When God the Father sent his Son to earth, he\ndid not send him to the Imperial Senate in Rome, nor to a Roman legion, nor\neven to the Temple in Jerusalem. No. Rather, God sent his son to a family in\nthe Judean countryside. This family was not blessed with the power of Rome, nor\nwith the might of her armies, nor with the dignity of the Temple. And yet, this\nfamily had something more powerful, mighty and dignified than all three of\nthese institutions – this family had a divine mandate: to raise the Son of God\nand to prepare him for his mission to save the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We might be tempted to look at the Holy Family\nand think to ourselves, \u201cIt is all well and good that the Holy Family exists –\nbut such a family is entirely unique and can\u2019t possibly serve as a model for\nall families. They are too high and too perfect. Normal families can\u2019t relate.\u201d\nSuch a thought, however, fails to see the divine mandate of all families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Book of Genesis, we read that God\ncreated man and woman, and commanded them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill\nthe earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28).\nThus, from the beginning, families have been tasked with the natural mission of\nbringing forth new life and filling the earth with the laughter and joy of\nmankind. This is a divine mandate to cooperate with God in the creation of new\nhuman beings. This task should astound us. Why should we be given the privilege\nof creating eternal beings? Yet that is, in part, the mission of the family –\nto co-create with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When our Lord came to earth, he elevated this\nnatural mission of the family to a supernatural level. Now, families are not\njust tasked with filling the earth with new human life. No. Now, families have\nthe still greater privilege of populating the Heavenly City. Each time a family\nbrings a child into the world, this new child has the potential to dwell with\nGod for all of eternity. This, then, is the task of the family: to raise up\nsons and daughters who will love God, who will perpetuate the merits of our\nLord\u2019s Passion to all time and space, and who will ultimately behold God face\nto face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, while we are not called to be the Holy\nFamily and to raise the Son of God, we are called to be holy families and to\nraise up children of God. May God grant us the grace to carry out so noble a\ntask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ian Mahood <\/strong>\u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. Debby Hudson\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Feast of the Holy Family<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n