The Sunday in the octave of Christmas is always celebrated as the Feast of the Holy Family. This feast helps to ‘flesh out’ (pun intended!) the meaning of the incarnation: that the Word of God though dwelling in the perfect Communion of the Holy Trinity willed to experience the bonds of communion that form the human family. Christ did not merely assume human flesh as a biological reality, he took to himself a full human nature with all that this entails, including submitting himself to the psychological and sociological nurturing provided by a human mother and human father-figure. Mary and Joseph were chosen by God, predestined for the monumental task of raising God in their home, enabling Jesus to grow to the full stature of human maturity under their care and influence. The very accent with which Jesus spoke Aramaic would have been formed by hearing Mary and Joseph speak in the family home. Sometimes we focus so much on the true divinity of Christ, Son of God, that we can overlook the fullness of the humanity of Jesus, the Son of Mary.

Today, the 31^st December 2023, marks the one-year death anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI. Much has happened in this past year since his passing, particularly in the life of the Church, marked as it has been by a litany of scandals, confusion, disorientation and acrimonious divisions. Alas, the calm, crystal clarity of Pope Benedict’s teaching seems a very distant memory. The following is his angelus address for the Feast of the Holy Family from 2010, an example of his writing that glows with warmth, child-like faith, and scholarly wisdom. 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Gospel according to Luke recounts that when the shepherds of Bethlehem had received the Angel’s announcement of the Messiah’s birth “they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger” (2:16). The first eyewitnesses of Jesus’ birth therefore beheld a family scene: a mother, a father and a newborn son. For this reason the Liturgy has us celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on the First Sunday after Christmas. This year it occurred the very day after Christmas, and, taking precedence over the Feast of St Stephen, invites us to contemplate this “icon” in which the little Jesus appears at the centre of his parents’ affection and care.

In the poor grotto of Bethlehem — the Fathers of the Church wrote — shines a very bright light, a reflection of the profound mystery which envelopes that Child, which Mary and Joseph cherish in their hearts and which can be seen in their expression, in their actions, and especially in their silence. Indeed, they preserve in their inmost depths the words of the Angel’s Annunciation to Mary: “the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Lk 1:35).

Yet every child’s birth brings something of this mystery with it! Parents who receive a child as a gift know this well and often speak of it in this way. We have all heard people say to a father and a mother: “this child is a gift, a miracle!”. Indeed, human beings do not experience procreation merely as a reproductive act but perceive its richness and intuit that every human creature who is born on earth is the “sign” par excellence of the Creator and Father who is in Heaven.

How important it is, therefore, that every child coming into the world be welcomed by the warmth of a family! External comforts do not matter: Jesus was born in a stable and had a manger as his first cradle, but the love of Mary and of Joseph made him feel the tenderness and beauty of being loved. Children need this: the love of their father and mother. It is this that gives them security and, as they grow, enables them to discover the meaning of life. The Holy Family of Nazareth went through many trials, such as the “massacre of the innocents” — as recounted in the Gospel according to Matthew — which obliged Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt (cf. 2:13-23). Yet, trusting in divine Providence, they found their stability and guaranteed Jesus a serene childhood and a sound upbringing.

Dear friends, the Holy Family is of course unique and unrepeatable, but at the same time it is a “model of life” for every family because Jesus, true man, chose to be born into a human family and thereby blessed and consecrated it. Let us therefore entrust all families to Our Lady and to St Joseph, so that they do not lose heart in the face of trials and difficulties but always cultivate conjugal love and devote themselves with trust to the service of life and education.

(Pope Benedict XVI, 26^th December 2010)