Holy Family

Merry Christmas!. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we also remember the Blessed Mother and St Joseph, the Holy Family. Many Catholics used to place JMJ on their assignments when in school, which stands for Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It was with great joy that we honor the Mother of our Lord and the foster father, St Joseph. They lived fully the tenets of what a family is supposed to be. St Joseph was asked by God to be a guardian for His Son, and St Joseph raised Jesus, teaching Him about the Law and the prophets, taking Him to the Temple and loving His Mother. St Joseph lived his fatherhood as a chaste man, someone who sacrificed in order to honor and cherish the Mother of God. And Mary, as weknow from her Magnificat in the Gospel of Luke, lived her motherhood with the joy and the sorrow of knowing that her Son is destined to be the downfall of many nations, as St Simeon prophesied to her.

We ask for their intercession that our families today would understand the essence of sacrifice, as well as the essence of chastity. And this chastity does not begin only at the exchange of vows. Let us ask the Holy Family that our young people would understand the essence of chastity before marriage. It is no coincidence that with an increase in promiscuity and cohabitation, that divorce is on the increase, sexually transmitted diseases are on the increase, abortion is on the increase, and adultery is on the increase. And it is not only the husband who is guilty of adultery. There is an increase in adultery by the wives as well. Our families are being torn apart because men and women have no idea how to be chaste and how to sacrifice for the happiness of the other. There must be mutual love and respect, gentleness and kindness, and a love for purity and chastity, which, far too often, does not exist in the hearts of our husbands and wives.

St Joseph, you are the model of purity for men. We pray through your intercession that our men would be good husbands and providers. Mary, ever Virgin, you are the model of purity for women. We pray through your intercession that our women would be examples of purity and holiness.