Out of Egypt

The Holy Family Yr A

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We call it holy, not because it was a family which did not face suffering and difficulties. The initiation of this family was with Mary’s “yes”. When she accepted to be the Mother of God, Mary also accepted the trials that came with that acceptance. She was not married, though pregnant; her betrothed wanted to send her away secretly. When Joseph gave his “yes”, he had to travel to Betlehem, and as we all know, he did not find a comfortable place where Jesus was born. As we are told in today’s Gospel, Betlehem, was not a safe place for them, so they had to leave and travel far. They ended up being refugees in Egypt. They were not rich. When they presented Jesus in the Temple, they heard words which were loaded with responsibilities, and an acceptance of suffering with Jesus. When Jesus was 12 years old, he was lost. As tradition says, Mary became a widow. The life of a widow is not easy, especially in those days. Apart from all this, she witnessed the good carried out by her son, being paid back with jealousy, hatred, foul words and in the end, Jesus was put to death on the cross, after immense suffering.  

The Holy Family faced suffering and difficulties, like we do. This family is special, because in the midst of all this, love reigned, as did forgiveness and mercy. Later in the Gospel, Jesus gives us a definition of family: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mt 12, 50). Are love, forgiveness and mercy, present in our families? Every person needs to be loved, needs to be forgiven and needs mercy. Even we need this.  

Today’s Gospel refers to two issues, present even today. The first is refugees. The Holy Family, had to leave a country, where they were comfortable, a place they knew, since it became a threat to them. From citizens in a country, they became refugees in another. How were they welcomed? How do we welcome refugees? How do we speak about them? Are we ready to help them? 

The other issue is the killing of the innocent. The Holy Family had to leave, because Herod wanted to kill Jesus. Today Herod is still present, in the killing of babies in the womb, the killing of disabled people, because they are not productive economically, the killing of the elderly because they cannot contribute to the economy, the killing of terminally ill patients, because they are suffering, or we are suffering, seeing them in this state. It could be that all this is not happening in Malta, however the signs are there, and many are in favour of becoming Harod. And where do we stand in all this? What message are we passing on to our children? 

The Holy Family is not a fairy tale, it lived difficult moments, amid happy ones. Mary and Joseph had a holy family, because they had Jesus, they had “Emmanuel”, they believed that God was always with them, and he is always with us and with our families too. 

A reading from the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 2: 13-15.19-23)  

When the magi had departed, behold, 
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, 
and stay there until I tell you. 
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” 
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night 
and departed for Egypt. 
He stayed there until the death of Herod, 
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, 
Out of Egypt I called my son. 
 
When Herod had died, behold, 
the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream 
to Joseph in Egypt and said, 
“Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, 
for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 
He rose, took the child and his mother, 
and went to the land of Israel. 
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea 
in place of his father Herod, 
he was afraid to go back there. 
And because he had been warned in a dream, 
he departed for the region of Galilee. 
He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, 
so that what had been spoken through the prophets 
might be fulfilled, 
He shall be called a Nazorean. 

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Read the Gospel story so that you are familiar with it. 
  2. Reflect on what the Gospel story is saying to you. Which points would you highlight and why? 
  3. Angels are mentioned several times in the Bible, they are messengers from God. We all have a Guardian Angel who protects and guides us. Pray to your Guardian Angel and also to your children’s Guardian Angel .
  4. Being the feast of the Holy Family, let us try our best to be present in our families; to give our full attention, try not to be negative and critical, instead we help to build each other up to reach the best versions of ourselves.  
  5. Together with your family find the right time to read this Gospel. The environment helps, so before you start, prepare; 
    i. The Bible reading from Matthew: 13-15.19-23
    ii. A white pillar candle 
    iii. Cover the table with a white cloth
    v. A computer/laptop with the readings and clips
  6. Go through the steps with your children (2 age groups are being suggested).
  7. Feel free to adapt to your situation
  8. Be creative 😊 

Today is the feast of the Holy Family. Who is the Holy Family? (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) In today’s Gospel we will hear about a dream Joseph had, we will also realise how much Joseph loved and cared for his family. 

  • Today is the feast of the Holy Family. Who is the Holy Family? (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) In today’s Gospel we will hear about a dream Joseph had, we will also realise how much Joseph loved and cared for his family. 
  • White, blank A4 paper 
  • Pencil 
  • Colours 
  • Photo of your family (if you are not going to do the drawing) 

Did you ever play Blind Man’s Buff? This is similar to Catch or Tag, however the person trying to catch the others, is blindfolded. How would you feel, if you had to play this game? (allow the children to give their answers) 

When you cannot see, you may feel afraid since you do not know what is in front of you, you may bump in some furniture, or in the wall and hurt yourself. Everyone feels safer when they can see where they are going. St Joseph was not playing a game! An angel appeared to him and asked him to leave. He did not give him an exact address of where to go. Joseph had not idea where he was going. However, Joseph trusted God. He believed that where God was leading him, would be safe for him, Mary and Jesus. 

This is today’s message: we are always to trust God. We need to trust God when we are afraid, when we feel alone, when we are happy and when we are with friends. We need to always remember and believe that God is with us, and whatever God asks of us, even if we cannot understand it or we would prefer to do something else, it is for our own good.  

Earlier we mentioned the game, Blind Man’s Buff. How would you feel if although blindfolded, someone you trusted was leading you and telling you where to move. The voice of this person will be leading you and taking care that you do not hit something and hurt yourself. If we trust this person, we will not get hurt, even though we cannot see where we are going. We need to do the same thing with God. We need to allow God to lead us, and believe that where God takes us, it will be for our own good.  

How will we know where God wants us to go? When we read the Bible stories, we will get to know God better and we will also learn what he would like us to do. From today’s Gospel, we learn that God is always with us, the same way he was with Mary, Joseph and Jesus. God takes care of us. God also talks to us in prayer, and through others, for example at mass, during our catechetical meetings and through those who love us. 

God gave us a family, to love us and guide us in making the right choices. The same way that Joseph and Mary cared for Jesus, your family takes care of you. On a paper draw the members of your family. Do not forget to include yourself too! If you do not wish to draw, stick a photo of your family on the paper and around your drawing or photo, write: “Dear Jesus, bless and take care of my family.” When you are ready, put this paper near Baby Jesus, and every day remember to pray for those who love and care for you. 

Whilst doing this activity, listen to, One Family.   

Sign of the Cross.

Dear Jesus, thank you for caring for me and caring for my family too. I would like to pray for those children who feel that no one loves them. Please remind them that you love them. Amen.  

In today’s Gospel, we are going to hear about some dreams that Joseph had. In the Bible, very little is written about St Joseph, we have no words that he spoke. However, he teaches us a lot, even from this little that we know about him.  

  • To become a saint, does not mean that you must be perfect 
  • It means that we trust God and allow him to lead us, especially in difficult times 
  • We trust God, even when we do not understand 
  • A picture of the Holy Family 
  • Pencil or something to write with 

What was today’s Gospel about? 

Joseph was free to choose. He could either do what the angel asked or he could choose otherwise. What do you think, could have happened if Joseph did not obey the angel? 

Joseph had great faith in God. Joseph had already shown his trust in God, when he accepted Mary when she had told him that she was going to have a baby. An angel had appeared to him and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” Joseph felt responsible for Mary and for baby Jesus. He wanted to protect them as best as he could, and that is what he did. In our families, we also have those who protect us and care for us. Our family helps us to grow up and develop our talents. Apart from this family, we are also members of a much bigger one. When we were baptised, we became part of God’s family. Even this big family cares for us and helps us to become better Christians. Who are these people (the family of God), who help you to become a better Christian?  

God spoke to Joseph in a dream. Does God speak to us? How? 

Today is the feast of the Holy Family. It is not the feast of the Perfect Family. Holiness does not mean perfection. To become saints, we need to know God and trust him, we allow God to guide us and when making a decision, we think about how God wants us to decide. Therefore, the first step is to know God better. We do this by reading the Bible, going to formation meetings, going to mass and listening attentively to the homily, prayer, a time when we are not the only ones doing the talking, we need to allow God to talk to us too.  

We are all part of a family. In the family, responsibilities are shared. One person is responsible for one thing, someone else is responsible for something else. What are your responsibilities in your family? Can you do something else? When we do things for our family, we are showing our love for them. 

Print the picture of the Holy Family and on the back write a prayer for your family. Remember to thank God for each person in your family, pray for their needs, pray for unity and love. Keep this prayer near your bedside and pray it before going to sleep. There may me times when you may add to this prayer or change parts of it.  

Sign of the cross.

Lord God, you want that my family resembles the Holy Family. Please help us to appreciate each other, to love each other more and become more like Jesus is everything we say and do. 

I want to also ask you to protect those families, who like the Holy Family, are in danger, those families who must leave their home to go to a safer country. 

Amen.  

Listen to, God, bless my family.

How to use this space

God speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. Here you will find useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.