Feast of The Holy Family JMJ Makes Sister Emerita Smile

One fond memory I have from my years as a student of St. Joseph and St. Anne School on the Southwest Side of Chicago is the fact that if you wanted to really please Sister you would place squarely in the center of your paper the legend JMJ.  This of course stands for "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" the Holy Family.   

Today the Church reminds us that Jesus came to earth to serve and not be served. The Gospel reading for today is the story of Jesus being found in the temple.  Can you imagine the fear that Joseph and Mary felt when they could not find the Child that had been placed into their care?  Like any parent they probably thought the worst.  Then can you imagine the relief and maybe just a bit of parental anger they must have felt.  Mary asked Him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been searching for you with great anxiety?"  Jesus then responds by giving a reply that at the time could only be understood by Mary and Joseph when He told them that He had to be in His Father's house.  The incident closes and we are told that Jesus became obedient to them and advanced in wisdom before men and God. 

A human being is born dependent on a family.  If a baby was born and ignored and left to his/her own devices they would soon die. The human family is the unit God has decided will be the way a human child will learn how to live in the world. The family will teach by example.  The child will learn the "who to's" of life while under the protection of their mother and father.  The parents are also responsible for teaching their child about God and the Kingdom of God and the child's place in it.  The latter is probably more important that the former. 

Today the concept of family is under attack on many fronts. To begin with the concept of marriage being between one man and one woman has come under attack.  Today in the United States and other countries marriage has been re-defined and now includes people of the same sex.  There are a couple of things wrong with same sex marriage.  First and foremost a same sex union can never procreate. Same sex families with two daddies or two mommies are not good for the child.  The ideal family, such as was Our Lord's contains both contributions from the female and male point of view. Sure, a same sex couple can be loving and nurturing to a child but the dual points of view are missing and they are very important in growing a child. 

There are other problems that assault the family as well. Even in those households where there are a traditional mother and father sometimes career and social lives take precedence in life and while the children are cared for physically they lack the care of their psyche that children from previous generations received from their parents. 

When I was growing up my mother, God rest her soul, made sure that dinner time was a time where family came together.  The television, which was visible from the kitchen where we took our meals together, was turned off.  The radio was silent and we ate our meals and actually talked to one another.  Attendance at dinner was mandatory in our household and we remained in each other's company until the meal was completed by all.  We never thought much about it, it was just how it was done and our family was not the exception, almost all of the neighborhood families followed the same ritual. 

Today when people gather around the dinner table they are most often accompanied by their smart phone. These electronic masters serve as distraction and conversation between is thus limited at best.  People feel less loyalty to their family and more to friends and organizations. 

We will eventually reap the results of our letting the family disintegrate.  We see some of the results already today. In former times aging parents were helped by their children. Today aging parents are seen as a problem to be conquered and we place Dad or Mom into the care of others and we lose the great assets that they could give us, namely their wisdom. 

People are also putting off having families later and later in life while they pursue their career and because of this we are losing the cohesion of inter-generational relationships by placing our old out on an figurative iceberg to await their call home to God because we have to sacrifice to the new god of retirement. 

Finally, we can see the results of our assault on the family and family values in any mall or store in America.   You can see many fine examples of children whining, crying, demanding, and even striking their attending parent.  These children are crying out for discipline and to be shown what to do.  Unfortunately, in many cases the parent has not a clue because he/she did not receive instruction by example from his/her family. 

Is it hopeless? Are we doomed?  For the near future I fear things will get worse but eventually their will be a revival of family values.  Someone will discover what is missing and being a family will become popular again.  On this Feast of the Holy Family resolve to show real love to your children and teach them how they should walk. 

Go with God this day and may He, through His Son Jesus bring love into your heart and through the Holy Spirit, light to follow him day by day.