Homilies

FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY: BECOMING SIGNS OF LOVE AND FIDELITY

POPE BENEDICT XVI, in his speech last June 2009, reaffirmed the Church's teaching that marriage between a man and a woman is the only basis for family life. It is so because human beings are created in the image of God, and because God is love. The vocation to love is that which makes a person an authentic image of God, one becomes similar to God to the degree that one becomes one who loves.

Contrary to what many people think today, marriage is not a casual sociological construction, but a reflection of truth about the human person, the meaning of life and the relationship of human beings with the God who created them out of love and for love. A lifelong pledge of fidelity between a man and a woman, and the openness to having children, also are a reflection of the identity of the human person as an indissoluble unity of body and spirit. When a man and a woman say yes to each other, they are pledging their entire being to one another body and soul, saying yes implies using one's freedom to make a choice and a commitment.

The words of the Pope affirm our celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family: Joseph, Mary and Jesus. At the beginning, we know how they commit and pledge themselves to God. Mary said yes to the Angel’s annunciation of God’s plan for her, that is, to bear a child. She committed herself to God's plan for the salvation of the world. In the case of Joseph, he committed himself to take Mary as his wife even though it was difficult for him to do it.

However, the words of the Pope are far from the real situation of the family today. In my parish here in Taiwan, many families are broken and shattered. Many children have no father and mother with them, and the ones who take care of them are either their grandmother or their relatives. These children are a product of marital divorce or separation. I remember that the parish worker, Sr. Teresa Wang when she still alive, reminded me not to ask a child where is his mother or father because the child will be hurt and would cry with hatred.  In fact there is one child in my parish that until now refused to talk with somebody, because of the hurt and hatred toward his mother who left him and went with another man. One Taiwanese priest told me that 50 percent of married couple in Taiwan are either divorced or separated, and the children left behind are the ones to suffer. The reasons are the various forms of modern dissolution, like materialism or search for pleasures without making a true decision of commitment.

But this phenomenon is not only present and true in Taiwan. Everywhere in the world the families are under attack. It is so sad that young people now want free unions, trial marriage and pseudo-marriage between persons of same sex. These people want freedom, that is, doing what one wants without paying attention to what it means to have been created as male and female or as husband and wife to love completely and responsibly.

The Feast of the Holy Family is a good occasion for couples to reflect once again on their calling as husbands and wives. While recognizing the problems that families face today, we have also to acknowledge Christian couples to remain faithful to each other, or others who have struggled in their married life but find ways how to find solutions to their marital problems, and thus, remain intact. It is our prayer and hope that those who are faithful and committed to each other may continue to nourish their mutual love as husband and wife and become witnesses to the Gospel of life and of the family.

Let us hope that these committed and faithful husbands and wives may become “signs of fidelity” to other couples who are struggling. It is sad that the media seem to encourage couples to split when marriage is in danger. On the contrary, Christian couples or spouses should not stop being a sign of the faithful love of God. The spirit of the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus should remain alive in our world today. 

                                                           [Fr MESSY UY, MSP
                                                            Diocese of Hsinchu, Taiwan]

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