Sunday, December 28, 2014

Feast of the Holy Family, 2014

LUKE 2:22-40
WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID, I REMEMBER MY MOTHER REMARKING NOW AND THEN, “IT WAS EASY FOR THE HOLY FAMILY TO BE PERFECT.  THEY ONLY HAD ONE KID AND HE WAS GOD.”  MY PARENTS HAD THREE AND NONE OF US WERE GOD.  BUT MY MOTHER MADE A THEOLOGICAL MISTAKE.  THE HOLY FAMILY WAS HOLY, NO QUESTION, BUT THEY WEREN'T PERFECT AS A FAMILY.  MARY AND JOSEPH PROBABLY WERE QUITE POOR, AND JOSEPH MUST HAVE SPENT EVERY MOMENT HE COULD TRYING TO EARN A LIVING.  THE TWO OF THEM WERE PROABLY GOSSIPPED ABOUT BECAUSE OF WHAT HAD SEEMED TO BE A SHOTGUN WEDDING.  THEY HAD TO DROP EVERYTHING AND GO TO EGYPT, WHICH MEANT STARTING OVER AGAIN; AND THEN THEY HAD TO START ALL OVER AGAIN WHEN THEY WENT BACK TO NAZARETH.  JESUS DISAPPEARED AND THEY SPENT THREE ANXIOUS DAYS LOOKING FOR HIM WHEN HE WAS TWELVE.  AND THERE IS A LOT THAT WAS NEVER WRITTEN DOWN; LUKE TELLS US THAT JESUS GREW IN GRACE AND WISDOM, WHICH MEANS THAT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN HE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH GRACE OR WISDOM.  JESUS HAD A HARD TIME BEING ACCEPTED BY THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW HIM WELL, BECAUSE THEY HAD KNOWN HIM AS HE GREW UP, AND DIDN'T THINK HE HAD ANY CLAIM TO BEING “SPECIAL”.  SO JUST FROM THE LITTLE WE CAN KNOW ABOUT THE HOLY FAMILY FROM THE SCRIPTURES, THEY DID NOT HAVE A PERFECT FAMILY, EVEN IF THE INDIVIDUALS IN THE FAMILY WERE PERFECT.  I'M SURE IF YOU ASKED MARY OR JOSEPH WHETHER THEY HAD A PERFECT FAMILY, THEY WOULD HAVE LAUGHED.
BUT ONE THING WE KNOW FROM BOTH GOSPELS IS THAT MARY AND JOSEPH PRACTICED THEIR RELIGION.  IT SAYS THAT THEY WENT “EVERY YEAR” TO JERUSALEM.  THAT WOULD BE A 200 MILE ROUND TRIP, ON FOOT.  THEY WOULD DO THIS TO CELEBRATE THE PASSOVER.  IT'S CERTAIN THAT THEY ATTENDED SYNAGOGUE EVERY WEEK.  JOSEPH WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MEN WHO COULD BE COUNTED UPON TO HELP CONSTITUTE A MINYAN; TEN MEN WOULD COME TO THE SYNAGOGUE EVERY DAY TO PRAY TOGETHER.
BUT THE MAJOR REASON WE KNOW THEY PRACTICED THEIR RELIGION IS THAT JESUS DID.  WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE IN THE SCRIPTURES THAT JESUS EVER STOPPED BEING A RELIGIOUS JEW.  HE CROSSED UP THE PHARISEES NOW AND THEN, WHO ACCUSED HIM OF VIOLATING THE SABBATH; BUT REMEMBER, THEY WERE NOT THE OFFICIAL INTERPRETERS OF THE LAW.  THEY HAD DEVELOPED A WAY OF DOING THE LAW WHICH WAS PRETTY BURDENSOME, BUT MOST JEWS WERE NOT SO UP TIGHT.  THE REASON JESUS LIVED AND DIED A GOOD JEW WAS BECAUSE HIS PARENTS WERE GOOD JEWS; AND WHEN JESUS LIVED AND DIED A JEW, THE JEWISH RELIGION WAS THE ONLY RELIGION WHICH HAD BEEN GIVEN TO MAN BY GOD.
THERE HAS BEEN SOME INTERESTING RESEARCH ON THE TRANSMISSION OF THE FAITH.  IT'S BASICALLY SUMMED UP BY THE STATEMENT:  IF YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO RETAIN THEIR FAITH, DON'T SEND THEM TO CHURCH, TAKE THEM TO CHURCH.
