Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

It has been a rollercoaster year for the family.

On the one hand, the pandemic has helped families rediscover the family meal. Shuttered restaurants, limited take-out, and cancelation of team sports has quarantined families at home to bake bread and talk over the kitchen table. What’s even more incredible, like sighting the return of the once nearly extinct bald eagle, I have spotted families at dusk strolling on the sidewalk.

On the other hand, the pandemic has been hard on new families. Time magazine reported in its October 15, 2020 issue that the pandemic has caused a baby bust. U.S. moms are having fewer babies. Demographers predict 10-13% fewer births next year for the lowest birth rate on record. The U.S. is the only developed country that does not guarantee paid leave to new parents. It does not offer universal childcare or pre-K, and our health care system, despite spending twice as much of its gross domestic product on health care than its peers, ranks 33rd in infant mortality among developed countries, besting only Chile, Turkey, Colombia, and Mexico. The addition of the uncertainty of the COVID era with the loss of jobs and housing is a hill too high for many would-be families to climb.

Even without the pandemic, families are stretched beyond a certain cultural ideal. “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Pope Francis said in the documentary, “Francesco.” This statement did more than affirm the dignity of people who are homosexual. According to Rev. Bryan Massingale, it took a stand “where homosexuality is still outlawed in over 70 countries and punishable by death in five.” Everyone deserves a safe place in a family.

What does the Church have to say about the family? For the Feast of the Holy Family, a lot.

In Genesis, the Lord makes a covenant with the childless Abram and Sarah and blesses them with descendants as many as the stars in the sky, the fruit of Abram’s faith in the Lord. Psalm 105 proclaims God’s fidelity, “The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.” The second reading from Hebrews recounts the covenant with Abraham who trusted in the Lord even with the life of his son Isaac.

These readings for the Feast of the Holy Family highlight Abraham’s trust in God and its fruit. In contrast to the “try harder” idealism we often hear, they offer the rock of God’s faithfulness to anchor families hard up against uncertainty and new situations.

Which of the scripture readings for the feast of the Holy Family speaks to your family situation?

Take it to prayer with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Blessed Christmas,

Father David