It's so simple, it seems difficult!

The readings for Holy Family Sunday teach us a clear lesson, one that anyone with children or grandchildren should be aware: trusting in the Lord bears fruit.  Children are gifts from God, and they always belong to God.  Parents do not own their children.  They are guardians who are responsible before God for their education and upbringing.

I was (and remain) so overwhelmed by the blessings that are my children, that I felt it was my duty to thank God by "putting the seal of Christ" on them through Baptism.  I specifically remember Alicia’s Baptism preparation class.  We had to have a "pre-baptism" class, followed by the rite a few weeks later.  Marilyn and I were asked to write down why we wanted our child baptized.  I wrote that God blessed us with the gift of a child that we may call our own, but the child really belongs to the One who created her.  

As their parents, Marilyn and I have been given the responsibility to see that our children learned to know and love the Father of us all.  I discovered that the only way I knew was to teach them as I was taught by my parents—by my own faith, hope and love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  

The first (Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14) and second (Colossians 3:12-21) readings both give a great recipe for successful family relationships.  What makes a family "holy"?  It's all so simple!  Just love one another and keep the commandments!  The Gospel (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23) reveals the Holy Family’s faith and trust in God’s plans for them.

Of course, simple answers like that are the hardest to accept!  Our families would find their disagreements, stressful relationships, and resentments that spoil the joy of family harmony so much easier to solve by imitating the faith and loving trust of the Holy Family.

The Scripture lessons for family life are made even more important in the light of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth).  In it, he teaches that many of our economic, social, and political problems are a result of the absence of strong family life.

Virtues such as honesty, generosity, and loyalty are first learned and practiced in families that are obedient to the Creator's commandments.  The habits thus engrained in individuals flow naturally into the public life of society.

Pope Benedict calls the family "the primary vital cell of society."  We cannot, then, separate the private world of family life from the success or failures of the public life of money and power, the economy, business practices, politics, and the way that nations treat world poverty, joblessness, the environment and immigration.