Feast of the Holy Family
The Feast of the Holy Family continues beautiful scripture proclamations begun in Advent. In special circumstances, such as Christmas and Easter, readings from daily Mass help us to till the soil and get us ready. Advent blending into Christmas is perhaps the best example.
This past Saturday morning we heard from the prophet Malachi:
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the Lord whom you seek, and the
messenger of the covenant you desire.
May this stimulate our imagination to consider that Mary IS the predicted temple in which our savior dwelled and was given human birth. We should also consider that WE are the temple, because Christ is born into human life – ALL life – YOUR LIFE. He also reminds us that the Advent, Christmas, Holy Family story dramatically heralds essential parts of fulfilling God’s covenant with us. This began in creation but was ritualized when God stretched out a hand to humanity in the desert to journey to a better way of life. And humanity took God’s hand, a gesture indicating that we are ALWAYS in a partnership with God, and the covenant is most sacred when our work meets God’s work in carrying out the covenant. The characters of John the Baptist and Mary the mother of Jesus spoke to us as we prepared for and celebrated Christmas.
Christmas, or the Feast of the Nativity, is so important that we have readings during several Masses including the Vigil Mass for Christmas Eve and then separate and distinct readings for Mass at Dawn, Mass During the Day and even Mass on Christmas Night. They have different points of emphasis. From Matthew we hear a genealogy of Jesus. From Luke, we hear the story of the birth of Christ, including a census, no room at the inn, a manger and shepherds. From John, we hear that in the beginning was the word and the word became flesh in Jesus.
A passage from the book of Sirach sets the stage for Mass this weekend as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. The book of Sirach is in the Wisdom section of the Old Testament library that we call the Bible. Other Old Testament sections include The Pentateuch, Historical and Prophetic Books. Throughout the Wisdom Books, Wisdom is personified as a woman.
As I write this, Eric Kramp, Sue Geegan and I, along with Natalie Donatello, Odette Barrientos and Chris Strong from Catholic Extension have just returned from a trip to learn about some communities for this year’s Lenten Social Justice Project. We visited several mission communities in Montana all led by the wisdom of faithful women, all but one lay women. There are some priests who minister there but the bulk of the mission of these communities is carried out by extremely dedicated women.
Sr. Mary Dostal is the foundress of Angela’s Piazza in Billings, named after Angela Merici who founded Sr. Mary’s community, the Ursulines. A piazza is a central gathering place in towns and cities throughout Italy where Sr. Angela Merici was from. Sr. Mary Dostal has brought the concept of gathering to Billings in support of women who have been the victims of domestic violence, who are in recovery from addictions, sexual trafficking and abuse. Angela’s Piazza offers a safe place for a transition, a family atmosphere and a foundation for a new start. Angela’s Piazza empowers women who are struggling.
Megan Callahan is the Director of Religious Education at the St. Ignatius Mission Church in the town of St. Ignatius. Megan is a rancher, a foster parent, she has her CDL truck driver’s license, and she is married with three children and does a lot more than her title indicates at the church.
Sr. Mary and Megan exemplify the womanly wisdom of Sirach. They put into action what Paul says in the second reading this weekend from Colossians. They have not only put on several powerful virtues, such as heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, but they have put them on as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved. With VERY few financial resources they have enlivened communities largely of Native Americans from several reservations.
You will hear much more about the needs of these communities as Lent arrives, but for now, may they be an example of what a Holy Family can be, forming support and community for people facing so many challenges including being isolated by miles from the nearest church. May they remind us of the call that our parish was founded on – to create a faith home for each other and to be A Holy Family, to Be More of a Family, and to BE MORE Holy.