2253AFC123022 – What’s it to ya?
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Sirach 3:3-4 –
3 Those who honor their father atone for sins,
4 and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure.
Psalm 128:1 –
1 Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways.
Colossians 3:16-17 – 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.] 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Matthew 2:14-15 – 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. Well, Belovéd, it’s been quite a week already and there is more to come during this Octave of Christmas which began on the day of The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) and will end on January 1, 2023 The Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Normally our weekend study is based on the readings from the following Sunday – in this case that would be January 1, 2023. Today, however, I have been steered toward the celebration for today, December 30, 2022 – Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I believe this became the assignment because we are in an enormous crisis – indeed a plethora of crises – related to family. We often ask in the midst of such a predicament, “Why is God doing this to us?” or “Why is God allowing this to happen?” One need only consider the demise of family values and family structure to see something of the root of this mess. We have abandoned God, and even banned him from his rightful place in our homes, our schools, our governments, and – worst of all – in our hearts. “But not me! I didn’t do that! It’s them, those wretched fools over there! It’s all their fault!”
Well, what’s it to ya? If you, if I, if we are “doing OK,” then what are we supposed to do about all this stuff going on? The most obvious is that we can pray about it, but not like some we hear who say, “God deliver us from these sinful people who bring harm to all around them.” We could perhaps pray, “God thank you for opening my eyes (↔ Music Link) so I can see the goodness in this World and in these people who oppose you.” We can take positive action by making certain our families follow the example of the Holy Family – a Dad, a Mom, and a Kid – in a community of families. That’s so difficult to find today! There is so much violence and hatred and selfishness and … well, you know the rest of it. We can live our lives shuttered away from the world, we can live in sustaining the world, or we can live our lives in, but not of, the world. These are realities we cannot escape. It was pretty much the same for The Holy Family.
We surely remember what happened after the Magi left Jesus and his Mom at the house (probably in Bethlehem, perhaps in Jerusalem). King Herod had every male child in and around the vicinity of Bethlehem brutally murdered. That is why Joseph was ordered to take his wife and child to Egypt for protection. When Herod Agrippa died, he was replaced by his sons, 
Archelaus, Antipas, and Phillip. Another angel vision assured Joseph and Mary that it was safe to return to Israel, they decided to return to Nazareth which is where Jesus learned the Law of Moses and also carpentry or construction. He was obedient to his parents and honored them throughout his formative years. He honored his foster father, Joseph, by accepting his teaching and guidance. He “laid up treasure” by respecting his mother. He was close to her during his entire life on Earth, and after his Resurrection, he continued to honor her as an Ideal Woman (I’ve referred to her as a “Proverbs 31” woman).
From the account we have of the Holy Family visiting Jerusalem when Jesus was 12, we know that Jesus already understood that his mission was to do the works of his Father. (See Luke 2:41-51) The Greek word for this is dei (die) connoting “what is essential,” or “what must be,” or “it behooves me,” or “it is incumbent upon me” and – in this usage – Jesus is telling his parents, “I am bound to be here rather than anywhere else.” Then they all went back down to Nazareth, “and he was obedient to them.” Mary cherished every word (and moment no doubt) in her heart. After this event, we never find another mention of Joseph in the rest of the Bible. We don’t know when he died, but we do know that his death made Mary a widow, and Jesus honored her by caring for her in their own home built for and with them by Joseph. This was a family that revered God, and made it their habit to go up to Jerusalem regularly for the Festival of Passover. They had a habit of loving and obeying God, they learned the Scriptures given by and about God. They ate together, worked together, travelled together. In short, they behaved as a good Jewish family. They reverenced the Lord and walked in his ways. (See Psalm 128:1 above)
Not long ago I share with you something that truly surprised me. Jesus could sing! (See 2123AFC060421 – The 411 of the 808). This is presented to us in Mark 14:26 – 26 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus learned those “songs” – the Psalms – from his parents and his Hebrew school as he prepared for his Bar Mitzvah – and so we see that learning things together as well as doing things together were a normal part of their life as a family. In the same way that Crucita and I have a Christ-centered home, they had a YAH-centered home. “Yah? What’s a Yah?”
