A Message from Father Nathan
My dearest people who are all close to my heart!
Lots of love, blessings, and prayers to you all.
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
This week we are going to celebrate the Holy Family Feast. The Feast of this Holy Family is not just about The Holy Family, but about our own families too. The main purpose of the Feast is to present the Holy Family as the model of all Christian families, and for domestic life in general.
Our family life becomes sanctified when we live the life of the Church within our homes. This is called “domestic church” or the “church in miniature”.
The Holy Family is the name given to the family unit of Jesus:
The Divine Son of God Jesus,
his mother Mary,
and his foster-father Joseph.
We know very little about the life of the Holy Family through the Canonical Scriptures.
They speak of the early years of the Holy family, including the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, and the finding of Jesus in the temple.
Pope Paul VI reflected,
“Nazareth is a kind of school….How I would like to return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is Nazareth!”
He explained that there are three key lessons to learn from Christ’s childhood.
- First, it offered silence. “We need this wonderful state of mind,” the Pope said, to combat the pressures and noise of the world.
- Secondly, it was “a community of love and sharing”. Nazareth serves as “a model of what the family should be…..beautiful for the problems it poses and rewards it brings, in sum, the perfect setting for rearing children—and for this, there is no substitute”.
- Thirdly, it taught discipline. “In Nazareth, the home of a craftsman’s son, we learn about work and discipline it entails”. (Office of Reading, Dec 26) As Christian parents, we are called to model our own family life after the Holy Family in Nazareth.
By shaping our homes in the example of silence, community love, and discipline, we ensure that we are doing our part in creating a nurturing environment in which saints are made.
St. Jon Chrysostom urged all Christians to make each home a “family church” and in doing so, we sanctify the family unit.
Just how does one live out the Church in the family?
The best way is by making Christ and His Church the center of family and individual life. Ways to do this include: reading scripture regularly, praying daily, attending Mass at least on Sundays and Holy Day of Obligation, imitating the actions of the Holy Family, and so forth, all done together as a family unit.
The Holy Family Feast is a good time to remember the family unit and pray for our human and spiritual families. We also may take this feast to reflect on the value and sanctity of the family unit and to evaluate our own family life. In what ways may it be improved? What would Jesus, Mary, and Joseph do? Finally, we can use this feast to ask ourselves what are we doing to promote the family within our own cultures, neighborhoods, and communities?
God bless you all.
With lots of love and blessing.
Ever at your service.
—Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan
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Past Messages from Father Nathan
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | January 10, 2021
Together, We Are the Church. A universal body of believers, delivering God’s message of hope and love to everyone, everywhere. Your generosity to the Archbishop’s Charity and Development Drive, ABCD, serves the Church so that the Church can serve you.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | January 3, 2021
Happy New Year. Goodbye, 2020. Hello, 2021. We have all experienced a most unusual year. Our lives have had to adjust to never-ending uncertainties that shake our personal and public lives. We have witnessed a shutdown in our thoughts and actions all over the world…
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | December 20, 2020
Merry Christmas to You! “JOY TO THE WORLD” Fourth Advent of Sunday. In this season…when the people were all tired, worried, concerned, and waiting with lots of perplexities, the Lord incarnated Himself and opened up a new world of love to His people.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | November 15, 2020
Peace and happiness are like a light within each of our hearts. I believe and trust that It’s ONE of the gifts from God. It’s purely a gift from the Holy Spirit. It is light – that always glows and intensifies.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | November 1, 2020
On November 2nd we are going to celebrate All Souls Day. This is a holy day set aside for honoring the dead. The day is primarily celebrated in the Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as a few other denominations of Christianity.
From The Desk Of Father Nathan | October 25, 2020
Every week as we profess our faith, we express… “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic
Church and THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.” The author of this letter to the Hebrews wrote. “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and the perfecter of faith.” (12.1-2)