Mons. Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the Gospel of this Sunday, December 31, 2023, titled: “The Lord never forgets his promises”
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Genesis 15, 1-6; 21, 1-3: “Your heir will come from your womb”
Psalm 104: “The Lord never forgets his promises”
Hebrews 11, 8. 11-12. 17-19: “The faith of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac”
Saint Luke 2, 22-40: “The Child grew and was filled with wisdom”
One of the serious concerns of our society is violence. Many times when we talk about violence and insecurity we refer to the serious murders, massacres and attacks that are suffered in our environments, but we rarely reflect that the most frequent place of violence is the family. The statistics of family violence appear every day on the news, they outrage us all, but they are there. We see ourselves immersed in a wave of violence, drug trafficking, drugs and alcohol, fears and insecurities, and we would like to take refuge in the warm family environment. Warm? It is an ideal and a dream, but the statistics seem to contradict our hopes.
The family is shaken every day by numerous attacks, direct or indirect, caused by a culture that seeks new forms of coexistence and leaves aside the traditional Mexican family. The high number of divorces, single mothers, pregnant teenagers, rapes and abuses seem to contradict our desires for a family. Domestic violence, child abuse, abortions and euthanasia, beatings and insults seriously threaten the foundation of every person. It is sad to see that eighty percent of rapes and abuse of children occur within the immediate family or those who resemble them. Where is the family going? Countless women of all conditions are not valued and are often left alone to raise their children. They are subjected to many forms of exclusion and violence. When machismo, oppression and profit prevail, where does the family go?
The narrative that Saint Luke presents to us today allows us to discover the great values that the family of Jesus contains: they approach, in accordance with Jewish custom and tradition, the “presentation”; Father and mother go, both united, to offer their Child to the Lord; Together they receive the praise and also the challenges and commitments that they will have to face in their task as parents of Jesus; They feel the welcoming atmosphere of the two elders who, moved by the Spirit, comfort and encourage them in their mission and the narrative closes with a simple family scene, but one that presents the ideal of every family: “The Child was growing and becoming stronger, He was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was with Him.” Yes, that is the ideal of every family: that each child has the security of food and a healthy environment to grow; that each child has a decent and safe school to be filled with wisdom; that each child can see in the conjugal love of his parents a reflection of the creative love of God; that each member of the family feels respected, loved and valued within it because that is where they are strengthened, take refuge and find peace within it. It is the ideal of the family. How are our families similar to this ideal?
It is urgent to rediscover the origin, value and meaning of the family, reflect on its being and its work to respond to a new problem that afflicts us. The family must fully live its vocation and mission both in the Church and in society: it is basic in the birth, growth, development and maturation of every person. It is not nostalgia for the old and prolific families of yesteryear, as if all past times were better, but it is the urgent demand that current families, despite the dispersion and the jobs of the parents, despite the distances and the problems have to become a true “home”, “domestic church”. The family has to be the privileged place where we can experience the love of God, where the values that will sustain the individual are learned, where truth and love of justice are learned, where true relationships of brothers and friends are learned. The challenge is difficult, but it is also the only way to strengthen the dignity and true formation of the person. If we find inspiration and model in the Family of Nazareth, our families will be able to live human and Christian values to consolidate an experience of love and be the foundation for a more humane society.
It has often been said that now we have to live a new family form, and it will be true if this form includes love, fidelity and respect, if it knows how to instill the values of truth and justice, if it can make people feel loved and including each of its members. We complain about the outside world that influences the family, but the responsibility and commitment of each of its members also greatly influences it. Today we face two very strong challenges: the external one, which consists of fighting for the dignity and respect of each family, their right to decent housing and food, responding to their most basic needs, seeking opportunities for education, school and work; But we also face a challenge within the family where each of its members commits to building and making each home a warm environment full of love that favors the growth of people, where the love of God is breathed. We believe that the family is the image of God who in his most intimate mystery is not loneliness, but community; its model, motivation and ultimate destiny. How are our families living? Where we go? What can we do, and what do we commit to in the family?
Lord and our God, You who have given us in the Family of your Son the perfect model for our families, grant us to practice its domestic virtues and be united by the ties of your love, so that we can go to enjoy joy with it eternally from your house. Amen.
