December 28, 2025.
“Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, «Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.»”. (Mathew 2, 13-15)
The Feast of the Holy Family, which the Church always celebrates on the first Sunday after Christmas, invites us to reflect on our own family life, understanding «family» to include the elderly and uncles, not just our own children or spouses. In this case, the text chosen by the Church is the Flight into Egypt, and therefore our meditation and practice should be directed toward identifying situations of danger for our own families and for families in general.
We all know that families today are going through a major crisis, with many problems stemming from uncertainty about the roles of parents and children, and the boundaries of each party’s rights. Living together is not easy, and that’s why the number of broken families is increasing. Therefore, the goal of this week is to build or strengthen loving relationships based on respect for the rights of others, without relinquishing one’s own. To achieve this, it’s helpful to combine two basic principles. The first is that all cohabitation involves sacrifice, although it also brings with it good times; one cannot expect to live as a family without love, and one cannot expect to love without accepting the cross; moreover, if one chooses not to live as a family, one must bear in mind that there are sacrifices there too, such as loneliness. The second principle is that everything has its limits, and when those limits are exceeded, extraordinary measures permitted by the Church can be taken. But to reach that limit there is usually a long road to travel, with patience, with generosity, with intelligence.
Intention: Do everything possible to ensure harmony within your own family and also fight to ensure that the family in general is protected by civil laws.