Some of you may remember from my previous Christmas homilies that I am a big fan of the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s actually my favorite Christmas movie. I watched it this year on Christmas Eve. It’s one of those movies that I really never get tired of watching. The themes of faith, family, friendship are ones that never get old.
You would think that a movie focused on the life of the fictional character George Bailey would start with some type of scene involving him, but it doesn’t. Instead, we begin with different shots of homes and businesses around the town of Bedford Falls, George’s hometown, and we hear voice-overs of George’s friends and family members. They’re praying.
“I owe everything to George Bailey, help him, dear Father.”
“Joseph, Jesus and Mary, help my friend, Mr. Bailey.”
“Help my son, George, tonight.”
“He never thinks about himself, God, that’s why he’s in trouble.”
“George is a good guy. Give ‘em a break, God.”
“I love him, dear Lord, watch over him tonight.”
“Please, God. Something’s the matter with Daddy. Please bring Daddy back.”
These voice-overs are a big clue that this story is about faith, and we can expect to see a miracle in answer to the many prayers. Right after hearing all their voices, we transition to a view of the starry heavens, where St. Joseph sends Clarence the angel to help George Bailey. This sets in motion the main story of the movie, where Clarence helps George Bailey realize that no matter how discouraged and frustrated he is, his life is wonderful because of the many people who love him and care about him.
In this beautiful story, we get to see the power of the prayers and love of the many people who surround George Bailey. Even though his life hasn’t turned out the way he hoped, Clarence helps George realize just how much his presence has impacted those around him, especially his family and friends. This point is driven home to George as he is given a chilling glimpse of what the world would look like without him in it. He roams around Bedford Falls, which has been transformed into Pottersville, and sees the pain and suffering of people like his wife, family, and friends. His wife is an old maid; his friend and childhood boss, Mr. Gower, is homeless; his mother is a jaded old widow; his brother drowned as a child because George wasn’t there to save him; his uncle is confined to an asylum, among others. George gets to see firsthand the powerful impact he has had on the world and comes to his senses, begging God in the most honest prayer: “I wanna live again. Please God, let me live again.” Right after this prayer, George realizes that God has answered him because his friend, Burt the cop, knows his name.
I think the reason I come back to this movie over and over again is because it portrays so well the power of family and friends in our lives. It’s a story of God using the prayers of loved ones to bring about His will in wonderful ways. George’s family is restored and the crisis he faces is averted because the Father heard the prayers of his family and friends and used them to bless George abundantly and bring him back from the brink of despair. I will never get tired of watching it.
Today, as we sit smack in the middle of the Octave of Christmas, we have the opportunity as Christian people to ponder how God has always lifted up the family. Today is the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Today, God the Father invites each of us to look to the example of this family and see in them the model for how we are to live in our own families and how He calls us to be in the family of His Church. Let’s take time together to consider what the Holy Family can teach us by word and example.
First, we see the fact that Jesus, Mary and Joseph are faithful in fulfilling their duties as a Jewish family. In the Gospel passage from Luke, we see them following the custom of the Jewish people to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the great feast of Passover. This is such an important foundation for how we understand them. They realize the importance of going as a family to honor the Lord God through this sacred feast, showing us that faith and prayer are foundational for them as a family. They realize the importance of gathering together with friends and family to travel and participate publicly in the sacrifice of Passover.
With this foundation of prayer and faithfulness to God, we get to see how they handle things when the situation goes sideways. While Joseph and Mary are travelling home with the caravan of their friends and family, Jesus remains behind in Jerusalem. Any parent who has dealt with a missing child can relate to the great anxiety that Mary describes them feeling as they searched for Jesus. But in the midst of this search I believe that both Mary and Joseph were at prayer. Why? Because they have both already shown us their commitment to draw close to God in their hearts. The whole reason they came to Jerusalem was to be part of the Passover celebration, that great public prayer of the Jews. Also, we’ve seen Mary in her prayerful ‘yes’ to the Angel Gabriel when he asks her to be the mother of God. We see Mary magnifying God in the depths of her being when she encounters her cousin Elizabeth. It is the same with Joseph. Though we do not know the words he used, it is clear that Joseph was faithful to God in prayer, as he followed the directions of the angel in taking Mary to his home and then taking Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from Herod. Mary and Joseph are models of the trusting dialogue with God that all of our hearts long for, deep down.
So in the midst of the crisis of looking for Jesus, I am confident that their hearts remained steadfast in trust, though they didn’t know what would happen. Even though they were separated physically, they remained united spiritually. When they finally are reunited with Jesus, He reminds them that he stayed behind in order to be prayerfully united to the Father. He tells them: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Jesus is both physically in the temple, but more deeply, from the depths of His Person, He is always in His Father’s house, united to Him and faithful to His will.
It is this communion with the Father that allows the Holy Family to be so united. Even after the tension of that separation, we see that Jesus is in harmony with his parents. Luke reminds us: “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” Jesus is obedient to Mary and Joseph, and Mary continues to hold these moments in her heart, prayerfully pondering them with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Family can teach us a lot about the value and power of prayer. It is prayer that allows our hearts to open up to that foundational communion which has always been there between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit since before time began. Jesus gave us entry into that communion by becoming one of us. It is no accident that Jesus chose to take on humanity through a family. In the Holy Family, we have a shining example of what it looks like for a family to be united not only by human bonds, but by spiritual bonds, bonds based on the power of that Communion within God Himself.
Though our families will go through trials and temptations in this fallen world in which we live, we can brave those when our hearts rest on the sure foundation of the love of God. We stay rooted in that relationship with God through prayer, both individual and communal. When we pray together as families, there is so much power there. The world, our weak flesh and the devil are powerless against even the most simple prayer uttered by those united in the love of God. Great joy came about in George Bailey’s life because of his daughter’s prayer, “Please bring Daddy back.” I wonder if we know how powerful our prayers can be for others when we are united? The silent prayers of Mary and Joseph brought them back to their precious Son and gave us the opportunity to first hear Jesus speak about His Heavenly Father. Their prayers continue to help us now as they intercede for us in Heaven!
And just as the Holy Family continues to be an example for all of our families of union in prayer, they also remind us of the power of public prayer. They were in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, a gathering of Jews from far and wide to pray and offer sacrifice to God. There is so much power, brothers and sisters, when we gather for the lifting up of the New Passover sacrifice here at Mass. So many people in this world can be helped when we truly enter into this public prayer and sacrifice that we are privileged to be called to as Catholics. In the dialogue we enter into before the Eucharist, I say to you, “Lift up your hearts,” and you reply: “We lift them up to the Lord.” This is our moment to remember the power of the Mass, where we lift up our hearts, the depths of who we are, to God, and He comes down at this very altar to meet us and commune with us, heart to heart, drawing us into deep union with Him when we receive Him. The whole Mass is a powerful prayer in which we are called to be united together in love.
As the old saying goes, the family that prays together, stays together. Let your family be one that prays. God calls us to be a Church at prayer. In the midst of all the difficulties we face, nothing will be too much for us as families and as a Church if our hearts are founded on the loving communion with God that we build through persevering prayer. As we celebrate the Holy Family, let’s look to their shining example of prayer and be united with them by imitating them.
Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the foundation of Fatherhood in your constant care for us. Jesus, thank you for blessing us with powerful examples in your parents. Holy Spirit, inspire our hearts to deeper prayer so that we may brave the trials of this life with the power you give. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +