Breaking the Word

Holy Family of Jesus, Friday – 30^th December 2022 — Gospel: Matthew 2,13-15.19-23

Family: Mystery of Love

The feast of the Holy Family is usually celebrated on the Sunday between Christmas and January 1. Since this year there is no Sunday between those days, the feast is transferred to December 30. Today we celebrate the gift of love that we experience so often within the family. In God’s plan, the family is a mystery of love.

In the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth, God shows us the way each member of the family contributes to the working of God in our lives. We find how God helps us experience his closeness and protection through the closeness and intimacy of family relations. We can think of how proud Mary was to have a husband like Joseph, a man who was so strong and loving, and yet so unassuming and humble, who was willing to risk everything to protect her and Jesus. We can also think of the tremendous respect and awe that Joseph had for the beauty of Mary’s heart and for God’s entrustment to him of these two most special people, Jesus and Mary. They both offered the love, the protection, and the diligent care that the vulnerable child, the redeemer needed. We discover in the Holy Family, in a special way, how God accomplishes his plan of salvation so often through the quiet, hidden love of the family. The sacrifices that its members make for each other open them to be instruments of God’s grace and love for the world-wide family.

Christmas Octave, Thursday – 29^th December 2022 — Gospel:  Lk 2,22-35

Three Prophetic Images

After seeing baby Jesus Simeon expressed his double response: he joyfully praised God for the great revelation of the salvation made known to him and to the gentiles and he prophesied to the parents about baby Jesus. He used three images in his prophetic message: the stumbling stone, the contradictory sign and the piercing sword. In the OT, stone is an important image of God (Gen 49,24 Ps 18,2). Messiah has been a “rejected cornerstone” (Ps.118,22; Lk 20,17-18; Acts 4,11) and the nation of Israel would stumble over Him (IS 8,14; Rom 9,32). Because of Jesus Christ, many in Israel would fall in conviction and then rise in salvation. Even today, God’s people Israel stumble over the cross (1Cor 1,23) and do not understand that Jesus is their Rock (1 Pet 2,1-6).  The word sign means “a miracle” not so much as a demonstration of power but as a revelation of divine truth. Our Lord’s miracles in John’s gospel are called “signs” because they reveal special truths about Him (Jn 20,30-31). Jesus Christ is God’s miracle, and yet, instead of admiring Him, the people attacked Him and spoke against Him. The image of the sword referred to the parents of Jesus, and it spoke of suffering and sorrow they would bear. In Greek the word means a large sword such as Goliath used (1 Sam 17,51) and the verb means “constantly keep on piercing”. The prophecy of Simeon challenges the way we look at Jesus and the world. It breaks off the preconceived ideas and notions and makes us suffer with the Saviour.