Learning at the School of Nazareth: Feast of the Holy Family Teaches Us How to Become a Holy Family

By Deacon Keith Fournier
12/31/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

In our own Christian family we can learn the way of selfless love in the School of Nazareth.

There, in the holy habitation of Nazareth, He forever transformed family life. Now, He teaches us how to live in His presence, if we will enroll in the School of Nazareth. Jesus spent 30 of his 33 earthly years in Nazareth. Some spiritual writers have called these the hidden years, because there is so little written about them in the Gospel narratives. However, they reveal the holiness of ordinary life and show us how it becomes extraordinary for those baptized into Christ.

The workshop of Nazareth at Our Lady, Queen of the Universe in Orlando, Florida

Facebook Delicous MySpace

Twitter Stumble Digg

More Destinations

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - I just returned from an unusual Christmas. I think I will be unpacking its implications for years to come. For the first time since I was ordained to the order of Deacon all those years ago, I was not serving the Altar on Christmas. I was, instead, at the bedside of my mother. She is growing old and, though still as funny and insightful as ever, her body is succumbing to the effects of aging.

So, our whole family traveled from all over the country to be with "Nana". Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, all spending some precious time with her - perhaps, their last time. It was hard and soft, sad and joyful, all at once. I am sure that memories were formed in the young. I know they were evoked in this aging mind. Life is a classroom, a place of instruction in love. The only real question is whether we learn the lessons it teaches.

My dear wife and I attended Christmas Day Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady Queen of the Universe in Orlando, Florida. I had visited this national treasure years ago during a Catholic leadership Conference. That was back when the effort was led by my friend, Deal Hudson. During that visit I had the privilege of serving as Deacon at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for a wonderful Bishop named Thomas Wenski. He is now the Archbishop of Miami and the faithful are truly fortunate to have him.

I will never forget when the Bishop gave me a tour of that absolutely beautiful Church. It was specifically built to reach out on mission to the millions who visit the parks associated with Disney World. The Bishop shared his hope that it would become a pilgrimage site and a place of deepening conversion. It certainly has! At one point he took me to the beautiful sculpture of Joseph and Jesus in the workshop of Nazareth to the left of the sanctuary. His explanation of the beauty revealed in this sculpture came back to my mind on this Christmas.

On this Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I have just arrived home in Chesapeake and am drawn to marvel at the mystery revealed in the workshop of Nazareth. I am overwhelmed at the meaning of those years Jesus spent in Nazareth, in a holy family. The house of Nazareth is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to meditate, to penetrate the deepest meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and applying it to our own daily lives.

Jesus spent 30 of his 33 earthly years in Nazareth. Some spiritual writers have called these the 'hidden years', because there is so little written about them in the Gospel narratives. However, they reveal the holiness of ordinary life and show us how it becomes extraordinary for those baptized into Christ. From antiquity the Christian family has rightly been called a domestic church. In our own Christian family we can learn the way of selfless love in the School of Nazareth.

During this Octave (eight days) of Christmas we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. The significance of the Feast unfolds when we come to understand the deeper truths it reveals. It teaches us about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph- and about each one of us and our own families. Through our Baptism, we are invited to live our lives in Christ by living them in the Church - which is the Risen Body of Christ. The Church is the place where we learn, as the Apostle Paul reminded the Colossian Christians, to "put on love, that is, the bond of perfection". (Col. 3:14)

The Gospel of the Liturgy is taken from the presentation of Jesus in the temple account in St. Luke and the beautiful canticle of Zechariah. (Luke 2:22-40) However, upon leaving the temple to return to Nazareth, we read these words: "When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him."

In a beautiful address given last year, on December 28, 2011, at his Wednesday audience, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the life of the Holy Family in Nazareth. Here is a short excerpt: "The house of Nazareth is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to meditate, to penetrate the deepest meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

"The Holy Family is an icon of the domestic Church, which is called to pray together. The family is the first school of prayer where, from their infancy, children learn to perceive God thanks to the teaching and example of their parents. An authentically Christian education cannot neglect the experience of prayer. If we do not learn to pray in the family, it will be difficult to fill this gap later. I would, then, like to invite people to rediscover the beauty of praying ...

