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Today's official name is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. That's a mouthful, so folks around here generally call it Holy Family Sunday. We don't see much of the Holy Family in the Gospels, or anywhere else in the Bible. Luke 2:22 - 40 — The Presentation in the Temple 1 — is one of the exceptions. It's today's Gospel reading. The others are Sirach 2:2 - 6 ; and Colossians 3:12 - 21 . There's a lot to say about all three, but I'll leave nearly all of that for another day. Just the first two verses from Luke are more than enough for a post.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Modern Holy Family Sculpture often focuses on the intimacy and love Joseph and Mary have for their son, Jesus. They also depict Joseph’s protective strength which is something that I really had not considered before looking at these statues. continue reading

The next stop on my Touring Chicago's beautiful churches is  Holy Family .  Holy Family began its journey in 1857 when  Fr. Arnold Damen  began it's construction. You can read the rest of the article at Being Catholic ... Really .

This morning's readings — Sirach 3:2 - 6 , 12 - 14 ; Genesis 15:1 - 6 , 21:1 - 3 ; Colossians 3:12 - 21 or Hebrews 11:8 , 11 - 12 , 17 - 19 ; and Luke 2:22 - 40 — have one thing in common: marriage and family. That figures, since this is Holy Family Sunday. Taking a cue from our Lord, Catholics see family as a big deal. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1601 - 1658 , particularly 1655 ; 2210 ) That's not the same as holding up Happy Days or All In the Family as an ideal toward which all must strive. So why is this in one of today's readings? 8 Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord." ( Colossians 3:18 ) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Inspiration of St Matthew , Caravaggio, 1602 Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome [ 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 22:1-14 [or 22:1-10]  ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition : Canada)  Jesus said to the chief priest and the elders of the people:  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.   He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come.   Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’   But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, anoth...

On the Feast of the Holy Family, December 29, 2013, Pope Francis invited all Catholics to pray for families as the Church prepares for an Extraordinary Synod to examine the troubling disconnect between Church teaching and the reality of modern family life. In his  Angelus address  given to the crowds in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis recited for the first time his new Prayer to the Holy Family. (Full text available  here .) The prayer seeks the help of the Holy Family while at the same time revealing Pope Francis' vision of the family as it is and as it could be. It paints an ideal portrait of family life and yet acknowledges the severe difficulties faced by many. It concludes with a heart-felt petition for the renewal of the sacredness and inviolability of the family. Pope Francis' prayer is a short primer on the theology of the family and deserves careful contemplation. Let's see what he says. The Splendor of True Love Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we cont...

Celebrating the joy of the Holy Family throughout the ages with icons, stained glass, old masters, sculpture and modern paintings.

Was St. Joseph free from original sin? Yes, I do believe he was.  This is only logical.  Since Mary was immaculate at her birth, and Jesus was of course free from all sin as He was God, why would God put in place a husband, stepfather, and protector of the Virgin Mary and Jesus that carried original sin? This doesn't make sense.  That which stained by sin does not oversee and protect the pure, therefore at some point Joseph must have been immaculate also. St. Joseph was not just the member of the Holy family, but he  led  the holy family, and what we forget is that while Joseph lived, Mary and her son Jesus were  obedient   to him.  As God is  never subject to sin , then logically St. Joseph was immaculate also. The only question is when? When did God make Joseph immaculate.  I don't think at birth, because I feel strongly that he had a family and was a widower when he was chosen to be with Mary.  So not at birth, ...

Reposted from: Costing Not Less Than Everything I posted this painting in another post and wanted to write more about what I thought and felt about it. This is a domestic scene, first and foremost – quotidian and earthbound. The dwelling is dark, probably cold, draughty and damp.  Rembrandt painted several similar pictures of the Holy Family, in which the relative meanness of the surroundings contrasts with domestic warmth and love. Saint Joseph is, as is often the case,  back in the shadows, an older, shaded, quieter figure. The Madonna and Child are always foregrounded. That was the convention of the times – but he is not redundant.  Joseph is working at his trade (and there is rather a nice rendition of a drill hanging on the wall). Whatever the artistic convention, Venerable Fulton Sheen contends that the common conception of Joseph as an older, less powerful man than the conventional young Jewish husband of the day is incorrect. He describes ...

 Through our baptism, we're called to be royal, priestly parents to our children, exercising our God-given authority with kindness and benevolence. When we truly understand the essence of our authority, we can be leaders and nurturers of our children and help them to become the nurturers and leaders of the future .~ from Strengthening Your Family by Marge Fenelon, p.176  I did a lot of babysitting when I was young and became quite proficient at handling other people's children. I wondered at some parents' inability to control their children in church and other public places, since I rarely had any problem getting my little charges to listen to me. There was no doubt in my mind that I would someday be a  model parent with model children, all sitting quietly in the pew with rapt attention. However, when I finally married, God in His wisdom saw fit to send me the most rambunctious little girl ever created, the kind of child who loves to perform in pub...

The Feast of the Holy Family is dedicated to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, commemorating their life together in Nazareth and calling us to focus on Catholic family life. The feast is celebrated on the first Sunday after Christmas, unless Christmas falls on a Sunday, in which case it is celebrated on December 30. According to the  Fisheaters website&nbsp this feast is placed where it is on the calendar because “in Old Testament Law, a child wasn't a son of Abraham or a true part of the family until his circumcision at 8 days of age, an event of Christ's life that we celebrated on 1 January (from 25 December to 1 January are 8 days).” The feast was placed on the general calendar of the Roman Rite on October 26, 1921, by the Congregation of Rites under Pope Benedict XV. Catholic Online The house of Nazareth is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to meditate, to penetrate the deepest meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our exam...