This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family with the gospel taken from Luke 2:41-52. This pericope is unique among the canonical gospels. While apocryphal gospels (e.g. Gospel of Peter, Protoevangelium of James, others) purport to convey stories of the child Jesus, they are all late 2nd century and later manuscripts of doubtful provenance. One of the development processes of growing up is individuation in which one discovers their identity apart from that described as “child of…”  It does not mean that one discards family ties, religious experiences, and what came before, but it inevitably means taking on a new dimension of being an individual. It is a process of coming to know who you are and “whose” you are.

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family with the gospel taken from Luke 2:41-52. Normally we would have several days of posts to move through the reading in detail. Given these are the days after Christmas I thought it good to post the full commentary for those who want to read in depth, but offer the highlights and key points here in the post. Here are several points of interest:

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family with the gospel taken from Luke 2:41-52. There are major feast days dedicated to each member of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – but the Feast of the Holy Family commemorates their life together, and the celebration focuses on religious life within the family. It is a Feast that seeks to portray the Holy Family of Nazareth as the “true model of life” (cf. Opening Prayer of the Mass) from which our families can draw inspiration and know where to find help and comfort.

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. This is nothing known of Anna apart from these verses. While the language is not exactly clear if she had been widowed 84 years or was 84 years old, either way she was elderly. There had been no prophet in Israel for hundreds of years, so it is noteworthy that God had raised up this prophetess. Perhaps she was recognized as such by Temple authorities given it is possible to understand that “She never left the Temple” to mean she had quarters in the Temple precincts. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.” When the shepherds arrive at the manger in Bethlehem, Luke records: “they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:17-19)

Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.”

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.” From the Lukan prologue to our present verses, the focus and spotlight of the narrative has moved around highlighting many characters in the infancy stories of Jesus. Upon arrival at the Temple the movement is narrowed, but nonetheless attention needs to be paid to where the author is leading us. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.”  Luke is the one gospel writer who makes his narrative intentions clear from the beginning prologue: Continue reading →