The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – 28th December 2025
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today the Church invites us to stop for a moment with grateful hearts before the Holy Family of Nazareth: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This is not an idealised family, far from our reality, but a real family, who knew joy and also fear, uncertainty, hard work, silence, and flight. For this reason, the Holy Family is very close to every one of our families.
The Word of God leads us today into the heart of family life. The Book of Sirach reminds us of a simple but often forgotten truth: the relationship between parents and children is the place where respect, gratitude, and blessings are learned. “Whoever honours his father atones for sins.” Not because parents are perfect, but because God chose the family as the first place of love and formation of the heart. To honour does not mean only to obey, but to care, to be patient, and to forgive, especially when parents grow old and become weak. The world often tells us that a person’s value comes from strength and success. God’s Word tells us that true value comes from love and faithfulness.