42. Feast of the Holy Family

Meditations no. 37 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

(Sunday within the octave of Christmas or December 30)

The circumstances that led our Father to entrust our parents and families to the Holy Family.

Today we renew the consecration of our families to the Holy Family of Nazareth. This consecration was first made by our Founder on 14 May 1951, in the oratory of the Holy Family at Villa Tevere, which was still under construction.

Those were difficult times. The Work was growing rapidly, and this gave rise to a number of problems. In addition, there were misunderstandings, and some people started sowing doubt and suspicion about the Work. They even brought these false reports to our brothers’ parents, upsetting them and arousing unfounded opposition.

As always, our Father’s first reaction was to place all his trust in God. He then jotted down these words, on a slip of paper which turned up years later: Place the families of our people under the protection of the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, so that they may come to share in the Work’s gaudium cum pace, and so that God may grant them affection for Opus Dei.

Our divine vocation has given a supernatural meaning to our lives, and makes us see ourselves as God’s instruments to spread his kingdom, sanctifying all earthly realities and bringing them to him.

The spirit of the Work makes us very conscious of divine Providence. We come to see that everyone has an important place in God’s plans. Therefore, not only do we joyfully thank God for letting us share in his divine plans by calling us, but we also realize that our parents are closely linked to our vocation. We want them to share in our joy and understand the special love which God has shown us. Through learning about our spirit, we want them to discover their own vocation and the wonderful meaning of their lives.

Vocation is a supernatural reality, which can only be understood through faith. Thanks to faith, the surrender which parents make of their children to God is not something sad or bitter. It is not a “sacrifice” in the ordinary sense of that word, as something disagreeable. When God asks parents for their children, it is not a sacrifice for them. Nor is it a sacrifice for us to give ourselves to him. It is an immense honour, a source of holy and noble pride, a sign of special love, a very special mark of affection, which God has revealed to us now, but which was in his mind from all eternity.

The Holy Family: an example of holiness for Christian families.

Our parents have fulfilled their God-given mission very well, at times perhaps without even realizing it. God will not fail to reward them abundantly, both in heaven and on earth. Nonetheless, although we are sure that God will help them, we should be constant in our prayer for them. We want them to follow more and more closely the sublime example set by the Family of Nazareth. And so we pray with the liturgy: Most merciful Father … help us to imitate the example of the Holy Family, so that, after the tribulations of this life, we may rejoice in their company for ever.

The Holy Family is the model for all Christian families. Pope Leo XIII wrote that: In Joseph, fathers find the noblest standard of watchfulness and fatherly care. In the most holy Virgin, Mother of God, mothers have a splendid mirror of love, modesty, submission and perfect faith. In Jesus, who was subject to his parents, children have a divine example of obedience, which they should admire, imitate and foster.

We ask God to grant our parents and our brothers and sisters the grace to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth. May they continue to grow in love and happiness, and learn to sanctify themselves through fulfilling their duties. These are the desires expressed in St Paul’s words, which the Church applies to Christian families today: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.

Almighty and eternal God, we pray today, as we renew the consecration of our families, in your ineffable providence you deigned to call us to life through our parents. Hear the pleas that we address to you in filial piety.

Fill our parents and brothers and sisters with your blessings. Increase your grace in their souls, and inspire them to follow the way of your commandments at all times. Take them under your protection and care, and fashion them after the divine model of your Holy Family.

Consecrating our families to the Family of Nazareth.

O Jesus, our most lovable Redeemer, you came to light up the world with your example and doctrine, and chose to spend the greater part of your life subject to Mary and Joseph in the humble house at Nazareth, sanctifying the family that all Christian homes were to imitate. Graciously accept the consecration of the families of your children in Opus Dei that we now make to you.

Our Founder wanted us to renew the consecration of our families to the Holy Family of Nazareth every year on this day. As good children, we gratefully and lovingly accept the invitation. We pray to Jesus especially for those who form part of our life. We want them to receive God’s abundant grace and an unshakeable happiness. This is a duty of filial piety that we joyfully carry out today.

Grant them, Lord, to come to know better each day the spirit of our Opus Dei, to which you have called us for your service and our sanctification. Instil in their hearts a great love for our Work, and an ever-growing appreciation for the beauty of our vocation, so that they may feel a holy pride in your having deigned to choose us, and learn to thank you for the honour you have bestowed upon them. Bless especially their cooperation in our apostolic work, and make them always share in the joy and peace that you grant us as a reward for our dedication.

We rejoice to see how the Holy Family’s protection, which our Founder asked for so insistently, has enabled our families to understand and love our way. This is something for which we should be very grateful to God and to our Father. Let us pray that it may always continue that way.

We ask you, finally, Lord, that after a long life on earth, they may be worthy to sing for ever, in union with us, the glories of our heavenly home.

To make our prayers more acceptable, we entrust them to our Lady and St Joseph, who, on earth, had the happiness of caring for the Son of God and of offering him the warmth of a home. Mary, most holy Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, through your powerful intercession make this consecration pleasing to God.

O Joseph, holy Patriarch, guardian of Jesus and Mary, help our parents and our brothers and sisters in all their spiritual and material needs, so that they may bless our divine Redeemer, Jesus, for ever in heaven