The Holy Family

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“And he went down with them and came to Nazareth.” We must not lose a single word of this holy text; the Evangelist says that he “went down” with them to Nazareth. After having strayed for a while to do the work of his Father, he returned to his ordinary conduct, to the ways of his parents, to obedience. And this is perhaps, in a mystical mode, what accounts for the phrase “he went down,” but in any case it is true that he placed himself between their hands until his baptism, that is, until the age of almost thirty years, and did nothing other than obey them.

We should be astonished by the word: was that then the whole work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? His entire duty was to obey two of his creatures. With regard to what did he obey them? In the lowest of activities, in the practice of a mechanical art. Who are they who weep and complain when the work they are assigned does not correspond to their talents, or rather to their pride? Let them come to the home of Joseph and Mary and let them see Jesus at work there. We do not ever read that his parents had domestic servants; like other poor folk, they had only their children, their child, to serve them. Jesus himself said that he came “to serve.” When he went to the desert, the angels were obliged to come and serve him, for we never see him with servants at his beck and call. What is known is that he himself worked in his father’s workshop. And that he lost his father well before the time of his ministry. At his Passion, he left his mother in the care of his Beloved Disciple, who received her into his home, which would not have happened if Joseph had still been alive. From the beginning of his ministry, we see Mary together with Jesus at the wedding feast at Cana, but there is no mention of Joseph. Mary often appears elsewhere, but after what is said about Jesus’ education under the guidance of Joseph, we do not again hear about this holy man. This is why at the beginning of his ministry, when he comes to speak in his own country, the people said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” We see him, without shame, supporting a widowed mother by his own labor, and undertaking the petty commerce of his trade that allowed the two of them to live. “Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” They do not speak of his father, because, it seems, he had already died. Jesus Christ served him during his final illness. Happy the father who had such a son to close his eyes! Truly, he died in his arms and, as it were, with a kiss from the Lord. Jesus stayed with his mother to console her, to serve her: this was the whole of his employment.

O God, what a moving spectacle! O Pride: down on your knees! Jesus, the son of a carpenter, a carpenter himself, was known by his trade, without anything else being said about him. Let those who live by such an art be consoled and rejoice: Jesus is one of them. Let them learn from him to praise God while they work, to sing psalms and holy songs, and let them know that God will bless their work, and they will be like other Christs.

The Gospel sums up thirty years of the life of Jesus in these words: “and he was obedient to them,” together with these, “the carpenter, the son of Mary.” In the obscurity of John the Baptist there is something more imposing, for he never appeared among men and “he was in the wilderness.” Yet Jesus, in so ordinary a life, was, in truth, known, but by his lowly work alone. Could he have been any better hidden than he was? What shall we say, what shall we do to praise him? There is in truth nothing for us to do but to admire him in silence.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

O God, who were pleased to give us the shining example of the Holy Family, graciously grant that we may imitate them in practicing the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity, and so, in the joy of your house, delight one day in eternal rewards. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

IMAGE: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Holy Family with the Little Bird, 1650, Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain