DECEMBER 28/9, 2019
5:00 PM (SAT), 9:00 AM (SUN) ORDINARY FORM MASSES
Born in 1894 in Surrey, England; Aldous Huxley was the author of nearly 50 books – both fiction and non-fiction.
He was a humanist and a pacifist, with interests in mysticism and universalism. In all, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize seven times; and widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his day.
His fifth and most famous novel, and his first dystopian work, was titled Brave New World.
In this work, a World State has created an imposed stability through genetic engineering, and medical and psychological manipulation. Yet, it maintains order by obliterating the individual, and destroying and discouraging strong bonds and relationships with others.
Words such as family, mother, father, brother, or sister have become obsolete; and their use is even considered perverse and obscene.
While we may consider family as our some of our strongest bonds and our family relations have given us the roots of our identities; in Huxley’s novel, the World State demands quite the opposite. And by manipulating language, individuals thoughts and ideas are manipulated; and ultimate control is exerted.
Today is the Sunday after Christmas, since 1969 known as The Feast of the Holy Family.
Devotion to the Holy Family can be traced to the 16th century. By the end of the 19th century, Pope Leo XIII approved this feast, and encouraged Christian families to dedicate and consecrate themselves to the Holy Family.
Pope Benedict XV extended the celebration of the feast to the entire Church in 1921, as the Sunday after Epiphany. And in 1969, it assumed its current location in the liturgical calendar.
In the early 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote,
God, to whom angels submit themselves and who principalities and powers obey, was subject to Mary; and not only to Mary but Joseph also for Mary’s sake [….]. God obeyed a human creature; this is humility without precedent. A human creature commands God; it is sublime beyond measure.
Our First Reading from the Book of Sirach is a commentary on the Fourth Commandment, namely:
Honor your father and your mother.Our Lord exemplifies this commandment through His humble submission to his human parents. Humility is a difficult concept for anyone, and it would do us good to contemplate the immense sublimity “humility without precendent” of Christ.
We hear in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians, the text leading up to the parallel of Ephesian’s chapter 5. While the text may sound old-fashioned to our modern ears, twenty-five years ago in my Naval training, we were taught:
To be a good leader, you must know how to be a good follower.
The key to any of this is relationship. The term ‘family’ can be considered and examined through both macroscopic and microscopic lenses. Whether it’s a nuclear family, an extended family, a community – large or small – the family of the Church, or the human race … we are all part of some sort of family.
Considering that the roots of the English word ‘holy’ are the same as the words ‘whole’ and ‘healthy’ – our membership(s) in the various families to which we may belong … complete us and make us whole.
Through the intercession of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – may we obtain the grace to give and take in a ordered way … and grow in our human relationship. And may the Eucharist we receive today – Body, and Blood; Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – unite us ever more closely with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
