), then some anxiety can be holy.
Are there times where diet changes, exercise, chemical avoidance, change of situation, medication, therapy, or trusting God are a remedy for anxiety?
Yes, Absolutely.
But do not be anxious about your anxiety. As humans, we are sometimes anxious. There is no sin in experiencing anxiety. Sin is found in choosing to remain anxious – embracing anxiety, and rejecting God’s efforts to bring us peace. Sometimes that means behavioral changes – I recently changed jobs because I didn’t “think” I was anxious, but I had this tightness in my chest that I recognized as a physical symptom of anxiety. Some of our family have discovered that dyes and other chemicals in food produce anxiety and behavioral issues in their children, so they’ve made changes to their diet. Mary and Joseph found their anxiety was alleviated when they looked for and found Jesus in the place of worship and sacrifice.
Do not be anxious about your anxiety. You are not bad or wrong or sinful for experiencing anxiety. It may even be holy, if it leads you to deeper or more frequent prayer. Let God work through it.
Something Old / Something to Do
The Holy Family had their anxiety relieved when they found Jesus in the temple. They traveled a day, looked for him, became anxious, and traveled a day back. We misplaced a child twice. I can’t imagine going a full day. A few minutes was bad enough. They had at least a day of intense anxiety.
Why did it take them so long to look in the temple? I don’t know. Why does it take us so long to look for Jesus in the Church? Why does it take us so long to come to the Church to receive the peace he offers through the sacraments of the Church, and especially confession?
Origin tells us that “He is not found as soon as sought for, for Jesus was not among His kinsfolk and relations, among those who are joined to Him in the flesh, nor in the company of the multitude can He be found. Learn where those who seek Him find Him, not everywhere, but in the temple. And do you then seek Jesus in the temple of God. Seek Him in the Church…. For if you wilt so seek Him, you shall find Him.”
If you or someone you know are experiencing anxiety, and because you desire to become more holy, I encourage you to begin by seeking Jesus here, in the Church, and by seeking to be reconciled with Christ and his Church through the sacraments.
And a Thank You
Finally, as we think on holiness and the Holy Family, I invite you to consider this from one of our Old Testament reading options today: God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
God chose to be placed in submission to the Blessed Virgin, mother of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, and to Saint Joseph. In doing so, Mary received authority over her son. As you know, the queen mother has a special place in the Davidic kingdom. Solomon stands and bows to his mother when she enters the throne room. And this is true even for Jesus, and even now that Jesus has ascended into heaven. The Son never refuses the Mother anything she seeks, as St. Bridget learnedm, when one day she heard Jesus saying to Mary: “Ask Me for anything; your request can never be in vain. Because you never refused Me anything on earth, I will refuse you nothing in Heaven.”
Jesus gave us his mother as our mother. She loves us, and she gladly receives our prayers and petitions in order to present them to the Son, the one mediator between God and humanity.
The Holy Spirit chose Joseph as patron and protector of the physical body of Christ, and St Joseph is therefore patron and protector of the mystical body of Christ, the Church, both in the form of the universal church, and in the form of the domestic church, which is our family.
We can be so thankful for Joseph, who protects the church and our family, and for Mary, who intercedes on our behalf, and always leads us to Christ.
I encourage you to offer especially sincere thanks and praise when Father prays in a few moments, that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mother of God and Saint Joseph, our families will be established firmly in God’s grace and peace.
