This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
Christmas OctaveFamily is …A Blessing and Domestic (Mini) Church!!!Sir3:2-6, 12-14 Col3:12-21, Lk2:41-52Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, Eucharist invites us to gather as a family around the altar of God. Every Sacrament is a community celebration of the family. Family is the first place of education, discipline, faith and love. We thank God for the gift of family life and we shall look at the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph for our inspiration, motivation and strength.Do we meet together as a family a few times in a year, or many times in a year? Do we pray grace before meals, or do we rarely sit at the dining table? Do we go to Church on Sundays as a family, or do we go only when it's convenient for us? Do I miss my family, or do I feel comfortable to be away from family? Do I listen to the stories from my Grandparents, or do I struggle to find time to visit them? The above self-talk will give an awareness of my presence in the family and my understanding of family. There is a tendency to approach everything as temporary: friends, family, marriage, job, faith and values. It is called an experimenting culture. We keep changing with experimentation. There is no stable relationship, faith or life. Finally we are lost. The feast of the Holy Family reminds us that if we believe and live knowing the richness and importance of family, then we have found the treasure. A few years ago, a study was undertaken to find the U.S. city with the lowest incidence of cancer and heart disease. The winner was Rosetto, Pennsylvania. Soon experts descended upon the city expecting to see a town populated by non-smokers, people who ate the correct food, took regular exercise and kept close track of their cholesterol. To their great surprise, however, the researchers discovered that none of the above was true. They found instead that the city’s good health was tied to the close family bonds that prevailed within the community. This suggests that there is much to be said for a close and loving family relationship. (Robert Duggan & Richard Jajac). The First reading teaches us to understand the great role of parents in the family. The author Joshua Ben Sira must have been a teacher of Torah, or law. He wrote during the second century B.C.E. He was also a family man, a husband, a father and a grandfather. His writing was an alerting message to the people, especially to the young, who were influenced by the existing Hellenistic Culture and Greek philosophy. It was all about individual, the world of change, that knowledge is power, and emphasized the Greek gods. The author explains the 4th Commandment of honor thy father and mother. He affirms that by respecting and honoring our parents and grandparents, we are given the following blessings: richness, long life and forgiveness. Family is a blessing. We are called to accept and respect one another as gifts from God. Bishop Desmond Tutu once said, “You do not choose your family, they are God’s gift to you, as you are to them”. It is true that since God is offering us parents and children of His choice, then they must be gifts and blessings. Can I recognize that my family is a blessing? Can I say that my parents are blessings to me? In the gospel, Luke wants us to know the blessing prayers of Anna and Simeon to the Holy Family. Joseph is offering Mother Mary and Jesus, as a responsible family man according to the law. After childbirth, the mother needs to go through a purification ceremony. The first born males belong to God, so they need to offer this son and return through their offerings at the temple. Anna and Simeon were old, they were part of history and they were faithful to God. They offer blessings of the present and future. Pope Francis said, “Grandparents are a treasure”. Often old age isn’t pretty, right? There is sickness and all that, but the wisdom our grandparents have is something we must welcome as an inheritance. He also strongly expressed that, ” A society or community that does not value, respect and care for its elderly members, doesn’t have a future because it has no memory, it’s lost its memory”. Every family tree has a foundation of grandparents. They tell the family story, they know the roots. They make things easy for us to live. Pope Francis also emphasized that, “Not only would I say that the family is important for the evangelization of the new world. The family is important, and it is necessary for the survival of humanity. Without the family, the cultural survival of the human race would be at risk. The family whether we like it or not, is the foundation.” The home is the “domestic Church.” Yet how many of us Catholics decry the lack of reverence in their Church, and then go home to desecrate their domestic churches — by harsh words toward our kids or our spouse, or by gossip about the neighbors, co-workers or even priests? Remember: “They’ll know we are Christians” — not just by the nativity scene in our front yard — but by the love in our hearts, expressed in our homes. We shall make our family a domestic and mini-church by sharing, caring, praying and dining together. Then, we will be witnesses to the rest of the community. The Early Christian community lived out as domestic and mini-churches by sharing among them, and through breaking bread. The Synod on Family affirms the importance and fundamental role of family, Christian and the life of everyone. We shall thank God for our families. We shall also bring all the disturbed, separated and broken families that the spirit of the Lord will touch their thoughts and minds to return and seek the strength and support primarily in families. Mother Teresa said, “Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home. Make them long to be with their families. So much sin could be avoided if our people really loved their homes.” –Amen. 
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