The Holy Family – Year B

                       The child grew and grew strong, full of wisdom

 # The circumcision of Jesus is an event narrated in the Gospel according to Luke (2:21): eight days after his birth Jesus was circumcised according to the Jewish practice of Milah. The event is commemorated by the Catholic Church of the Ambrosian rite and the Orthodox Church with the corresponding liturgical feast celebrated on 1 January of the Julian calendar, corresponding to 14 January of the universal Gregorian calendar. The Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord is a religious celebration on the eighth day after the birth of Jesus (Christmas Eve). It is observed as the day on which Jesus was circumcised – according to Jewish tradition – and on which he received his name. For believers it is a feast day that celebrates not only Jesus, the « Torah Giver », but also the first time Jesus gave blood for mankind. This demonstrates not only Jesus’ obedience to God, but also the prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection. The feast day is celebrated by the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and some churches of the Anglican Communion on 1 January (or 14 January, which corresponds to 1 January in the traditional Julian calendar for those who continue to use it).

                                                                                                      

# The Holy Family is the name given to the family formed by Jesus of Nazareth and his parents, Mary and Joseph. It is cited as an example by the Catholic Church for all Catholic families. The liturgical feast day celebrating this Holy Family of Nazareth was established by the Church in 1893 and today is the Sunday immediately following Christmas. St Joseph, Mary’s husband, is celebrated on 19 March and St Joseph the Craftsman on 1 May. It is a Canadian monk, François de Laval, who is at the origin of the cult of the Holy Family. In 1660, the monastery of Saint-Joseph du Bessillon had reported miracles on Saint Joseph and Sainte Marie and the parish of Sainte-Famille on the island of Orléans was founded in 1684. In 1665, François de Laval founded the Confrérie de la Sainte Famille, a confraternity that still exists in some parishes in Canada. This cult then spread to the Catholic Church in the 19th century with the support of Pope Leo XIII. The feast of the Holy Family is the patronal feast of the Quebec Seminary. It is particularly venerated in Cotignac (South of France), place of apparition of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces.

                                                                                               

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke.

Whem the time prescribed by the Law of Moses for purification was fulfilled, the parents of Jesus brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, according to what is written in the Law : Every first-born male child shall be consecrated to the Lord. They also came to offer the sacrifice prescribed by the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two doves. Now there was in Jerusalem a man named Simeon.

He was a righteous and religious man, who awaited the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. He had received from the Holy Spirit the announcement that he would not see death until he had seen Christ, the Messiah of the Lord.
Under the action of the Spirit, Simeon came to the Temple. As the parents presented the child Jesus to observe the rite of the Law concerning him, Simeon received him in his arms and blessed God, saying : « Now, O sovereign master, let your servant go in peace, according to your word.

For my eyes have seen the salvation that you are preparing before the peoples : a light that is revealed to the nations and gives glory to your people Israel. « The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother : « Behold, this child will bring about the fall and rise of many in Israel. He will be a sign of contradiction – and you will have a sword pierced through your soul – and thus the thoughts that come from the hearts of many will be revealed. « There was also a woman prophet, Hannah, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

She was very old; after seven years of marriage, she had been widowed and had reached the age of eighty-four. She did not stray far from the Temple, serving God day and night in fasting and prayer.
Coming at that very hour, she proclaimed the praises of God and spoke of the child to all who awaited the deliverance of Jerusalem. After completing all that was prescribed by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their city of Nazareth. The child grew up and grew strong, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. «  (Lk 2, 22-40)

Circumcision and presentation at the temple

Jesus’ parents took him to the temple to fulfil the requirements of the law on the purification of the mother and the consecration of the firstborn. They offered the sacrifice of the poor. Simeon, that righteous and devout man, who awaited salvation and received the promise to see him before he died, came to the temple, led by the Spirit, and received the child in his arms and blessed God.

Simeon expressed his personal feelings: he could leave in peace, because he saw salvation; then he celebrated this salvation that God had prepared, and that was the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.  To the admiration of his father and mother, Simeon responds by prophesying the solution that the Messiah will make, the opposition he will encounter, the great pain he will cause his mother. The purpose of these dispensations will be the manifestation of hidden thoughts.

Anna, this widow, very old and having spent her life in the temple, came to praise God in the presence of all. Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth, where the child developed physically and spiritually under the action of divine grace. Every male Israelite child had to be circumcised on the eighth day (Genesis 17, 12 ; Leviticus 12, 3). This was the distinctive sign of the covenant God made with Abraham and, like baptism, was the symbol of purification.

