The feasts of the Holy Family and the Solemnity of Mary are times in which we are called to rehumanize Joseph, Mary, and, to some extent, Jesus. It is very tempting to deify Mary and Joseph, or at least, raise them to the stature of super heroes. There have been attempts throughout the past 2000 years, as recently as the 1980’s, by devotees of Mary to call on the Church to name Mary the co-mediatrix (co-redeemer). St John Paul II, one of Mary’s greatest advocates, decisively squashed those attempts. He reminded the Church that there is only one Redeemer, and that is Jesus.
These feasts serve to remind us of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ vulnerability as human beings. Mary’s Immaculate Conception (a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church) did not give her the ability to peer into future or give her any special powers in which to raise her son. Mary and Joseph, like all parents had to figure out how to parent their kid, day to day, moment to moment. We find in Luke’s story of the “Finding in the Temple, that Jesus, like most 12 year old adolescents, is trying to figure out who he is. He knows that there is something special about him and he seeks out the place where he thinks he can find some answers, the Temple. When Jesus comes up missing, Joseph and Mary panic, like all of us do when one of our kids is missing. Upon finding Jesus, Mary scolds Jesus for being inconsiderate and causing them great worry. When Jesus answers her cryptically, Mary does not understand his answer (welcome to parent’s world of raising an adolescent). Luke describes Mary has having to ponder in her heart what Jesus meant. Sound familiar?
On these two feasts, the Holy Family is revealed to be just like all our families with one exception, their child was both very human and very divine. Their love for their child is just as strong as the love we have for our children, even when our kids prompt us to tear out our hair and momentarily ponder about selling them to the gypsies. When we examine the commonalities between the Holy Family and our familes, we will find, perhaps to our surprise, how “holy” our own families are.
