Feast of Holy Family - Homily 2

Homily 2 - 2017

Probably the sort of activity that Jesus’ parents were engaged in in today’s Gospel episode was the same sort of activity that led Jesus in his later adult public life to clear the temple area of people buying and selling animals for sacrifice and to overturn the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of those selling doves.

Mary and Joseph were simple folk simply unquestioningly obeying the Jewish Law. That Law required firstly that women at great inconvenience travel long distances to the temple in Jerusalem to be ritually cleansed by the Jewish priests through the offering of doves in sacrifice to God after they had shed blood in the process of giving birth. Secondly, it required that similar sacrifice be made to God to ransom from God, as it were, the first male child to be born from their union and who was considered to belong by rights to God.

Whatever about their origins, what did those commandments have to say about the dignity of motherhood or about the bountiful, life-giving generosity of God? In the adult Jesus’ view, his God was not interested in taking lives, even of animals. There was no violence in the heart of his God. And Jesus was certainly responsive to the wonderful dignity of women and appreciative of their equal status in society. Neither he nor his Father had any time for patriarchy and male singularity, and all they assumed. It is fascinating how those attitudes fairly quickly crept back into the Church founded by Jesus [as the Royal Commission has reminded us].

Though it was not stated explicitly, there are a couple of clues that Simeon was an old man approaching a not-too-distant death. I like his openness to the continuing role of senior citizens. Luke comments that the Holy Spirit rested on him [a lovely phrase], and that the two had been obviously in dialogue. Simeon rejoiced that the salvation to be brought by the baby child in his arms would extend to all the nations, enlightening the pagans, as well as bringing glory to the faithful Jewish remnant. He was an ecumenist; and rejoiced that God was likewise.

It is interesting, too, that Luke also has Simeon stating that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart, and seemed to see that somehow associated with Israel’s corporate rejection of Jesus and his revelation of God. He seems to associate Mary with Jesus in his saving passion in some way special to her.

Luke then mentions Anna, the prophetess, and states that she was well on in years, eighty-four years old in fact [I am not sure if I agree with that comment!]. She also publicly proclaimed the specialness of the child. For Luke, as will be consistently noticed later in his Gospel narrative, men had no monopoly on God nor privileged insight into the mind of God.

In light of these comments, what do we make of Paul’s directive, Wives, give way to your husbands, as you should – in the Lord? Is it saying anything much different from what he enjoins on the husbands, Love your wives – given that he expects everyone in the community, wives and husbands, to be practised hands when it comes to compassion, kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn’t. It may even be what he has in his mind when he says, Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. Obviously, he expects quarrels sometimes, even within good families.