Becoming a Holy Family

“As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.” – St. John Paul II 

Those words form St. John Paul II, spoken almost 40 years ago, resonate today as we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The family is where the Church lives; it is where the faith is nurtured and brought to life. Families come in many forms in today’s world; the crucial thing to remember is that, as Catholics, we put Jesus at the center of our family life, however that family life may look. No matter how busy you may be, no matter how many baseball tournaments, dance competitions, or school activities are pulling you in different directions, you are called to center your family around the Lord.

In fact, the busier you are, the more you need Jesus in your life to give you the peace that only He can bring. As this year comes to a close, keep the Holy Family as a guide that shows you the gentle love and care needed in both joyful and challenging times. In a recent talk to pilgrims, Pope Leo XIV called the Holy Family “the perfect model God offers as a response to the desperate cry for help from families.” by imitating Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, "our homes will become living torches of God’s light." 

I often hear the comment, “How can I imitate the Holy Family? They were so holy!” They were human as well. Here are some things they can teach us:

• Trust: Joseph and Mary both put their faith in God, trusting in his promises. When things are difficult, when it seems God is calling you to move into uncomfortable terrain – think of Joseph gathering his family to flee to Egypt – trust that the Lord has you in the palm of His hand.
• Prayer: In order to have that kind of trust, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph had to be committed to a life of prayer. Sink your family roots deeply into prayer, even if prayers are short and on the run, don’t leave God out of your family conversations. What is the Lord asking you to do today? How does He want you to treat others? Have those conversations with Jesus. He is always waiting to talk to you!
• Love: Build your family as a community of love, a microcosm of your parish family, archdiocesan family, and universal Church. We are all connected by Baptism as the Body of Christ, but it all starts to be visible in the family, where virtues are cultivated. The virtues put us on the path of holiness, and every virtue is rooted in the pre-eminent call to love as God loves. As St. Paul tells us: “And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14).

As we close out 2025, which went by in a heartbeat, let us look to our families as schools of love, prayer, and trust. Let us look to the Holy Family to help us become those “torches of God’s light.”