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Feast of the Holy FamilySt Mary's Cathedral By + Cardinal George Pell It bears repeating once again, that the Holy Family received no special treatment because of their unique status in salvation history. Their story is one of setbacks and adversity. The gospel of today tells of the family's flight into Egypt to escape the murderous zeal of Herod to eliminate any possible long-term rivals to his kingship among the newly born babies. We have here a glimpse of the world without religion, and any future scenario without religion. Not a secular liberal democracy with a scrupulous regard to human rights and the process of law, but a ruthless mix of superstition, and cruelty, cynical and calculated; a bit like we saw last century under Hitler and Stalin! Many writers this Christmas season have reminded us that Mary, Joseph and their child could be considered as refugees, especially as we consider the best way to treat those who come to us outside the proper immigration channels. I certainly feel we could be more generous than we are at present. Charity certainly begins at home, but charity should not just stay at home, but spread more widely. Occasionally when speaking with Year 12 groups, I have explained that it would be wonderful to be able to give them some simple advice that would help ensure that most of them would stay together in their future married life with their children, so reversing the damaging increase in divorce in Australia since easy divorce was introduced in the 1970s by Lionel Murphy. Alas I have no single simple magic solutions; nor do I have any new solution to offer. Only the age-old teachings of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, with the evidence that they work for happiness and family survival. Our Lord built on the Jewish tradition of families, as we see in the first reading today from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiasticus. Parents are to be honoured and obeyed by their children and in ancient times parents in their old age were completely dependent on their children. There were no pensions, no old people's homes. Ecclesiasticus reminds us today of the obligations of grown up children towards aged parents, especially when they are sick, or feeble or growing muddled in their thinking. Regular prayer helps family life and regularly helps families stay together. The old saying "The family which prays together stays together" contains much truth. People with religious faith have fewer divorces than their secular counterparts and those who pray and worship regularly have a much higher survival rate as intact marriages and families. Purity of heart is the best preparation for marriage. Promiscuity is not a good preparation. We should remember that those who live to together before marriage are twice as likely to break up after they marry. Forgiveness, compassion, gentleness are all important in maintaining a strong marriage and a good family life; and as the second reading reminds us, these qualities are all helped by regular prayer. Married couples should try to accept each others imperfections and not have surreal expectations. A willingness to combat difficulties together has kept many marriages afloat. Lady Longford was once asked whether she had ever thought of divorcing her husband in the course of their long Catholic marriage. She replied that she had never thought of divorce, but often thought of murder! Love and security are essential for children to grow up happy and confident. Simple things like eating together as a family can help build this up. A recent large USA survey showed that high achiever children all came from families which took meals together! The mother of one good family I heard of recently, a family with a few children, insisted that the television was turned off during meal time, although the children often objected. As a treat for his eighth birthday, one of the boys asked his mother if they could eat their meal in front of the television, like so many other children did! So a good New Year resolution could be for the family to eat together more often. May the peace of Christ rule in the hearts of your families and the fullness of his message live in your hearts. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
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