Holy Family Sunday

Discipleship Group Questions for December 26, 2004

Scripture: Sirac 3:2-7,12-14; Psa. 128:1-5; Matt. 2:13,14,19-23

God sets a father in honor over his children;

A mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.

Whoever honors his father atones for sins,

And preserves himself from them.

When he prays, he is heard;

He stores up riches who reveres his mother.

Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,

And, when he prays, is heard.

Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;

He who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.

My son, take care of your father when he is old;

Grieve him not as long as he lives.

Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;

Revile him not all the days of his life;

Kindness to a father will not be forgotten,

Firmly planted against the debt of your sins

- a house raised in justice to you.

Psa. 128:1-5 Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. 2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. 5 May the LORD bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,

Matt. 2:13,14,19-23 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Questions for Reflection:

1. Today December 26 is Holy Family Sunday. Try to imagine what our Lord’s earthly family must have been like. Remember that Jesus is fully human and fully divine – He can be tempted but is without sin. In other words, He is what we were meant to be before the Fall. What would this look like in real life? What does the perfect baby, youth and young man look like? What does God incarnate – in fleshed – look like? How does He talk? How does He walk? How does He respond to the fallenness – the sinfulness – of others? What does He think about? What types of conversations do you think Mary and Joseph had with Him and had about Him after they had spoken with Him? Please reflect upon this.

2. How do you think Jesus felt at His step father’s death i.e., Joseph? What do you think He thought or said at Joseph’s funeral service? What sort of friendship did Joseph and Mary have and what role did Jesus play in the richness of that relationship? What must their evenings together been like? Try to imagine their conversations in those relaxed moments of their domestic lives together.

3. What changed in Mary over the 30 years of her time with Jesus? What was she like as a young maiden and now as a more mature woman? What has changed about her as a result of the presence of Jesus Christ – God incarnate?

4. Please read the Sirach passage and discern what the cardinal values being highlighted are and discuss them.

5. Please read the Psalm passage and discover what virtue is being highlighted. Please discuss.

6. Finally turn to the Gospel passage. Please read it and reflect upon the following statements: “So what do we learn from this passage about how God deals with us – His family? First, I find it very instructive that God came to Joseph and not to Mary. God came to the Father of the home to give specific instructions for the protection of the family. I believe that this tells us that God will guide you and me, as fathers, to ensure the safety of our families. Let us be listening fathers for God’s alerts.

But this passage also tells us that God cares for us and will guide us to safe places. God, the Almighty Father, is our Father and will guide us if we’re willing.

Ah! This really is the central point of this entire reflection – God Almighty is our Father and is working to establish those virtues in our earthly homes that will create environments that will nurture the future disciples – the future warriors, of God Almighty. And it’s these warriors – these disciples, who will be better equipped to win the war against the Devil and inevitably establish Heaven on earth!”