1 | 2 Next Page

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 5 of 5 Comments

Chris
4 months ago
It's amazing to consider that it all comes down to the family. It all begins and (should) end with, and in the family. Therein we receive our first instruction. Hopefully, it is where we identify our initial role-models; and it should be the basis of all human endeavor - for the good of the family. Similarly as we are born into a family, grow within a family we should also die in a family. The Church's insistence on the primacy of the family in all social matters really is - just consider - is it unreasonable to assume that the state of society would be much different if we possessed 'properly' functioning families.
Tom McGuire
4 months ago
You are blessed with a loving extended family; gathering with your mother in her last days is a gift many do not know. I have also been blessed with such an extended family, for which I give thanks everyday.

As I read this article, I thought of those who do not have extended family, who do not have mother and father in their life, who only know discord and violence in the home, who cannot earn enough to support the family, and who suffer mental and physical disabilities. I know many living in these conditions who are models of Christian family despite the obstacles. However, I know many more who find little compassion support from their faith community, who are judged lazy and unfaithful because they cannot meet the standards set by the more affluent of the faith community. There journey is marked with lament and frequently despair.

What is our response as faith community to those among us who do not fit the ideal model?
Bill Sr.
4 months ago
Mike,
Everything you have said is so true and we need to pray for the children being raised in the families of Utopian Catholics who have put their faith in the closet and out of sight choosing instead to frolic with the fools of folly.
Deacon Keith,
We are blessed to have your words brought to us through COL and wish you the very best in your efforts to evangelize and enlighten the faithful in the coming year.

Family was God's one choice for revealing his "Word" to become flesh and dwell among us. This was his model for man to understand our triune God, his love for us, his desire to be in communion with us, and to enjoy the mystery of his presence among us in this our universal home.
It was a humble family which faithfully accepted the arrangement on his terms, by his means not as they had planned, and for his will to be done. Both Mary and Joseph, as part of that original covenant, were devout Jews and "willing" to do whatever God had in mind for them knowing they would be together "with child" in their adventure for the Holy Spirit who came to "overshadow" them.
So what do we see here? A complete and dedicated union of a devoted husband, a pure and faithfully obedient virgin wife, and a divine child combined in love and purpose to make up the eternal package for the worlds first "Christmas". A single unit of persons, Family was its name; Salvation was its goal; Love was its eternal message.
There exposed and unfolded to the world was heavens "celestial family" of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their greatest act of love for mankind's salvation, spiritually conjoined with a holy family of husband, wife, and savior child. The nature of heaven's Trinity revealed on earth in "Family" as only God would have it for the sake of all in humanity's ultimate and nearly unimaginable triumph, the Incarnation.
Father God is Love, willed through the Holy Spirit and His chosen vessel our Immaculate mother Mary, the "triumphant" woman named and promised in the garden, to be present among us as our savior Lord, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ once and forever.
timothy canezaro
4 months ago
May we all turn the workshop in nazareth and remember to honor all our relatives in a good way inspired by the Love of the Holy Family.
mike robertson
4 months ago
It is my fervent hope that Catholic democrats ponder the wonder of the Holy Family before they vote in the next election. Catholic democrats voted for a candidate who is trying to maximize the number of Americans who live under arrangements other than God's design for the family. God wants children to be born to a woman who is already married to a man. Catholic democrats voted for a candidate who wants to pay people to drop out of high school, engage in fornication and stay at home watching TVs and gossiping on cell phones they did not pay for. He eliminated workfare requirements for receivers of such funds. He calls marriage what God calls an abomination (i.e. homosexuality). God says if people do not work, they should not eat. His Word mentions fornication as a sin which excludes someone from His kingdom. The results of our country following the family plan of the Catholic democrats' candidate instead of God's family plan are disastrous. We should not be surprised. The Catholic democrats' candidate voted for the legal killing of girls and boys outside of their mom's womb even after they survived the attempt to kill them in the womb. No thanks, Catholic democrats. As for me and my house, we will follow God's plan.

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment