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First Reading Introduction: Honor Your Father and Your Mother
The two foundations of family life are love and respect, says the Bible. Should these two virtues not remain the cornerstone of our homes today?
First Reading: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14
For the Lord established that children should respect their father; he confirmed the right of the mother over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself.
Whoever honors his father will receive joy from his own children and will be heard when he prays.
Whoever glorifies his father will have a long life. Whoever obeys the Lord gives comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father in his old age, do not cause him sorrow as long as he lives.
Even if he has lost his mind, have patience; do not be disrespectful to him while you are in full health.
For kindness done to one's father will never be forgotten, it will serve as reparation for your sins.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
R (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R (cf. 1) Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Second Reading Introduction: Life in the Lord
Say and do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, and you will have the right relationship with God and with people.
Second Reading: Col 3:12-21
Brothers and sisters:
Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God's chosen people, holy and beloved of him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is any occasion to do so. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another. Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of God dwell in you in all its richness. Teach and admonish one another with words of wisdom. With thankful hearts sing to God psalms, hymns and spontaneous praise. And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as you should do in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not get angry with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, because that pleases the Lord. Parents, do not be too demanding of your children, lest they become discouraged.
Gospel Introduction: On the Road With the Lord
With his family Jesus relives the history of the People of God: from the Holy Land to Egypt, from Egypt to the Holy Land. Mary and Joseph accept to be uprooted and inconvenienced by the coming of the Savior.
Gospel Reading: Mt 2:13-15, 19-23
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him."
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled: I called my son out of Egypt.
After Herod's death, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead." So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
But when Joseph heard that Archilaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given further instructions in a dream, and went to the region of Galilee.
There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way what was said by the prophets was fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazorean.
Feast of the HOLY FAMILY
Greeting
The Lord loves you.
In our families and communities
may the Lord unite you in his love
and may you do everything in his name.
His peace be always with you.
R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. Pleasing the Lord
Every family has its cares and worries. On today's feast of the Holy Family we are shown that Mary and Joseph and Jesus had more than their share of problems and woes, especially that the very reason and heart of this family was Jesus, this bewildering son. They did everything for him. What is typical for us in the Holy Family is that in everything they sought God's will; this will be characteristic too for Jesus, God's will was to be his food and drink. Let the heart of our families, too, be Jesus, and with him and Mary and Joseph we ask ourselves what God wants of us and we do it.
B. When Jesus Was A Child
Of what value for our Christian living are the ordinary things we do every day, like eating and cleaning, talking and writing? What have they to do with our faith? A look at the hidden life of Jesus will help us understand and appreciate these things. Before he went out to preach and heal, he did all these common, banal things, and through these, too, he saved us. If we can do them like him and with him they are good things and religious things, and through them we giveworship to God.
Penitential Act
Let us ask pardon from the Lord
that we have often done carelessly
the common tasks of everyday life.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you grew up in Nazareth
and lived as the son of the local carpenter:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus Christ, to work with your hands
was part of your human dignity:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, through your life in the holy Family
you sanctified the ordinary tasks
of everyday life:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
May our lives give you worship
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray
that God may bless our families
(PAUSE)
God our Father,
you let Mary and Joseph
provide the warmth of a home
to your own Son, Jesus Christ.
Let Jesus become the heart and center
of all our Christian families.
May we all grow up in him
and become closer to one another
in patience and love.
With the Holy Family of Nazareth,
may we seek your will in all we do.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
General Intercessions
With the Holy Family of Nazareth we trust in the Lord who knows all our needs, and we ask him to bless all human families. Let us say: R/ Lord, bless your people.
- For the family of the Church, that it may be a mother and a home
for all people in need, let us pray: R/ Lord, bless your people.
- For all married couples, that they may keep the freshness of their first love or rediscover it, let us pray: R/ Lord, bless your people.
- For all the families of the world, that they may keep growing in mutual appreciation and service, let us pray: R/ Lord, bless your people.
- For children and young people, that their parents may be to them grownups concerned about their growth and happiness, let us pray: R/ Lord, bless your people.
- For separated couples and their children, that they may meet warmhearted people whose understanding love helps them to overcome the failure of their home life, let us pray: R/ Lord, bless your people.
- For our Christian communities, that as members of one family we learn to carry each other's burdens and to share each other's joys. Let us pray: R/ Lord, bless your people.
Father, we trust in you. May we not deny one another all the love you show us in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
you invite us to share the family table
of Jesus your Son.
May the food and drink he gives us
change us into gifts to one another,
that we may become each other's
bread and wine, life and joy.
Let serving love and respect
be our offering to one another and to you,
today and tomorrow and every day,
on account of your Son in our midst,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
With joy we give thanks to the Father that he wanted to become our God-with-us in his Son Jesus Christ.
Invitation to the Lord's Prayer
United before God as his sons and daughters we pray the prayer taught us by his Son Jesus of Nazareth: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and let the peace of Christ live
in our hearts and our homes.
Keep us from all that divides us
or encloses us within ourselves.
Give us compassion, gentleness and patience,
that we may prepare in hope and joy
for the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus the Lord,
who comes to unite us
as the sons and daughters of the Father.
Happy are we to be invited
at the family table of the Lord. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
Jesus your Son made himself near to us
in this eucharistic celebration.
He has been here for us,
approachable and available to all.
May he keep on living
in our homes and our communities.
Let him make us, too, approachable
and available to one another,
even at the cost of personal discomfort
and with Mary and Joseph
ready for any task you may entrust us.
For we can do everything
in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
It was good to be together
as the family of God's people
and to pray with the Holy Family of Nazareth
for what is dear to all of us:
our homes, our families,
the Christian community,
the family of our nation and people.
May God bless us all
and keep us united:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in the peace of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
