When God the Father sent his Son to earth, he did not send him to the Imperial Senate in Rome, nor to a Roman legion, nor even to the Temple in Jerusalem. No. Rather, God sent his son to a family in the Judean countryside. This family was not blessed with the power of Rome, nor with the might of her armies, nor with the dignity of the Temple. And yet, this family had something more powerful, mighty and dignified than all three of these institutions – this family had a divine mandate: to raise the Son of God and to prepare him for his mission to save the world.
We might be tempted to look at the Holy Family and think to ourselves, “It is all well and good that the Holy Family exists – but such a family is entirely unique and can’t possibly serve as a model for all families. They are too high and too perfect. Normal families can’t relate.” Such a thought, however, fails to see the divine mandate of all families.
In the Book of Genesis, we read that God created man and woman, and commanded them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). Thus, from the beginning, families have been tasked with the natural mission of bringing forth new life and filling the earth with the laughter and joy of mankind. This is a divine mandate to cooperate with God in the creation of new human beings. This task should astound us. Why should we be given the privilege of creating eternal beings? Yet that is, in part, the mission of the family – to co-create with God.
When our Lord came to earth, he elevated this natural mission of the family to a supernatural level. Now, families are not just tasked with filling the earth with new human life. No. Now, families have the still greater privilege of populating the Heavenly City. Each time a family brings a child into the world, this new child has the potential to dwell with God for all of eternity. This, then, is the task of the family: to raise up sons and daughters who will love God, who will perpetuate the merits of our Lord’s Passion to all time and space, and who will ultimately behold God face to face.
So, while we are not called to be the Holy Family and to raise the Son of God, we are called to be holy families and to raise up children of God. May God grant us the grace to carry out so noble a task.
Ian Mahood – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta
Fot. Debby Hudson/Unsplash.com