Sunday, 30 December was the sixth day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord, within the Christmastide: Wikipedia-link Octave & Wikipedia-link Christmastide. Merry Christmas!
'Twas the Feast of the Holy Family: Holy Family-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
Scripture of That Week
Mass Readings—Feast of the Holy Family
The Book of Sirach, chapter three, verses two thru six, twelve, thirteen, & fourteen;
or, the First Book of Samuel, chapter one, verses twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, & twenty-four thru twenty-eight;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-eight, verses one & two, three, & four & five;
or, Psalm Eighty-four, verses two & three, five & six, & nine & ten;
The Letter to the Colossians, chapter three, verses twelve thru twenty-one
(or, the Letter to the Colossians, chapter three, verses twelve thru seventeen);
or, the First Letter of John, chapter three, verses one, two, & twenty-one thru twenty-four;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter two, verses forty-one thru fifty-two.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today’s Gospel tells the familiar story of Mary and Joseph finding twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. When they find him, they—with understandable exasperation—upbraid him: "Child, why have you treated us like this?" But Jesus responds, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?"
The story conveys a truth that runs sharply counter to our sensibilities: even the most powerful familial emotions must, in the end, give way to mission. Though she felt an enormous pull in the opposite direction, Mary let her son go, allowing him to find his vocation in the Temple. Legitimate sentiment devolves into sentimentality precisely when it comes to supersede the call of God.
On a biblical reading, the family is, above all, the forum in which both parents and children are able to discern their missions. It is perfectly good, of course, if deep bonds and rich emotions are cultivated within the family, but those relationships and passions must cede to something that is more fundamental, more enduring, more spiritually focused.
The paradox is this: precisely in the measure that everyone in the family focuses on God’s call for one another, the family becomes more loving and peaceful.
Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Video reflection by Father Claude Burns (uCatholic): Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
Mass Journal: Week Five
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
The first Christians were not perfect; nor were the saints. They lived in communities that were torn by strife in ways remarkably similar to what we are experiencing today, & they struggled with the brokenness of their own humanity in the same way you & I do. But they were dedicated to the basics. The first Christians intrigued the people of their time. So did the saints, & so do ordinary people who embrace the Christian life today. In the great majority of cases they don't do anything spectacular. For the most part they commit themselves to doing simple things spectacularly well & with great love, & that intrigues people. We need to intrigue the people of our time in the same ways. Whom does your life intrigue? Not with spectacular accomplishments, but simply by the way you live, love, & work.†
Otherwise, 30 December would have been the festival of Saint Felix I, Pope (died 274), twenty-sixth (XXVI) Bishop of Rome: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.
'Twould also have been the festival of Saint Egwin of Evesham, Bishop, O.S.B. (died 717, A.K.A. of Worcester; also spelt Ecgwine, etc.), founder of the Abbey of Evesham: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also have been the festival of Blessed Margherita Colonna, Abbess, O.S.C. (circa 1255-1284, Anglicized as Margaret Colonna): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also have been the festival of Blessed Eugenia Maria Ravasco, Religious (1845-1900), foundress of the Ravasco Institute, formally the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
Papal Quote o' That Day
"No human riches could offer a fitting setting for the human birth of the eternal Son of God. Only that poverty, that abandonment, that crib, that night at Bethlehem could provide it. It was fitting that He would not find lodging in that town."Saint Quote o' That Day
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
"It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta ("Mother Teresa," 1910-1997; feast day: 5 September)
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