The Sixth Day of Christmas
30/12/14 04:09
The sixth day of Christmas is a day set aside to meditate on the Holy Family. It is a day for prayer for all families. The traditions of our people have taught us that families come in many different shapes and sizes and configurations. We really don’t know very much about Jesus’ family. The Epistles never mention Joseph, father of Jesus, nor does the Gospel of Mark. Most of what we know about Joseph comes from Matthew, with a few details added by Luke. Matthew gives us his genealogy and reports an encounter between Joseph and an angel in which Joseph seeks to do the right thing upon hearing that Mary is expecting a child. His initial instincts were to leave the mother, as that was customarily the choice made in such circumstances, but the angel’s words persuade him to remain with her. After Jesus birth, Joseph protects his family by fleeing to Egypt. Again we get this part of the story only from Matthew’s Gospel.
Other than that, we know very little of Joseph. In Christian tradition, he has become the patron saint of those who work with their hands, especially woodworkers. The Bible mentions that Joseph is a carpenter and that tradition has been honored throughout the history of the church.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been surrounded with story and veneration. Once again, there is very little primary material about her in the Bible. Most of the stories of Mary come from the Gospel reports of her. There are stories of her throughout Jesus’ life and ministry and she is witness to his death on the cross, and, most agree, to his resurrection.
Jesus also had brothers and sisters, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both have essentially the same information. They name his brothers and mention the sisters without giving names: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?”
Jesus, like many other leaders of faith, however, reaches beyond his family of origin. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all report that Jesus asked, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Jesus goes on to refer to those who listen to his teaching as his mother and brothers, indicating that he has strong familial ties to his circle of believers and followers.
But today is a day for more than prayers for the family of Jesus. It is a day of prayers for families everywhere. There probably is not such thing as a typical family. Each is unique. My family of origin contains the story of my mother initially being frustrated with the fact that she did not become pregnant for some time after their marriage. My parents decided to become foster parents and accepted two little girls into their home. I don’t think they expected to bond so quickly. As can be the case, it was love at first sight and neither of my parents could imagine life without the girls. They applied to become adoptive parents and the adoption was completed. They had a family: dad and mom and two daughters. Then pregnancies did occur. Three more children, another daughter and two sons joined the family. I was the middle of those children. Later two more boys were adopted. 7 kids, three born, four adopted; three girls, three boys. I grew up thinking that our family was normal. And when Susan and I formed our family, though it was smaller, we have a son who was born to us and a daughter who came to us by adoption. Clearly love trumps biology in my personal experience. Adopted family members are real family members in every sense of the word.
In our church there are families that have experienced divorce and reconfiguration in many ways. One of the larger families in our church is blended with children whose birth mother, though divorced, is still involved and cares for the children part time. Their siblings’ birth father is no longer living. Some of the children in the same family experience mother and step father as primary parents. Other children have mother, father and stepmother. They have found a way to pull off a family with love and grace. And the abundance of grandparents is an added blessing to this family group.
Today our hearts and prayers go out to another family in our congregation who are grieving the death of a child who died in utero. They had all of the excitement and expectation of a new life and were anticipating the birth, and the result turned out differently. Their spiritual maturity and strength have been evident in the midst of the grief and loss and I know they will continue to be a strong family for the other children, but there will always be a sense of what might have been that will dwell with them for all of their lives.
The more I think about it, the more I understand that there is no one model for family. We have families that are just mother and child or children. We have fathers with children where the mother is not in the picture. We have families that are couples who have never had children. We have families that have been reconfigured with multiple divorces and remarriages. We have grandparents who raise the children of their children.
And, like Jesus, there are times when we can see our community as an extended family. Events in our church family affect us as deeply as if they had occurred in our own household.
Celebrating families is a wonderful way to spend one of the days of Christmas. And family celebrations are too wonderful to be continued in a single day.
Today we will complete our trip to our daughter and son-in-law’s home where we will be joined tomorrow by our son and his family. Our whole gang will be together for a few joyous days. The excitement I feel as I write is deep.
For some Christmas may have ended after December 25. For us, the joy is just too much for a single day.
Other than that, we know very little of Joseph. In Christian tradition, he has become the patron saint of those who work with their hands, especially woodworkers. The Bible mentions that Joseph is a carpenter and that tradition has been honored throughout the history of the church.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been surrounded with story and veneration. Once again, there is very little primary material about her in the Bible. Most of the stories of Mary come from the Gospel reports of her. There are stories of her throughout Jesus’ life and ministry and she is witness to his death on the cross, and, most agree, to his resurrection.
Jesus also had brothers and sisters, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both have essentially the same information. They name his brothers and mention the sisters without giving names: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?”
Jesus, like many other leaders of faith, however, reaches beyond his family of origin. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all report that Jesus asked, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Jesus goes on to refer to those who listen to his teaching as his mother and brothers, indicating that he has strong familial ties to his circle of believers and followers.
But today is a day for more than prayers for the family of Jesus. It is a day of prayers for families everywhere. There probably is not such thing as a typical family. Each is unique. My family of origin contains the story of my mother initially being frustrated with the fact that she did not become pregnant for some time after their marriage. My parents decided to become foster parents and accepted two little girls into their home. I don’t think they expected to bond so quickly. As can be the case, it was love at first sight and neither of my parents could imagine life without the girls. They applied to become adoptive parents and the adoption was completed. They had a family: dad and mom and two daughters. Then pregnancies did occur. Three more children, another daughter and two sons joined the family. I was the middle of those children. Later two more boys were adopted. 7 kids, three born, four adopted; three girls, three boys. I grew up thinking that our family was normal. And when Susan and I formed our family, though it was smaller, we have a son who was born to us and a daughter who came to us by adoption. Clearly love trumps biology in my personal experience. Adopted family members are real family members in every sense of the word.
In our church there are families that have experienced divorce and reconfiguration in many ways. One of the larger families in our church is blended with children whose birth mother, though divorced, is still involved and cares for the children part time. Their siblings’ birth father is no longer living. Some of the children in the same family experience mother and step father as primary parents. Other children have mother, father and stepmother. They have found a way to pull off a family with love and grace. And the abundance of grandparents is an added blessing to this family group.
Today our hearts and prayers go out to another family in our congregation who are grieving the death of a child who died in utero. They had all of the excitement and expectation of a new life and were anticipating the birth, and the result turned out differently. Their spiritual maturity and strength have been evident in the midst of the grief and loss and I know they will continue to be a strong family for the other children, but there will always be a sense of what might have been that will dwell with them for all of their lives.
The more I think about it, the more I understand that there is no one model for family. We have families that are just mother and child or children. We have fathers with children where the mother is not in the picture. We have families that are couples who have never had children. We have families that have been reconfigured with multiple divorces and remarriages. We have grandparents who raise the children of their children.
And, like Jesus, there are times when we can see our community as an extended family. Events in our church family affect us as deeply as if they had occurred in our own household.
Celebrating families is a wonderful way to spend one of the days of Christmas. And family celebrations are too wonderful to be continued in a single day.
Today we will complete our trip to our daughter and son-in-law’s home where we will be joined tomorrow by our son and his family. Our whole gang will be together for a few joyous days. The excitement I feel as I write is deep.
For some Christmas may have ended after December 25. For us, the joy is just too much for a single day.