The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”

The Christmas Season continues as we focus on the family that God has entered into in order to save us. It is so important for us as followers of Jesus to remember that God desires to save us in and through a family. He also wants us to experience deeper healing and redemption in our own families as well.

Living in a family and loving well is no easy task: it requires grace, courage and a lot of forgiveness. But with the power that Jesus has brought into the world, it is indeed possible.

Loving well is no easy task

Joseph is warned in a dream that there is someone who wants to destroy his Child, and so he listens to the angel’s wisdom and escapes. One thing we often underestimate is the fact that our family is under attack. If it feels like family life is a battle, that’s because it is.

You have an enemy, and more so than any flesh and blood person (or politician!), your enemy is the devil. The devil does not eat, does not sleep and has been doing this for a very long time. And the full force of his attacks are against you and your family: to keep you separated, disjointed and torn apart. Even the best families are objects of this attack and often bear the scars of this war.

So what can we do?

So what can we do as Catholic families? I encourage you to begin both an offensive and a defensive strategy.

First the defensive: We are giving out information about Covenant Eyes this week, which is a software for all electronic devices to help fight against the pernicious onslaught of internet pornography. The degradation of the human person that used to be relegated to back-alleys and seedy stores is now accessible in every smartphone and computer. Helping every member of your family to be free of pornography is more important than ever. For the offensive I would encourage every family to begin praying the Rosary together.

Maybe just start with one decade, but take ten minutes and ask everyone to say their intentions and then pray that together. Maybe read the scene from the Bible that is being prayed.

As the old saintly Fr. Peyton would say:

“The family that prays together stays together.”

Please know that your parish family is here to help you and your nuclear family in whatever ways we can. May God bless us and our families as we continue through this Christmas Season and into the New Year.