Sunday:       Holy Family
Date:         December 31, 2006
Year:         C
The readings: [1 Sam. 1:11, 20-22, 24-28; 1 Jn. 3:1-2, 21-24; Lk. 2:41-52]
The message:  Believe in Jesus and love one another.
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1407

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My dear friends in Jesus, as you are all aware, today, we are celebrating the last liturgical Feast of this calendar year. At the heart of the three readings that we have just heard was the family with special emphasis on children. Why were all three readings related to the family? It is because they were intended to echo today's celebration, the Feast of the Holy Family.

Today's First Reading from the First Book of Samuel [1 Sam. 1:11, 20-22, 24-28] echoed the greatest desire of most families, especially that of the women, to bear a child. As you heard, Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was without child. She fervently prayed to the Lord, asking His blessing, promising in return to set before the Lord her child to be.

The heavenly Father agreed to Hannah's term and blessed her with a child. Hannah named her son "Samuel" which literally means "Name of God."

Before proceeding, I would like to point out how Hannah managed to have her prayer answered. That same way of praying has been effectively used by many Christians throughout the centuries. When petitioning God for a blessing, there is a greater likelihood that the favour shall be obtained if the petitioner makes a promise to the Lord in return for having the prayer answered. It is by giving that we receive.

We heard that Hannah did not make the pilgrimage until her son was three years old. She may have avoided making the pilgrimage on this special occasion possibly out of a desire to prolong the time that she would keep her child.

In those days, the practice in the Near East was to nurse a child for a period of three years. This is affirmed in the Second book of Maccabees where it states: "But, learning close to him, she spoke in their native language as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: 'My son, have pity on me, I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you.'" [2 Mac. 7:27]

Once the child had been weaned, he was taken to the Temple where he was presented with a very respectable offering.

Today's Second Read [1 Jn. 3:1-2, 21-24] also spoke of children. In this instance, reference was made to us, as the children of God. We were reminded of the great love that the Father has given us. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believers in Him may not perish but may have eternal life." [Jn. 3:16] In the truest and most absolute sense, there can be no greater love than this unique love of God. It is this free gift, undeserved by us sinners, that has made it possible "that we be called children of God."

Those who live their faith in Christ, the world does not know them. These faithful Christians may be considered "strange" because they are not actively involved in every social group. While they are in this world, they are not of this world. You do not find these Christians at the bar. They are not addicted to drugs. They do not seek fame or riches. When someone is in need, quietly, they are there to assist the poor, the sick, the seniors, the orphans, the widows, the prisoners, all those who must bear a special cross. That is what makes them sons and daughters of God.

While he who is baptized is now a child of God, there is a fulfillment toward which he looks, in which his configuration to God will be completed, "we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." [1 Jn. 3:1]

During the second paragraph of the Second Reading, it was stated: "Beloved, if our hearts to not condemn us, we have boldness before God..." What do these words mean? They mean either one of two things. First, they may mean that if we live a righteous life, so much the more will we be confident of God's favour. Secondly, they may also mean that if we are not conscious of having sinned, so much the more will we be confident of God's favour.

Our fidelity to God is confirmed by obeying His commandments and doing what pleases Him.

As taught in many Gospel passages, effective prayers are conditioned on Christian fidelity: "keeping his commandments and doing what is pleasing in his sight." Saint John, the writer of this Letter, sums up the two requirements of the commandments, faith and love. We should believe in the Name of Jesus Christ and love one another, just as Our Lord has commanded us. Obedience to the commandments assures us continued communion with God. All who obey the commandments remain in God and God remains in them. A further guarantee that they have the Divine Presence of God is the possession of the Holy Spirit within.

Today's Reading from the Gospel of Luke [Lk. 2:41-52] was a recollection of the event related to the Boy Jesus in the Temple. As the Jewish Law prescribed, the people were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for three major feasts: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. These observances can be traced to the Book of Exodus where God states, "Three times in the year, you shall hold a festival for Me." [Exo. 23:14] and the Book of Deuteronomy where God states, "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that He will choose: at the festival of unleavened bread, ad the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed." [Deut. 16:16]

While the custom excused those who lived at a great distance, they were not excused for the Passover. The impact of this obligation would be something like, while you are excused from not attending Holy Mass during the weekdays, you are not excused from attending Holy Mass on Sundays.

At the time of this event, Jesus was still a child. He was twelve years old, a year before the age at which a boy officially reached manhood.

I am sure everyone is familiar with this event. Therefore, let me just point out one line. When Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the Temple and inquired as to His action that had them worried, Jesus said: "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" What do these words imply?

1. In Greek language, the words "in my Father's house" can also be translated to mean "about my Father's business."

2. At this point, Saint Joseph had to realized that Jesus was not talking about him. (as the Father) Up until now, only Saint Joseph had been called by that title.

3. While Jesus' words certainly came as a shock to Saint Joseph, the Virgin Mary must have sorrowed over them. For these words meant separation. She found her son totally involved in a mission that the heavenly Father had sent Him to accomplish.

At this stage, it is obvious that Mary and Joseph did not understand the full meaning of Jesus' words. A parent's greatest sorrows afflicted Mary - not to understand her own child. This statement makes it highly improbable that Mary appreciated the Divine Sonship of her son at this time.

In conclusion, as we heard, Jesus increased in wisdom. As a human child, like all other boys of His age, Jesus grew physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually in preparation for the work that lay ahead of Him.

This week, every day of this week let us remember God's commandments, to believe in Jesus and to love one another. If we do not love one another, we do not have Jesus in us and we are not in Jesus. It is as simple as that! To be assured of the Lord's indwelling Presence, let us ask ourselves, "Is there someone I do not love?" And if there is, it's time to change all of that by making peace in order to obtain the love of Jesus.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"Hannah, wife of Elkanah, had no children; she prayed to the Lord and made this vow: 'O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.'

In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, 'I have asked him of the Lord.' Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, 'As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.'

When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, a measure of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, 'Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord,' She left him there for the Lord." [1 Sam. 1:11, 20-22, 24-28]

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Second Reading...

"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.

Beloved, if our hearts do no condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.[1 Jn. 3:1-2, 21-24]

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Gospel Reading...

Now every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.

When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, 'Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.' He said to them, 'Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' But they did not understand what he said to them.

Then Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour. [Lk. 2:41-52]

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