THE FULNESS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY.

HOLY FAMILY SUNDAY. Year C.
December 31, 2006.
(First reading: Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14) (Psalm 128:1-5)
(Second reading: Colossians 3:12-21) (Gospel reading: Luke 2:41-52)

THE FULNESS OF
THE HUMAN FAMILY.

The gospel shows that Jesus (God incarnate) needs a family of his own in order to "advance in wisdom and age and favor before God and man" (Luke 2:52) because the family is the human institution which provides the means to achieve the fulness of a person's human development.

Human fulness is achieved through the participation of God and the members of the family, for just as a child needs the nurturing and love from his parents, so does he also need the nurturing and love from God. A family, therefore, contains in itself the presence of God and of humans engaged in a mutual relationship.

Let us see how this relationship is manifested: When Mary and Joseph realized that their Son was not with them, they immediately began to look for him "with great anxiety" (Luke 2:48) until they found him in the temple. It is at this time that Jesus defines his belonging to his family as a two-fold relationship: He belongs to the family of Mary and Joseph and he also belongs to God. Jesus "went down with Mary and Joseph and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them" (luke 2:51). In this family, "Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man" (Luke 2:52).

It is in his family where Jesus obtains the fulness of his humanness.

The human relations within society must follow the model of the relations within the family.
The Book of Sirach (First reading) tells us that those who honor their mother or father also honor God. Subsequently, we may say that those who honor any human being also honor God. And just as anyone who mistreats mother or father is mistreating God, so is anyone who mistreats any human being.

Saint Paul in his Letter to the Colossians (Second reading) describes the nature of the relations between human beings whether in a family or in society at large. Says Paul "As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved [we must relate to one another with] heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12-13). By relating in this manner we will be able to establish "the bond of perfection" among all human beings, thus we will be able to "let the peace of Christ control [our] hearts, the peace into which [we] were also called into one body" (Colossians 3:15).
"The bond of perfection" among the members of the human family is therefore the life of unity and peace in which we all are to live.

The Lord Jesus reached the fulness of his human nature in the family of Mary and Joseph so that we, all human beings, may reach our human fulness in our families.