December 28, 2025, Sunday, Feast of the Holy Family
Lectionary #17, Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

Scripture
When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee.

He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazorean.

Reflection
The lessons for life to be drawn from these “Infancy Narratives” are endless. A resourceful commentator can exploit every nuance and every word and syllable, reading between the lines. Matthew’s story aims to summarize the history of Israel in the person of Jesus, who is another Moses born to save his people. Jesus is to be the faithful Israel, the real Son of God. Jesus is in Egypt, and He returns to Israel, just as Moses had returned to his own country. In this way, Matthew blends some strains of the Passion into his story of Jesus pursued by Herod, as well as a strong sign of the Resurrection when Jesus returns from Egypt to the Promised Land.

Mary and Joseph execute all of this under the guiding hand of God. It is more than a coincidence that Joseph and Mary are depicted as obedient servants of the Word, faithfully carrying out God’s will in every detail.

This is what their Son would do throughout his life. Joseph and Mary, husband and wife, work together to bring Jesus to the Gentiles (the Magi). They work together to save the Child from death and bring him home again. The woman and the man, each responding to a dream, both of them unknown and humble, manage to get Jesus to the people of the new Israel.
It has ever been thus. Wherever Jesus has been known and loved throughout time and space, he has been “carried” there by men and women of faith who have followed a dream. Women and men have announced Him, have witnessed to Him by their love, their work, and even by the gift of their lives.

Christ chose to come to earth as a member of a particular family where love, devotion, and mutual respect became a part of his childhood and mature years. With deep sensitivity, the gospel reveals how Joseph initially reacted upon hearing of Mary’s pregnancy, how he received the word of God in a dream, and how he accepted Mary as his wife. In his own way, Joseph fashioned his life on Mary’s ‘dream’, on his wife’s calling.

In this reading, we see Mary following Joseph as he received the command to flee into Egypt to save the Child. She follows him again as he is told to return to Israel, “for those who had designs on the life of the Child are dead.” Later, following another dream, he proceeded to Galilee. And Mary followed her “dreamer”.

Every dream of theirs, each one of their actions, their whole lives are centered on this Child. He gave meaning to their love, their concern for one another, to the risks they took, to their faith in the God of Israel who spoke to Joseph as he slept.

Nothing is said of the love Mary and Joseph had for one another, and none was needed. It is a splendid thing to follow one’s dream in the pursuit of life and love. It is quite another, a sign of shining love indeed, to fashion one’s life on the dreams of the other, to trust and accept the other so completely that their lives and dreams become one alone. This is a profound form of holiness and love at its deepest level.

La Salette Invocation
Our Lady of La Salette, reconciler of sinners,
pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to you.