Dec 29 – Feast of The Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of New France, who founded a confraternity.
The Gospels speak little of the life of the Holy Family in the years before Jesus public ministry. Matthew and Luke narrate the episodes from this period of Christ’s life, namely his circumcision and later Presentation, the flight to Egypt, the return to Nazareth, and the Finding in the Temple. Joseph and Mary were apparently observant Jews, as Luke narrates that they brought Jesus with them on the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem with other Jewish families.
The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Catholic Church, as well as in many Lutheran and Anglican churches, in honour of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family. The primary purpose of this feast is to present the Holy Family as a model for Christian families.
– Wikipedia
1 Sam 1:20-22,24-28
1 Jn 3:1-2,21-24
Lk 2:41-52
Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
I recently returned from an overseas holiday. I spent time with a cousin and his two children, and we did a number of road trips to different regions. I did not bring my family along as my son was too young to endure our hectic schedule.
During that trip, I also spent quite a number of days alone revisiting the sights in a city where I had done an exchange semester over a decade ago. While I saw and ate much during that phase, I found myself regularly calling my wife and sharing photos of the places I had been to.
It was actually the time spent with my cousin and his boys that I enjoyed the most. We did not move around as quickly as we could have if there were no children. And we also would have saved money if there were fewer people on the trip. We also would not have had to come to a consensus on what to do, and I could have planned my itinerary down to the hour. But it was the laughter, the fellowship, the relationship building, and the little inconveniences that made that part of the trip very human and real.
It made me miss my own family, and many a time I questioned if I had made the right decision to go on the trip without them. On reflection, is was the right choice. I sorely needed some personal time away from work and from the pressures of daily life in Singapore. I am very grateful that my wife was fully supportive of that. And I came home with even more appreciation for my little family. We have our struggles, but they are ours to share and grow in.
This Christmas season, I hope you find it in you to cherish the time spent with your family and communities. They will never be perfect, but they have their share of perfect moments that God uses to show his deep love for us. While we do need our time alone sometimes — our lives are,for the most part, to be spent with others in their service.
Say yes to invitations from friends, organise outings and gatherings with people, and most importantly — work hard to make your family life wholesome and filled with love.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gregory Mathew)
Prayer: We ask you Lord, to help us to enjoy the company of those around us. May we cherish the time spent with family — both our biological, and chosen ones.
Thanksgiving: We are grateful for how you designed us to be social creatures who have no choice but to depend on others. May our interactions with others lead us closer to you.
OXYGEN 
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