Luke 2:4-5
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
Comment
In this culture of privilege, wealth and prestige which means everything and where people aren’t having children because they want more things and children are too much time and too much expense and they just want to focus on themselves. In a culture where that happens, our Father in heaven shows us that in the simple lives of a housewife and a carpenter raising the Son of God has an intimate connection with the human family and that is why spouses must work together to develop this spirituality in their marriage that attests to the truth that God is love.
It is not easy and it takes work but what we have to remember in those difficult times is that God did not even spare “His own family”.
What kind of parallels can we see in our family life today?
For example, look at the Annunciation in Luke 1:26.
Mary is betrothed to Joseph she gets pregnant and Joseph discovers he is not the father of the child. Gee, that doesn’t happen today does it?
Look at the ordeal of Joseph who has to make a decision– do I leave her or do I stay. So many young men today get their girlfriends or fiancées pregnant and do what the culture say - take the easy option. When you separate love from life you create a culture of death. So they say to the girl ‘you need to go and take care of it, that’s your problem’ Joseph here stood up and could have had her stoned to death but that is not what he did. He was a man of honour and a man of character and the angel came to him and said this is God working here.
Then they have to leave and go to Bethlehem to do the census.
He can’t even find a place for his pregnant wife who is about to give birth so now they become a homeless family. We don’t have those today do we?
Then there was the flight into Egypt. He had to leave his homeland, his way of life, his means to support the family and go into Egypt. We have families today who have to leave their homeland because of war, because of famine, because of strife and move to a foreign country to begin their life again.
Then they actually lose Jesus. They are coming back from the Passover Feast travelling in caravans back in those days and they assume Jesus is with them in this caravan convoy. Mary asks Joseph ‘have you see Jesus around’? ‘No I thought He was with you.’
I can tell you from working with my time in law enforcement, I have been in situations where parents have lost their children and are not sure where they are and to see the terror on the faces of these parents is just heart wrenching so I can imagine what Joseph and Mary would have gone through. Then we read they found Jesus in the temple.
At some stage Mary becomes a single mother when Joseph dies.
How do we know? Because on the Cross, Jesus gives care of Mary to Jesus’ disciple and friend John.
He would not have done that had Joseph been alive.
So at some point Mary becomes a single mother. Gee, we don’t have those today do we?
Then we see Mary at the foot of the Cross. She has to endure something that no mother, no parent ever wants to endure. To see their children die before them.
Even though Jesus came to live in a human family did not mean that their life was perfect.
There was hardship, there was pain, there was suffering and they are the same things we see in families today. We need to draw strength from this in our struggles.
Source: ca060906b -The Eucharist- Heart of the Family -Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers.mp3
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