Feast of the Holy Family – December 29, 2019 – Matthew 2:13-23
If we were given the choice to choose our parents, what kind of parents would we like to have? Perhaps, some of us want to have rich parents. Some of us may desire to have beautiful or genius parents. Some of us may wish to be born in a royal and politically influential family. These are our usual dreams. Yet, surprisingly, these are not the options that God made when He chose His parents. In His beautiful wisdom, God selected Mary and Joseph of Nazareth.
Joseph was a descendant of acclaimed King David, but the Davidic Kingdom was the only thing of the past in the time of Joseph. He was also a carpenter and despite hardworking, this profession just gave enough to survive. Mary was an ordinary young woman from an unknown village called Nazareth. Joseph and Mary were simple if not poor people living within the time where most Israelites were suffering from the oppression of the Roman empire. In the eyes of the world, this couple was nothing.
However, our God is the God of surprises, and He has a hobby to upset “the established world’s order.” For God, the crucial criteria to be His parents are not wealth, popularity, or noble line. God has no need of these things. So, what is the basis of His choice?
The fundamental criterium is faith in God. Joseph and Mary possessed nothing of this world, but both are the man and woman of faith, or the man and woman of God. Joseph was called as the “righteous man,” meaning he was a man who knew the Torah by heart and obeyed them faithfully. Joseph loved God and His laws. Moreover, when Gabriel appeared to Joseph and revealed the plan of God, Joseph immediately got up and followed Angel’s instruction without any question asked. Mary did basically the same thing. When Gabriel told her about God’s plan that she would be the mother of God, Mary did not understand, but she did not simply give her nod, but she accepted God’s design as her own. Joseph and Mary knew well that the moment they participated in God’s way, they had to surrender their own plans, dreams, and hopes. Their lives were practically thrown into the unknown. Yet, their faith is bigger than their fear or pride, and they believed that God’s way is always the best way. These are the kind of parents whom God chose.
Like Joseph and Mary, I do believe that the first attitude that any parents have is faith in God. Every child is a gift, yet this gift will challenge and change the parents who receive them. As a child enters the life of their parents, husband and wife shall also enter the life of sacrifice. Sometimes, I am sudden by the decision of some Catholic couples who refuse to have children. We understand that it is difficult to raise children, but our refusal to accept a gift from God might point to our lack of faith, even to our selfishness, our obsessiveness to our plans, career, and ambitions.
God does not need a perfect couple to raise His Son, He rather chooses a man and woman of faith.
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP