Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
For the Lord honors the father over the children, and has confirmed the judgment of the mother over her sons. He who honors his father will make atonement for sins. He who gives glory to his mother is as one who lays up treasure. Whoever honors his father will have joy in his own children. He will be heard in the day of his prayer. He who gives glory to his father will have length of days. He who listens to the Lord will bring rest to his mother,
My son, help your father in his old age, and don't grieve him as long as he lives. If he fails in understanding, have patience with him. Don't dishonor him in your full strength. For the kindness to your father will not be forgotten. Instead of sins it will be added to build you up.
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you.
Your wife will be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive shoots around your table.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."
He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son."2:15 Hosea 11:1
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life are dead."
He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets that he will be called a Nazarene.
What strikes me most about the Holy Family is how utterly ordinary and yet extraordinary their life was. Here we have Joseph, a working man who listens to dreams and acts on them without hesitation. Mary, a young mother far from home, trusting her husband's discernment. And Jesus, a child who needed protection, care, and eventually a hometown to grow up in.
The flight to Egypt reminds us that even the Holy Family knew displacement, uncertainty, and the anxiety of starting over. Joseph had to make difficult decisions with incomplete information, guided only by his faith and his dreams. How many of us find ourselves in similar places—needing to make choices about our families' futures, weighing safety against familiarity, trusting that God will provide even when the path isn't clear?
What I find beautiful in Sirach's wisdom is this vision of family as a place where honor flows both ways—where caring for aging parents becomes a source of blessing, not burden. In our culture that often sees elderly family members as inconvenient, these words challenge us to see patience with failing memory or slowing bodies as acts that actually build us up rather than wear us down.
Joseph models something profound here: masculine strength expressed through protection, provision, and attentive listening—to God, to circumstances, to his family's needs. He doesn't need to be the hero of the story; he's content to be the faithful guardian of something precious entrusted to his care.
The Holy Family shows us that holiness happens in the midst of very real challenges—job changes, relocations, caring for vulnerable family members, making ends meet.
Where in your own family relationships might God be calling you to greater patience or honor? What dreams or promptings have you been hesitant to act on for your family's wellbeing?