YOU WOULD THINK THAT CATHOLIC PARENTS WOULD WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO BE FAITHFUL CATHOLICS, BECAUSE THAT'S THEIR BEST SHOT TO GET TO HEAVEN AND SPEND ETERNITY WITH GOD.  BUT ODDLY ENOUGH, THIS ISN'T SUFFICIENT MOTIVATION FOR ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF CATHOLIC PARENTS, WHO DESPITE CONSIDERING THEMSELVES CATHOLICS, HAVE LITTLE TO NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CHURCH.  THEY DROP THEIR KIDS OFF AT FAITH FORMATION CLASS UNTIL CONFIRMATION, AND SELDOM ACTUALLY GO TO CHURCH THEMSELVES.  BUT THERE ARE SEVERAL EARTHLY REASONS FOR RAISING YOUR CHILDREN IN THE FAITH.  THESE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SCIENTIFICALLY DOCUMENTED FACTS:
MEMBERS OF FAITH COMMUNITIES ARE IN GENERAL HAPPIER THAN THOSE WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS.
RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE HAPPIER IN THEIR MARRIAGES THAN THOSE WHO AREN'T.  AND WHEN BOTH SPOUSES ARE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE SAME RELIGION, THEY ARE HAPPIER STILL.
PEOPLE WHO ATTEND RELIGIOUS SERVICES REGULARLY ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO AVOID DIVORCE THAN THOSE WHO DO NOT.
SIXTY PERCENT OF MARRIED PEOPLE WHO ATTEND RELIGIOUS SERVICES REGULARLY DESCRIBE THEIR MARRIAGES AS “VERY SATISFACTORY” COMPARED WITH 40% OF THOSE WHO DO NOT.  
OBJECTIVE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT MOTHERS WHO ARE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THEIR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY HAVE BETTER RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR CHILDREN THAN THOSE WHO DO NOT.
WHEN FATHERS ARE ACTIVE IN THEIR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY, THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR CHILDREN IS SUBSTANTIALLY BETTER THAN THOSE WHERE FATHERS DON'T PARTICIPATE.  AND ONE OF THE BEST PREDICTORS OF WHETHER CHILDREN WILL BE “RELIGIOUS” IS WHETHER THE FATHER WAS RELIGIOUS.
THE CHILDREN OF FAMILIES WHO ARE RELIGIOUS HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER RISK OF OUT OF WEDLOCK PREGNANCY, MENTAL ILLNESS, TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, OR DRUG ABUSE, THAN THOSE WHO COME FROM NON-RELIGOUS FAMILIES.
THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE PARENTS ARE RELIGIOUS IS RELATED TO OVERALL HAPPINESS, LESS DEPRESSION, BETTER PHYSICAL HEALTH, BETTER ABILITY TO COPE, HIGHER LEVELS OF ACADEMIC ATTAINMENT, AND LOWER FREQUENCY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG THEIR ADULT CHILDREN.
WITH ALL THESE EARTHLY BENEFITS AND THE HOPE OF ETERNAL SALVATION, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT PARENTS WHO REALLY LOVE THEIR CHILDREN ARE NOT GOING TO SIT STILL AND ALLOW THEM TO DRIFT AWAY FROM THE CHURCH.  THAT GOES FOR GRANDPARENTS AS WELL.  AND IF YOU WANT YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER TO MARRY A SPOUSE WHO IS ALSO RELIGIOUS, THEN IT FOLLOWS THAT YOU SHOULD BE VERY INTERESTED IN EVANGELIZING THAT GENERATION.
WHEN JESUS TOLD HIS PARENTS THAT HE HAD TO BE ABOUT HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS, JOSEPH AND MARY DIDN'T BACK OFF AND SAY, “STAY HERE IN THE TEMPLE, SON.”  THEY KNEW THEY STILL HAD WORK TO DO AND THAT IT WAS WAY TOO EARLY FOR JESUS TO MAKE UP HIS OWN MIND ABOUT WHAT HE WANTED TO DO.  AND THEY TOOK HIM HOME AND CONTINUED TO RAISE HIM, AND CONTINUED TO SHOW HIM BY THEIR OWN EXAMPLE HOW TO LIVE.
AND THE PEOPLE OF NAZARETH MAY HAVE REJECTED JESUS BECAUSE THEY REMEMBERED HOW ORDINARY HE SEEMED TO BE WHEN HE WAS GROWING UP; BUT THE PEOPLE IN THE REST OF PALESTINE WHO HEARD HIM PREACH AND SAW HIS MIRACLES, ALSO SAW THAT THIS JESUS WHO WORKED MIRACLES AND PREACHED THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN HIS RELIGION, AND ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO DO SO AS WELL, AND THAT WAS THE ROOT OF THE GREATEST RELIGIOUS REVIVAL IN HISTORY, THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY.  JOSEPH AND MARY RAISED HIM RIGHT.   MAY CATHOLIC PARENTS EVERYWHERE LEARN FROM THE HOLY FAMILY.