More like “Who’s the YAH.” Let’s go back to Luke 2 and build in some background to help answer that. We mentioned that Herod died and God told Joseph it was safe to “go back home,” so to speak. Matthew 2:22b-23 – And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.” Now, the people who like to pick at “lose threads” in the Gospel really love this one because nowhere in the Canon of Scripture does it say “He shall be called a Nazorean.” However, there’s some good Jewish riddle-making in this. “Shall be called a Nazorean” just might be a play on the Hebrew word netser נֵצֶר (nay’-tser) a shoot or stem as in Isaiah 11:1 (↔ Click Link for multiple translations) The designation was used as one of contempt as well, as we see in John 1:45-46 – 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” That was the test of a Prophet, to go and see what was said and done. Moses gave advice on that:
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 – 21 You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?” 22 If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.
We find additional instructions in Psalm 68 where we read in Psalm 68:4 –
4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:
extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH*,
and rejoice before him.
Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV) KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK. Used by permission
* יָהּ (YAH) {yaw} a Proper Name meaning God or Lord; a contraction of “The Unutterable Name.”
Jesus spoke in the Name of The Lord – in fact, he told us he spoke only what his Father told him. He was indeed a Prophet because he spoke what God wanted to have declared, and what he spoke came true. Jesus, Son of the Living God, (Son of YAH) was a Prophet. He spoke the Word of God to the people; moreover, he is the Word of God made Flesh. He predicted The Apostle Peter’s denial as well as his own death and it was fulfilled as he described it. In the Old Testament, some Prophets, Elijah and Elisha for example, performed miracles. Jesus performed miracles, and thousands went to go see him because of what they heard and because of what they hoped. In all of these things, Jesus frequently referred to himself as “The Son of Man.” This occurs over 80 times in the Gospels, and in the Old Testament it occurs over 100 times – mostly in reference to Ezekiel. The term, “Son of Man” is a term describing a Prophet.
We also know, through the writings of The Apostle Paul, that God calls all of us to be his adopted sons and daughters when we claim Christ as our brother and JAH as our Father. (John 1:12-13 – 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.) If we, then, are baptized into the Body of Christ – the Church – then God the Father requires that his children present themselves to him as righteous, loyal, and obedient servants, free from sin as is his Son. Those who do not comply with these requirements are roundly condemned by God as in Isaiah 1:11-20. Here the Prophet of God speaks out against token “sacrifices” made by people “with blood on their hands.” They do not honor God with these sacrifices out of reverence, but rather dishonor God by their rejection of his provident Love. They are pretending to be righteous, but still living in impudence. They do not Love as HE loves (↔ Music Link) – with all their heart. We know another being who embraced that lifestyle – a former high-ranking and much favored angel named Lucifer. Isaiah was letting them know they were more like that angel then like their Creator. Jesus made the same observation about the same problem in John 8:31-47 (↔ Click Link). I STRONGLY encourage you follow that link and read it with The Holy Family in mind. You may see a paradigm you have not seen before. Go ahead. I’ll wait right here. <<<< pause >>>>
The same goes for “pretending” to be a family. You might
- all live in the same house but have your meals at different times,
- each pursue her/his own interest,
- make it to church when it doesn’t interfere with the kids’ sports,
- or dad’s football game,
- or mom’s book club;
- ride in the same car like carpooling workers and
- each goes off to different activities;
- go to Mass or Sunday services without preparing for the readings in advance; OR
- maybe as a Catholic Parent or teen you skip your examination of conscience because “well, that’s not so bad.”
That familial pretense is offensive to God! As parents, as catechists, as neighbors, as godparents, as lovers of Christ, as servants of El Shaddai-Olam, we had best be examining our lives with the M.A.P. (↔ Click Link) and asking “What’s it to YAH?” That’s in the APP. When we find our answers, we might also repent and return to the Gospel, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
