The Feast of The Holy Family

My dear friends in Christ,

By celebrating the Sunday following Christmas as The Feast of The Holy Family, The Church encourages us to look to the Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph for inspiration, example and encouragement. They were a model family in which both parents worked hard, helped each other, understood and accepted each other, and took good care of their Child so that He might grow up not only in human knowledge but also as a Child of God. Jesus brought holiness to the family of Joseph and Mary as Jesus brings us holiness by embracing us in His family. On the Feast of the only perfect Family that ever lived on this earth, all parents might examine themselves and see how well they are fulfilling the grave responsibility which God has placed on them. As they heard during their marriage ceremony: “children are a gift from God to you.” Children serve as the joy of their parents’ young years and the help and comfort of their old age. But above and beyond that, they are a gift for which their parents are accountable before God, as they must, in the end, return these, His children, to Him.

Let us pray for the grace of caring for one another in our own families, for each member of the parish family, and for all families of the universal Church. For those families that will be traveling this week, we ask God’s blessing that you will return to and from your destination safely.

May God bless all our families, and on behalf of the entire staff here at Corpus Christi, may you all have a Happy New Year!

May God bless you all!

Father John