In the Spirit of the Feast of the Holy Family
On the Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany, Holy Mother Church sets before us the Holy Family of Nazareth—Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—as the model for every Christian household and every soul who longs to dwell in the peace of God. In the readings appointed for this feast—Colossians 3:12–17 and Luke 2:42–52—we find not only instruction, but revelation: a glimpse into the mystery of the Incarnate Word living in quiet obedience, and the virtues that make the domestic church a sanctuary of divine charity.
“Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God…” (Col. 3:12)
St. Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians resounds with the virtues that adorned the home at Nazareth: mercy, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and above all, charity. These are not mere moral suggestions, but the garments of the soul, the livery of those who belong to the household of God.
St. John Chrysostom writes:
“If you are a member of the body of Christ, your brother is also a member. Do not despise him, lest you dishonor the body itself.” (Hom. on Colossians 9.3)
The Holy Family teaches this by example: Mary’s perfect submission, Joseph’s steadfast guardianship, and Christ’s hidden obedience—all radiate the virtue of agape, that love which binds all in perfect harmony (Col. 3:14).
St. Paul continues: “Let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts” (v.15)—a peace not of the world, but the inward stillness that comes from surrender to God’s will. That same peace reigned in Nazareth for thirty hidden years, where God Himself submitted to creatures and sanctified the ordinary.
St. Ambrose remarks:
“He was subject that He might train you in virtue by His subjection. Do you blush to be subject, when you see the Creator subject to His own creatures?” (Expos. in Lucam II.51)
What power lies in this hidden life! The Word, Who spoke the cosmos into being, now listens, learns, and obeys. And in that, He teaches us the path to sanctity: to do small things with great love, to obey, to be silent, to serve.
“Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)
The Gospel presents us with the only recorded words of Christ in His hidden years—spoken not in the temple of Solomon only, but within the temple of obedience. At twelve years of age, the Christ Child astonishes the doctors with His wisdom. But He does not remain in the public eye. Instead, He returns to Nazareth and is “subject to them” (v.51).
St. Bede the Venerable explains:
“He Who gave the law to Israel, as man condescended to be taught, that He might show the excellence of human nature, and that none might excuse themselves from learning.” (In Lucae Evangelium II.49)
There is no contradiction in Christ’s being “about His Father’s business” and being subject to Joseph and Mary. The Father’s business was precisely this: that the Son should sanctify the human condition by living it in its fullness, humbly and obediently. In returning to Nazareth, He was fulfilling His mission—raising the family to the dignity of a school of holiness.
The Nazareth Rule: Charity, Obedience, and Prayer
The Holy Family models for us what the Church Fathers often described as the “domestic church.” In an age of unrest and familial breakdown, the home at Nazareth teaches us to sanctify the ordinary through love, to make our homes an altar where daily sacrifices of self-denial, kindness, and mutual forgiveness are offered to God.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux meditates:
“Jesus lived subject to Mary and Joseph: to Mary as His Mother, to Joseph as His guardian. Thus He honored both, and teaches us to honor all those whom God has set over us.” (Sermo de XII Praerogat. B. Virg. Mariae)
Even more, the peace of Christ reigning in the soul—as St. Paul urges—comes not from self-assertion, but from surrender. It is the fruit of placing our own wills beneath the yoke of divine Providence, as Joseph and Mary did.
The hymn of this Mass—the Introit from Proverbs 23:24-25—proclaims:
“The father of the Just rejoiceth greatly: let Thy father and Thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore Thee.”
In the Sacred Liturgy, we are reminded that the joy of the parents comes not from worldly success, but from the sanctity of the child—and in the Holy Family, that sanctity is both supreme and silent.
Conclusion: Learning from the Hidden God
In Christ’s hidden life at Nazareth, we discover the school of divine charity and the secret of peace. Let us strive to imitate the Holy Family: putting on the virtues St. Paul enumerates, placing ourselves in loving subjection to God and those He has placed over us, and seeking above all the peace of Christ.
May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—so often hidden, yet now revealed as our pattern—intercede for our families, that our homes may become little Nazareths, where Christ dwells and rules in charity.
Liturgical Note:
The Feast of the Holy Family (Festum Sanctæ Familiæ) was instituted in the early 20th century, but its theology is rooted deeply in the Church’s understanding of the Incarnation and the sanctification of family life. Celebrated in the Traditional Roman Rite on the Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany, this feast invites the faithful to meditate on the hidden life of Our Lord and to consecrate their homes under the patronage of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Suggested Prayer:
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendor of true love; to you we turn with trust. Holy Family of Nazareth, make our families also places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel, and small domestic churches. Amen.