Feast of the Holy Family

Luke 2 : 22 - 40

Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God's favor was with him.

Family life is sometimes over idealized. It can seem so when we choose to focus only on the easy aspects. We may forget that with every joy may also come times of pain and confusion.

After the infancy narratives, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer the required sacrifice. Here two elderly persons of great faith come into the picture. Simeon and Anna had spent much of their lives dedicated to God's service, in this case in a prayerful stance. Simeon is led to speak a prophetic word about the special child. Jesus would cause the rise and fall of many, depending on how they responded to his message. Mary, his mother is warned that a sword of sorrow would pierce her heart. Indeed, she would not always understand everything about this special son of hers, especially his unique identity and mission.

As a mother I can identify somewhat with how she might have felt. As mothers, we have given birth to our children - there is no turning back on the relationship, however things may go in the future. There will always be an emotional 'umbilical cord' that links a mother's heart to her child, although the physical one is cut at birth and many times after that, as our children growth in independence . Mary is told in no uncertain words by the old prophet Simeon that her heart would be broken at some stage. Yet she had said 'Yes' to God way back before the conception and this was the working out of that surrender. It would become an even fuller 'Yes' to God.

In the same way, as a parent, as a mother, the challenge of learning to surrender our children to the Lord is a difficult one. Their worldviews are very different and the way they express their faith may not fit our expectations - and we are likely to try to correct......We will be thrown into times of confusion and pain when they go through their own doubts and wanderings. But through it all, I remind myself that the most graced response for me is to 'notice and ponder these things in my heart'. A contemplative stance will help me grow in patience and understanding and hope.