Feast of the Holy Family Homily – December 28, 2025: Faith, Family, and the Flight to Egypt
Readings and Virtual Homily for December 28, 2025, Feast of the Holy Family; Virtual Homily; Wet Christmas; At Last -- London and Paris
Readings for Mass this Sunday:
Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
Psalm 128:1-5
Colossians 3:12-21
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
Dear Friends and Family,
The readings focus, not surprisingly, on the family, this Feast of the Holy Family. I want to take a quick look at the first and second reading and the psalm and then take a little time with the Gospel passage, as it infers a lot more than it quite precisely says.
The first reading speaks of the proper authority of parents, of the honor due them from their children and of the rewards which flow from obedience to and respect for parental authority. The passage says that respect and goodness toward parents will serve as a "sin offering" (vs. 14); that is, we win forgiveness of our own sins when we are considerate and kind toward our parents, even if (perhaps especially if) their "mind is failing" (vs. 13).
The psalm uses a garden metaphor to describe the joys of marriage and family life, and from the husband's perspective. A good and faithful husband and father will find that his wife is like "a fruitful vine in the recesses" of the home and his children like olive plants about the table (vs. 3).
The reference to the wife's fruitfulness in the recesses of the home suggest a fullness of wifely and motherly responsibilities that may not be so immediately apparent today, when most women work outside the home. In fact, if we may take Proverbs 31 as an example, women in Old Testament times could also take on responsibilities outside the home, and within its "recesses" they could indeed be very "fruitful." The good wife of Proverbs 31 not only maintains a well-ordered household, sees to the needs of her husband and children and manages the money well; she is busy in her own right with the development of money-making projects and responsibilities (see Proverbs 31:10-31).
The reading from Colossians has an option, shorter or longer version. If in your parish only the shorter version is read, you will hear about the life of the Christian community -- an extended family of sorts. The instructions for proper comportment within this extended family are direct, clear and loving. If the longer version is read, you will hear the often contested (in our time) instruction to wives to be "subordinate" to their husbands (vs. 18). I wrote on this verse at some length several years ago in one of these homilies. It does seem to me that in our day, most decision-making within the family is jointly arrived at.
The Gospel passage tells of Joseph being warned by an angel in a dream to take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt, because Herod is looking for the child. The Jewish king is determined to kill the newborn Messiah, seeing him as a threat to his dynastic plans. This is where I want to start unpacking some of what is inferred in today's passage.
One, can you believe Herod? At the visit of the magi, he had his scholars look up where the Messiah was to be born, specifically so that he could know where this child-threat was located (Matthew 2:3-8). Then he carried out a massacre of all the little boys under two years of age in Bethlehem (vss. 16-18; not included in today's reading).
I mean, clearly, Herod was a believer. He kills the little boys in Bethlehem because he believes the Messiah is among them. But if Herod is a believer how can he possibly justify murdering the Messiah? Does he think God is going to look the other way? Can you spell C-R-A-Z-E-D? Evidently, Herod was crazed by thoughts of dynastic wealth, privilege and power. An infant Messiah was clearly no threat to Herod himself, but to his sons, to his successors -- or so Herod saw it. This is one of the most naked examples of human willfulness to be found anywhere in Scripture. Herod deliberately sets out to thwart the will of God, a God whose word he clearly believes in.
Okay. Whatever. Crazy.
Second, Jesus starts life out as a refugee. Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt where, in the city of Alexandria, there was a large and vibrant Jewish exile community. It is likely that they settled in Alexandria, where Joseph could easily have found work.
But, and this is my third point, while it is likely that Joseph worked his trade in Alexandria, he and Mary were at this point not poor. Not after the visit of the magi. Gold, frankincense and myrrh were not cheap gifts. Joseph and Mary might have sold the frankincense and myrrh for a substantial amount and gold is gold. The visit of the magi empowered the flight to Egypt, made it possible for Joseph and Mary to establish themselves quickly and comfortably in their new city and their new land.
A fourth point, and one that greatly interests me: Jesus' earliest memories would have been of Alexandria, of Egypt. Herod is believed to have died about six, maybe seven years after these events. Assuming his parents settled there, Jesus' first boyhood memories would have been of the great Egyptian port city, with its palaces and pagan temples, its many cultural monuments -- including what was one of the ancient world's greatest libraries -- its famous lighthouse above the harbor. Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria was not really so much Egyptian as it was Greek and Roman. It is likely, of course, that the large Jewish ex-pat community in Alexandria had impressive synagogues and schools; had a thriving business district. The small boy Jesus would have been immersed in Jewish culture during his time in Egypt.
A fifth point, and maybe one that is more immediate and relevant to the central theme of today's readings: family life can be an adventure. Neither Mary nor Joseph could have foreseen the visit of the magi and the great blessings it afforded them. Neither could have foreseen Herod's insane and murderous rage at the thought of the Messiah being born during his reign. Neither could have guessed they would find themselves making a hasty departure for Egypt, there to spend their first several years of married life and parenthood, with their little boy.
What was the situation with the extended family -- Mary's parents in Nazareth, Joseph's siblings (including Mary the wife of Clopas, Jesus' aunt who figures prominently in the Passion and Resurrection narratives). It's not as though Mary were texting her parents, "All good here in palm-lined Alexandria. Catch the bullet train from Jerusalem and plan to spend a few weeks with us. Thanks to the magi we have several spare bedrooms."
It is hard to know just what the family life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was like, during the years in Egypt. At a time when extended family was a person's principal means of support and security, it seems likely that Jesus, Mary and Joseph were a solitary unit in Alexandria. No doubt they made friends and Joseph developed professional relationships. Even so, it seems likely that the years in Egypt were directly and uniquely formative for this most unique of families; the Holy Family.
This one is long, so I will keep the personal reflections brief. One, thank the Lord for our wonderfully wet Christmas week! Week before Christmas, I guess I should say. The season's early and strong start in October and November was derailed by those three dry weeks starting just before Thanksgiving. Christmas Eve night, sitting here in the rectory above the schoolyard after the ten PM Mass, and seeing the sheeting rain gusting and slanting with the wind, I smiled. And gave thanks and praise to the Lord for our parishioners here at St. Clement because around three hundred of them made it out in the storm for the late evening Mass.
Two, thank the Lord for the sabbatical, which wraps in another week. Strictly speaking, it came to an end last week -- I am simply on Christmas vacation, at this point. I am taking advantage of the remaining time off to finally travel -- London and Paris this coming week; reprising a habit I was getting into, pre-pandemic. I was in both cities three Decembers in a row, 2017-2019. Then COVID hit. It is a nice way to wrap the year, and I am grateful to be able to resume the tradition this winter. I am back next Sunday; it is just an eight-day trip. I have been to London several times since 2020, but this will be my first time in Paris in six years.
Will close here. Hope your Christmas season is merry and bright. Take good care and God bless.
Fr. Brawn