COLLECT SERIES
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The Mass: Collect Series IconCOLLECT
The Collect for the Feast of the Holy Family Year C reads
as follows: O God, who were pleased to give us the shining
example of the Holy Family, graciously grant that we may imitate them in
practicing the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity, and so, in the joy of your house, delight one
day in eternal rewards. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
In making this prayer tangible, the
following reflection questions emerged:
What does the feast of the Holy
Family mean to me? What is the shining example of the Holy
Family? What virtues of family life and bonds
of charity will my family practice this coming year? How will my family celebrate this
great feast? How will my parish family acknowledge
and celebrate this great feast?
GOSPEL REFLECTION
ABOUT THE FEAST OF HOLY FAMILY The devotion to the Holy
Family was born in Bethlehem, together with the Baby Jesus. The shepherds went
to adore the Child and, at the same time, they gave honour to His family.
Later, in a similar way, the three wise men came from the East to adore and give
honour to the newborn King with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that
would be safeguarded by His family. We can go further to affirm that in a
certain sense Christ, Himself, was the first devotee of His family. He showed
His devotion to His mother and foster father by submitting Himself, with
infinite humility, to the duty of filial obedience towards them. This is what
St Bernard of Clairvaux said in this regard, ‘God, to whom angels submit
themselves and who principalities and powers obey, was subject to Mary; and not
only to Mary but Joseph also for Mary’s sake [….]. God obeyed a human creature;
this is humility without precedent. A human creature commands God; it is
sublime beyond measure.’ (First Homily on the ‘Missus Est’). Today’s celebration demonstrates
Christ’s humility and obedience with respect to the fourth commandment, whilst
also highlighting the loving care that His parents exercised in His keeping.
The servant of God, Pope John Paul II, in 1989, entitled his Apostolic
Exhortation, ‘Redemptoris Custos’ (Guardian of the Redeemer) which
was dedicated to the person and the mission of Saint Joseph in the life of
Christ and of the Church. After exactly a century, he resumed the teaching of
Pope Leo XIII, for who Saint Joseph ‘...shines among all mankind by the most
august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and
reputed as His father among men’ (Encyclical Quamquam Pluries [1889]
n. 3). Pope Leo XIII continued,‘... Joseph became the guardian, the
administrator, and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he
was.[…] It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered
to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his
protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and
defend the Church of Jesus Christ.’ Not many years before, blessed Pope
Pius IX had proclaimed Saint Joseph, ‘Patron of the Catholic Church’ (1870) Almost intuitively, one can recognize
that the mysterious, exemplary, guardianship enacted by Joseph was conducted
firstly, in a yet more intimate way, by Mary. Consequently, the liturgical
feast of the Holy Family speaks to us of the fond and loving care that we must
render to the Body of Christ. We can understand this in a mystical sense, as
guardians of the Church, and also in the Eucharistic sense. Mary and Joseph
took great care of Jesus’ physical body. Following their example, we can and
must take great care of His Mystical Body, the Church, and the Eucharist which
He has entrusted to us. If Mary was, in some way, ‘the first
tabernacle in history’ (John Paul II Ecclesia de Eucharistia,
n. 55) then we the Tabernacle in which Our Lord chose to reside in person, in
His Real Presence, was also entrusted to us. We can learn from Mary and Joseph!
What would they ever have overlooked in the care of Jesus’ physical body? Is
there something, therefore, that we can withhold for the right and adoring care
of His Eucharistic Body? No amount of attention, no sane act of love and
adoring respect will ever be too much! On the contrary, our adoration and
respect will always be inferior to the great gift that comes to us in the Holy
Eucharist. Looking at the Holy Family, we see the
love, the protection, and the diligent care that they gave to the Redeemer. We
can not fail to feel uneasiness, perhaps a shameful thought, for the times in
which we have not rendered the appropriate care and attention to the Blessed
Eucharist. We can only ask for forgiveness and do penance for all the
sacrilegious acts and the lack of respect that are committed in front of the
Blessed Eucharist. We can only ask the Lord, through the intersession of the
Holy Family of Nazareth, for a greater love for their Son Incarnate, who has
decided to remain here on earth with us every day until the end of time. Taken
from www.catholicculture.org
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