Dear Family of God,

Happy Feast Day of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Two things we can imitate of the virtues of Mary and Joseph, one is their humility that made them always available for God and allow themselves to become instruments for the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. Second is the virtue of obedience because they are humble. Obedience to the law made them receive the blessings and revelations of God through Prophet Simeon when they presented Jesus to the Temple. As Pope Saint John Paul II fondly say: “The salvation of the world passes by way of the family.”

Truly the drama of human history plays out mostly in the quiet intensity of daily life, especially within a family. As Dr. Bergsma puts it, “this should motivate us to recommit ourselves to seeking holiness in the little, mundane details of daily living, because so often it is from those small acts of faith in the pursuit of holiness that great acts of salvation are conceived and grow.” Being faithful in going to Mass every Sunday and spending quality time with the family during this Day of Rest are small things in the eyes of the world, but they are great things in God’s eyes.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that one of the four reasons God becomes man, that the word becomes flesh, is to make us partakers of the divine nature. In other words, to make us sharers in his divine life. These are two of a very powerful passage in the Catechism, “this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God” St. Irenaeus. And then from St. Athanasius, “the Son of God became man so that we might become God” (CCC 460).

May each Family of Our Lady of Joy Parish, imitate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, always humble and obedient to God and His Commandments and become partakers of God’s saving acts.

Yours in Christ through Mary Immaculate,

Fr. Jess Ty

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