It was in this ceremony that the child was given his name : « And when they came on the eighth day to circumcise him, they called him Zachariah, after the name of his father. « ( Lk 1, 59) Jesus, as soon as he enters into life, enters into the covenant of his people; he is subject to circumcision. He was born of a woman and born under the law : « But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, who was formed of a woman and born under the law » (Gal 4, 4). This is how he began to realise his name of Jesus, or Saviour.

Every first-born son was the Lord’s, and was to be devoted exclusively to His service ; but because the tribe of Levi was chosen for this service, all the first-born sons of the other tribes had to be redeemed for money : « For they were given unto me of the children of Israel entirely: I took them for myself instead of all the first-born, of all the first-born sons of Israel.  « (Num 8, 16), so that the divine right may be established and the future head of the family may always remember his obligations.

The mother of Jesus had to offer a lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for sin; but, if her means did not permit, she could substitute this sacrifice with that of two turtledoves or two young pigeons : « When the days of his purification are fulfilled – whether it be a boy or a girl – he shall bring to the door of the tabernacle to meet a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, and he shall give them to the priest. And the priest must take them to the Lord, and make a deal for her, and she must be made clean by a rite of clean blood. This was the rule for a woman who gave birth to a son or daughter. If she does not have enough to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the burnt offering and the other for the sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her and she shall be cleansed » (Lev 12:6-8).

Jesus’ parents took him to the temple to fulfil the requirements of the law on the purification of the mother and the consecration of the firstborn. They offered the sacrifice of the poor. Simeon, that righteous and devout man, who was waiting for salvation and had received a promise to see him before he died, came to the temple, led by the Spirit, and received the child in his arms and blessed God.

Simeon expressed his personal feelings: he could leave in peace, for he saw salvation; then he celebrated this salvation that God had prepared, and that was the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.  To the admiration of his father and mother, Simeon responds by prophesying the solution that the Messiah will make, the opposition he will encounter, the great pain he will cause his mother. The purpose of these dispensations will be the manifestation of hidden thoughts.

 Simeon is unknown in history; his name means. He was righteous and pious, awaiting the coming of the Saviour. Simeon, Anna, Zechariah, Joseph of Arimathea and others showed that there were humble Israelites ready to welcome the Lord in whatever small form God wanted to manifest Him. The official priesthood did not welcome the Lord who first entered his temple: « Behold, I will send my messenger; he shall prepare the way before me. And suddenly the Lord you seek will enter his temple; and the messenger of the covenant you desire, behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts » (Ml 3, 1).

A free priesthood, represented by Simeon and Anna, was formed to replace him. The source of Simeon’s religious life was clearly indicated. This preparation took place over the centuries through all the revelations of the Old Covenant. This great salvation for all was divided into two different streams. On the one hand, it is light for the enlightenment of the Gentile nations, for the revelation of the nations which, because of the revelation intended for them, are plunged into the deepest darkness; on the other, it is the glory of the people of Israel who, while participating in this salvation, will have the immortal honour of having given it to the world : « My righteousness draws near, it is not far off, and my salvation will not be long in coming. I will put salvation in Zion and my glory upon Israel. « (Is 46, 13).

Anna was a widow and eighty-four years old, she did not leave the Temple, worshipping with fasts and prayers, night and day. As the daughter of Phanuel, she was known in the Gospel account only by this trait. The word of the prophetess indicates that, like Simeon, she too had received the spirit of prophecy, through which she recognised in the little child the promised Saviour, and with it glorified God.

Luke also reminds us that, after a short marriage, she had lived until the age of eighty-four in a long widowhood, considered very honourable among Jews. M. Godet translates : « widowed for eighty-four years ». Wisdom, the understanding of the knowledge of God and man, in its practical application to life, was the outstanding feature of Jesus’ character as a child. Jesus went through all the stages of normal development, the only one who was fulfilled on earth, the only one who freed himself from all the deleterious attacks of evil and continued harmoniously through constant communion with God.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

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Links to other Christian websites

◊ By Fr. Tommy Lane : click here to read the paper → homily sermon on The Holy Family of  Nazareth

◊ OUR PARISH PRIEST  : click here to read the paper → FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY B

♥ RV FR. Chito Dimaranan SDB : « FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY »