‘Get up, take the child and his mother . . .' Sunday Reflections, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Year A
Flight into Egypt
Blessed Fra Angelico [Web Gallery of Art]
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’
Léachtaí i nGaeilge
St Joseph and the Christ Child
St Joseph is central in the Christmas story as St Matthew tells it. His role is to be the husband of Mary. It is as such that he names Mary’s son and so becomes his legal father (Mt 1:21). It is as husband of Mary that he ‘took the child and his mother by night’ and fled to Egypt. It is as husband of Mary that he ‘took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel’. It was as husband of Mary that ‘he was afraid to go there’ (Judea) and risk not only his own life but theirs and took them instead to Galilee
The major feast of St Joseph, on 19 March, honors him as ‘Husband of Mary’. I can’t help repeating that the primary vocation of a married couple is to be spouses, not parents. It is as loving spouses that they become loving parents. This was most clearly expressed for me by an 11-year-old boy at a family day of Worldwide Marriage Encounter in Bacolod City, Philippines, during an activity for the pre-teens. They were asked what they loved most about their parents. He said, ‘What I love most about my parents is that they are always together’.
A wife can fail as a spouse by giving more attention to her children than to their father. Nobody questions the love of a mother. But it can be a temptation. If a husband, who has pledged his life to his wife ‘till death do us part’ thinks that he is not any more the most important person in the life of his wife he may be more easily tempted to look elsewhere, with tragic consequences for the whole family.
So many married couples in the Philippines, and elsewhere, are separated by the fact that one is working overseas, sometimes both and possibly in different countries. It is vital that they have living and vibrant communication. Modern technology has made that possible in almost every part of the globe. I knew one Filipino couple nine or ten years ago where the husband was on a scholarship in Japan and who talked every night using Skype. And their children had a chance to see and talk to their father as he saw and talked to them.
The major feast of St Joseph, on 19 March, honors him as ‘Husband of Mary’. I can’t help repeating that the primary vocation of a married couple is to be spouses, not parents. It is as loving spouses that they become loving parents. This was most clearly expressed for me by an 11-year-old boy at a family day of Worldwide Marriage Encounter in Bacolod City, Philippines, during an activity for the pre-teens. They were asked what they loved most about their parents. He said, ‘What I love most about my parents is that they are always together’.
A wife can fail as a spouse by giving more attention to her children than to their father. Nobody questions the love of a mother. But it can be a temptation. If a husband, who has pledged his life to his wife ‘till death do us part’ thinks that he is not any more the most important person in the life of his wife he may be more easily tempted to look elsewhere, with tragic consequences for the whole family.
So many married couples in the Philippines, and elsewhere, are separated by the fact that one is working overseas, sometimes both and possibly in different countries. It is vital that they have living and vibrant communication. Modern technology has made that possible in almost every part of the globe. I knew one Filipino couple nine or ten years ago where the husband was on a scholarship in Japan and who talked every night using Skype. And their children had a chance to see and talk to their father as he saw and talked to them.
St Joseph, Husband of Mary, pray for us.
Joseph's Song
Written and sung by Michael Card
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Francesco de Mura [Web Gallery of Art]
Kyrie and Gloria from Missa Sancti Josephi
Composed by Flor Peeters (1903-1986)
Sung by Palestrina Choir, St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin
I was a member of this choir from 1951 to 1953 or thereabouts and was ordained in the Pro-Cathedral on 20 December 1967.
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