What do the distinctive "spiritualities" of Jesus, Mary and Joseph have to teach us about our own daily lives? How do their human experiences speak to our human lives? How can the individual lives of each of the members of the Holy Family help us in our Christian journeys? National Catholic Broadcasting Council in Canada asked me this question, and this half-hour show is the result. It ran on Holy Saturday. Hope you enjoy it.
This is a great topic. Enjoyed your presentation. Some things about which we are all in agreement: St. Joseph was an instrument of salvation, as Fr. Haughey says. Sadly, folks don't seem very interested in the Holy Family, do they? The hidden life is so maligned and unappreciated.
Christ’s life for thirty years was a hidden life, lived as a loving cooperative Child, then Boy, then Adolescent, then a young Adult. There is no more revealing statement in the Gospels for the subject that we are discussing, than a statement of St. Luke who tells us that after Jesus was found in the Temple by Mary and Joseph He “returned to Nazareth and was subject to them.” Jesus had separated Himself from Mary and Joseph for three days while listening to and quizzing the learned rabbis in the temple. The Holy Spirit inspired St. Luke to record both facts: that Jesus separated Himself for three days and then went back to Nazareth for seventeen more years. It was His Father’s will that He separate from Mary and Joseph for three short days. But then it was again His Father’s will to return to Nazareth and be obedient and dependent for the next two decades minus three years.
Fr. Hardon provides great insights into what the holy family can teach us about: charity, chastity. sexuality, patience and obedience. The section titled "What A Family Should Be' gets at this. Scroll down about a quarter of the way:
http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Family/Family_031.htm