The Feast of the Holy Family is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to preaching a column material. Does one talk about the centrality of the family in the discernment of one’s vocation? Does one talk about Jesus’ obedience to Mary,
Joseph, and the old law that He Himself had come to fulfill? Perhaps a word about Simeon and Anna, and their anticipation of the Savior’s advent? Some imprudent preachers lean in and give one thirty-minute homily with four subsections,
but I strive to avoid such things, as I try not to get booed out of the ambo whenever possible. 

Because I cannot treat all those topics to the degree I’d like in the space I have here (and because I want to keep my preaching options open for Sunday), let’s just take this Holy Family Sunday to make two truths abundantly clear. First, as parents,
you have the responsibility to teach your children to pray. The Ritual of Baptism includes a prayer that mothers and fathers may be the best of parents, and the first educators of their children in the ways of the Faith. We, as a parish community, have an obligation to assist parents in that responsibility, and rest assured that I will stop at nothing to make sure that these needs are met. One cannot give what one does not have, and so if you don’t feel as though you have an authentic and regular prayer life, that is step one in teaching your children how to pray.
 
Second, if we do not teach our children how to pray, the culture will teach them something else entirely. Almost every major force in the culture today is trying to sell something, and the sooner they get their claws into people, the better.  It does not pay anyone well to have people spending an hour or more a day in silent reflection on the deepest mysteries of life, so companies, movements, and ideologies will fight tooth and nail for the time, attention, and resources of individuals. Technology and
marketing have made it possible for people to never spend even a moment alone with their thoughts, and it pays better to keep people entertained and distracted. If we do not create the space, time, and discipline for our families to spend time with the Lord, it will quickly become harder and harder for us to carve out any space for God, and our lives will become atheistic in practice, even if that does not mesh with what
we believe.

As we approach the dawn of another new year, a year which so many people around the world are hoping will be an improvement over the struggles, loss of life, and isolation of this past year, there is an important petition that we can place in the care of the Holy Family. In the midst of all the usual resolutions that are made and
broken in the coming weeks, we as a parish region can come together and collectively carve out time to spend with Our Lord. Take advantage of the hours of confessions and adoration we have in the region. Spend a few moments each day reflecting on how we have lived out our vocations, and where we need to invite God
into our struggles. Commit to doing something concrete to share the Faith within our families and in the world at large. Place your family under the care and protection of the Holy Family, and trust that God will reward our efforts by drawing us closer
to Himself.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McC