Michal Hunt
Brant Pitre
Fr. Francis Martin
Brant
Pitre
Mass Readings Explained
Feast of the Holy Family B
Michal E.
Hunt
Agape Bible Commentary
Feast of the Holy Family B
INTRODUCTION
The First Reading reminds us of the fourth of the Ten Commandments: Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you. Significantly, it is the only one of the Ten Commandments associated with a promised blessing for obedience, but it also had an implied warning. In our reading, the inspired writer establishes this passage’s theme when he equates “fear of the LORD [Yahweh]” with respect for one’s parents. He tells us that our acts of honor and respect toward our parents are promised God’s blessings beyond a good life. So important is one’s conduct towards one’s parents that God promises He will always hear the prayers of an obedient and caring child, and acts of kindness towards one’s parents will atone for sins (Sir 3:3).
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission
In the Second Reading, St. Paul lists a set of virtues for “God’s chosen ones.” The result of exhibiting such virtues is that we act with love towards one another. St. Paul writes that those who exercise these virtues are emulating divine love when they let the peace of Christ control their actions. Paul writes that it is the love of Christ that is “the bond of perfection” for the “household of God” that is the Church of Jesus Christ.
Then, St. Paul turns from the “household of God” to the “household” of marriage and the family, writing about a mutual loving submission of husbands and wives to each other and the obedience of children to their parents. The importance of children displaying obedience to their parents is rooted in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, commanding children to honor their parents. For their part, parents are to nurture their children and encourage them in Christian virtues. They must love and encourage their children in the same way God loves and encourages all His human children to choose the right path in their faith journeys. It is also St. Paul’s gentle reminder of the Christian family’s critical role in the Church’s life.
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission
The Gospel Reading recounts the event of baby Jesus’ parents presenting Him at the Jerusalem Temple when He was forty-days old, in obedience to the Law of the Sinai Covenant. At the time of His presentation and Mary’s sacrificial offerings, the Prophet Simeon and the Prophetess Anna received divine revelations of Jesus’ true identity. In their prophecies for baby Jesus, they began the proclamation of the Gospel. Recognizing Him as the Davidic Messiah, they began to announce His coming to the extended family of His covenant people, moving forward God’s Divine Plan for humanity’s salvation.
In the ecclesial community, we experience the Christian family, which constitutes a specific revelation and realization of the “domestic church.” The Christian family is a communion of persons in the Body of Christ and “a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit” (CCC 2205). In the procreation and raising of children in the Christian family, we reflect the Father’s work of creation. The spiritually reborn children of God in the Christian family through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation have a mission to fulfill in salvation history. God calls them to take part in the mission and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Their divine calling is to evangelize by sharing the Gospel of salvation within their family and outside their family to the other families in the world.
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission
IN DEPTH ANALYSIS
The Church calls Simeon’s prayer of praise the Nunc Dimittis (in Latin). It divides into two sections and is followed by a prophecy for Mary. The two parts of Simeon’s prayer include:
1) The fulfillment of God’s promise to Simeon,
2) The prophecy of a universal salvation
Having been told that he will live until he has seen the Messiah, Simeon now identifies Jesus as the promised Redeemer-Messiah not just for Israel but for all nations, proclaiming a universal message of salvation. Addressing God and using the prophetic language of Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6 from the “Song of the Servant” passages, Simeon identifies the child Jesus as “your salvation.” This declaration may also suggest wordplay on Jesus’ name, Yahshua in old Hebrew, that means “Yahweh is salvation.”
After blessing Joseph and Mary, Simeon offered a prophecy of opposition and suffering. Simeon’s prophecy concerning Jesus is ominous. The child will create opposition and division over the peoples’ response to Him. It is an alarming prediction because the “falling” comes before the “rising” in verse 34. Simeon’s prophecy announced the rejection of the Messiah by His people.
Then, turning to Mary, Simeon offers a prophecy, saying, “and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (verse 35). Simeon prophesies that Mary will share in her Son’s suffering. The Cross is Jesus’ extraordinary sacrifice, and it is also a sacrifice He asks all His disciples to embrace as His partners in the plan of redemption (see Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; 10:21; Lk 9:23; 14:27). Catechism 618 records: “Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. This association is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering.” As the embodiment of the “daughter of Zion,” Mary will live out the sorrow of her people in their struggle to come to terms with Jesus’ mission. The symbolic mention of the sword may be related to the prophecies in Ezekiel 14:7-8 and Zechariah 12:10.
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission
Fr. George
Corrigan
OFM
friarmusings 
Fr. Kieran
O’Mahony
OSA
Fr. O’Mahony, OSA
Feast of the Holy Family B
NO VIDEO AVAILABLE
Fr. Francis
Martin
Navarre Bible Commentary
St. Charles Borromeo (PDF)
Feast of the Holy Family B
Michal E.
Hunt
Sermon
Writer
