The Sunday after Christmas, while we are still immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the feast, the Church invites us to contemplate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Child Jesus with his Mother Mary and Saint Joseph is a simple yet radiant family icon. The light it radiates is the light of mercy and salvation for the whole world, the light of truth for every person and for each family.
To help us understand the mystery and mission that the Lord has entrusted to all families, we offer a meditation by Pope Francis, given in Saint Peter’s Square on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

“The incarnation of the Son of God opens a new beginning in the universal history of man and woman. And this new beginning takes place within a family, in Nazareth. Jesus was born into a family. He could have come spectacularly, or as a warrior, an emperor… No, no: he comes as a family’s son, within a family. This is important: to look at this beautiful scene in the nativity scene.
God chose to be born into a human family, which he himself formed. […]

Jesus remained in that periphery for thirty years. The evangelist Luke sums up this period as follows: Jesus “was obedient to them [that is, to Mary and Joseph].” And one might say: “But this God who comes to save us, did he waste thirty years there, in that disreputable periphery?” He wasted thirty years! He wanted this. Jesus’ path was in that family. […]; in Nazareth everything seems to happen “normally,” according to the customs of a devout and hardworking Israelite family: people worked, the mother cooked, did all the household chores, ironed the shirts… all the things mothers do. The father, a carpenter, worked and taught his son to work. Thirty years. “What a waste, Father!” God’s ways are mysterious. But what mattered there was the family! And this was not a waste! […]

Every Christian family - as Mary and Joseph did - can first of all welcome Jesus, listen to him, speak with him, care for him, protect him, grow with him; and thus improve the world. Let us make room in our hearts and in our days for the Lord. Mary and Joseph did the same, and it was not easy: how many difficulties they had to overcome! It was not a fake family, nor was it an unreal family. The family of Nazareth challenges us to rediscover the vocation and mission of the family, of every family. And, as happened during those thirty years in Nazareth, the same can happen for us: making love, rather than hatred, normal; making mutual help, rather than indifference or hostility, commonplace. It is no coincidence, then, that “Nazareth” means “She who protects,” like Mary, who - the Gospel says - “kept all these things in her heart” (cf. Lk 2:19, 51). From then on, whenever there is a family that safeguards this mystery, even on the periphery of the world, the mystery of the Son of God, the mystery of Jesus who comes to save us, is at work. And he comes to save the world. And this is the great mission of the family: to make room for Jesus who comes, to welcome Jesus into the family, in the person of the children, the husband, the wife, the grandparents… Jesus is there. To welcome him there, so that he may grow spiritually in that family. May the Lord grant us this grace.”

We find these words of Pope Francis also in those of Bishop Tonino Bello, when he writes: “If we open our home to Jesus with warmth and do not reject his unsettling presence, he has something extraordinary to offer us: the meaning of life, a taste for what is essential, the flavor of simple things, the joy of service, the wonder of true freedom, the desire to commit ourselves. He alone can withstand our heart, hardened by bitterness and disappointments, and cause new hope to flourish within it.”
We live in a time when the family and its value are often placed in danger; let us not forget, however, that the Lord is the one who is capable of making all things new. Let us welcome and rekindle hope in our hearts.

Here are some resources, offered by Editrice Shalom, for meditation, prayer, and following in the footsteps of the Holy Family:
The Holy Family of Jesus;
The Rosary to the Holy Family of Nazareth;
Lord, Give Us Our Daily Love Today;
Engaged Couples;
The Newness of Christian Spouses;
The Family.

Let us be guided by the example of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and to live this feast well, we suggest the following Prayer of Entrustment to the Holy Family, taken from the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia:

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendor of true love;
to you, trusting, we entrust ourselves.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
make our families too
places of communion and cenacles of prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel
and little domestic churches.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may there never again be in families
episodes of violence, exclusion, or division;
may anyone who has been wounded or scandalized
be promptly comforted and healed.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that we may all become aware
of the sacred and inviolable nature of the family,
of its beauty in God’s plan.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
hear us and receive our supplication.
Amen.