"The Beauty of Family Life" Apr 16, 2021

One can only imagine what St. Joseph was thinking when he heard the words, “Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child” (Mt 1:20). Yet, his faith and trust, in this moment of uncertainty, allowed him to respond as the angel had requested. By accepting the will of God for his life, St. Joseph was entrusted with to watch over the Holy Family with daily devotion. St. Joseph persevered in this mission with great fidelity and love. Therefore, the Church offers St. Joseph to us as an exceptional model of service to Christ and to His mysterious plan of salvation. The Church also provides St. Joseph as the special patron and protector of all families.  

Over the last 60 years, we have seen the disintegration of family life as a loving community built upon faith, charity, and a deep respect for one another. In many ways, as the culture goes, so does the family. There is no question in my mind that the Evil One and his minions want to destroy the family! We have all seen, and many have experienced, the impact of our culture on family life. The true purpose and beauty of family life has gotten lost in a culture that has vastly changed. The family, which is founded upon and given life by love, is meant to be an effective sign of Christ’s love in the world. It is no wonder that the Evil One wants to destroy it.

We find the family, as a holy institution, under attack today from many angles; families are torn apart by the effects of divorce; single parent families are growing; fatherless families are normal in many communities; non-traditional families have become a new tradition; in other words, there is a collapse of the family unit as the building block of society. This is why St. Joseph and the Holy Family are important for families today.
The Holy Family can and should be the model for all families, especially Christian families. We see in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that the family is the original cell of social life. It is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. This is where Jesus received the foundation of His faith life. It was not because He was God, but because He was the child of Mary and Joseph, parents whose faith was primary for their family life.

God has established the family to be a school of love – something beautiful, something delightful, a place which gives life. St. John Paul II looked at the family as the “domestic church.” This means that it is in the context of the family that we first learn who God is and to prayerfully seek His will for us. The family as a “domestic church” is where the Lord is honored, where God’s law is respected, prayer is part of family life, virtue is passed on by word and example, and everyone shares the hopes, the problems, and sufferings of everyone else. In this we find the roots of human development and human happiness. How does your family reflect a “domestic church”? Ask St. Joseph to guide you in making it so.

There is not a single family without their problems. As we know, society presents new challenges for raising a healthy, holy, well integrated family. Many people have an image of the Holy Family as being this perfect little family. But Jesus’ family is not called perfect. It is called the Holy Family. Holy does not mean perfect. That should give all families some hope. It gives me consolation, knowing that I did not have the perfect family but that certain aspects of it were holy.

St. Joseph wants to be the pillar of your family. A pillar is something that supports a strong foundation. For your home to stand on a firm foundation, a foundation which is unshakeable, you need St. Joseph. He desires to teach your family the importance of prayer, thus creating the firm foundation. He wants to show you the importance of mutual respect, purity, honesty, and forgiveness. St. Joseph wants to teach you the ways of love and patience. And most importantly, he wants to assist you in placing God above everything else. St. Joseph also wants to lead all of us into a deeper relationship with Mary and Jesus, if we only ask him.

St. Joseph, the pillar of the family, teaches the importance of motherhood, fatherhood, and the beauty of children. He is the saint of the childhood and the hidden years of Jesus. No matter how good of a husband and father you are, St. Joseph desires to teach men how to be better husbands and better fathers; how to be more sacrificing for their wives and children. Most importantly, he wants to teach men how to be “pillars” of their families and become holy through the process. What husband or father would not desire this?

A world filled with men like St. Joseph will not only renew the family but our culture as well. In this season of Easter, go to St. Joseph and ask for his intercession to help you become the pillar of your family. St. Joseph, Pillar of Families, pray for us!

Rev. Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor
Divine Mercy Parish and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School