Immediately after Christmas day, the Church – in her unbridled enthusiasm for Christ’s birth – celebrates the feasts of four martyrs: St. Stephen, the protomartyr; St. John the Evangelist, martyr in will; the Holy Innocents, martyrs in deed; and St. Thomas Becket, martyr for the Church. In the midst of all this martyrdom, on the first Sunday after Christmas, we also celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Family – not because family-life is akin to martyrdom – but because the family points towards that which is worthy of martyrdom: the Holy Trinity.
How does the family point towards the Holy Trinity? Throughout the ages, theologians have used various signs as imagines trinitatis – images of the Trinity. For St. Augustine, the imago trinitatis was the tripartite function of the soul – being, understanding and willing. For Richard of St. Victor’s, the imago trinitatis was the perfect love between friends. For Hans Urs von Balthasar, the imago trinitatis was sacramental marriage. The Solemnity of the Holy Family offers us one more imago trinitatis – the family.
The trinitarian aspect of the family is most clearly seen through the three types of family members – father, mother and children. While all images of the trinity lack the perfection of the Holy Trinity, we can see each family member as representing a person of the Holy Trinity. The father, as God the Father, begets life; the mother, as God the Son, incarnates life; and children, as God the Holy Spirit, are the manifestation of the love shared between father and mother. Together, they form a holy society of love.
The Holy Family, then, is the model for all families as they attempt to become societies of love. Jesus, Mary and Joseph were the perfect family. The Holy Family, however, lacked natural fecundity. Joseph did not beget any natural child with Mary, for she was a perpetual virgin. This aspect of the Holy Family reminds us that ultimately, our own natural powers cannot bring about perfect love – that is, Christ living in our souls. A father and mother may love each other dearly, yet their love is imperfect until it drinks from the eternal font of Love. Only through the grace of God can families be true societies of love.
In these days after Christmas, as we are surrounded by the witness of martyrs, let us remember that the Holy Trinity is worthy of our blood. And let us strive to replicate holy societies of love – the imago trinitatis – within our families, even as we strive to unify ourselves with the Holy Trinity for eternity.
Ian Mahood – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta