Fr. John’s Reflection on the Holy Family—2020

I owe this reflection to Fr. James Shmitmeyer who, in one of his homilies, tells the story of touring an Alzheimer’s unit in a nursing home.

He noticed that, unlike most of the rooms in the nursing home where there are two beds and one window in each room, in these rooms each resident has their own window. And each of the beds face the window so that the person can look directly out the window. It gave them a view of the world outside.

Most of us take the windows of our home for granted, but for a person in a nursing home, having their own window to see the outside world is a gift.

I wonder what world Mary and Joseph saw as they looked into the window of the Inn which had no room for them when they arrived in Bethlehem. I wonder what view of the world the windows in the stable gave them where Mary gave birth to her Son.

I wonder if they saw the world that many of us see when there is no room in the hearts of family members for us, no room for forgiveness. I wonder if they saw the world just as families who, like the Holy Family, are poor and homeless today.

On this Feast of the Holy Family, the Gospel of Luke provides a window into the life of the Mary and Joseph as they encounter an elderly couple in the Temple. They meet the elderly Simeon and the prophetess Anna who was also advanced in years.

These two wise elders give praise to God who answered their life-long prayer, revealing to them the Messiah.

Cataracts may have dimmed their eyesight, but the light that came through the Temple window on that day opened their eyes to a more piercing light—the Light that they had longed to see all their lives, the Light that God said no darkness could extinguish.

Simeon was filled with joy as he took the child into his arms, blessing God and proclaiming, “Now Master you may let your servant go in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation…a Light to the Gentiles.”

Simeon has seen everything he has needed to see in this life. His life is now complete. “Now, Master,” He says, “You can dismiss your servant in peace.”

As joyful as this encounter was, it was also touched with a hint of sadness.

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is one of the Joyful mysteries, but the voice of Simeon predicted that the Sorrowful mysteries would touch the heart of Mary. Her heart will be pierced.

As a wise elder Simeon reminds us that even in the midst of the joys of Christmas our hearts can be pierced by suffering and death and also by those closest to us.

In the midst of the joys of Christmas, sorrows pierce the hearts of those who have lost loved ones. There are also sorrows in the hearts of families today who are poor and homeless much like the Holy Family on the day of Jesus’ birth.

As wise elders, Simeon and Anna remind us to look to the future with hope, as we await the coming of the Messiah once again into our world---One who is to be a Light to the World.

If we will listen well, we can hear the voice of Simeon in wise elders today who speak of their longing to go home, not just for Christmas, but also to their heavenly home. They will speak about a longing within us that many of us may have a hard time talking about, much less thinking about.

Like windows, these wise elders offer us the gift of seeing the world through their eyes, eyes that are constantly searching for Light and Life. Their lives are windows to a world beyond our sight.

A woman in a nursing home, suffering from Alzheimer’s, walked up to her husband, took his hand and said, “Let’s go home. Can’t we go home?”

Simeon and Anna, like all wise elders, are windows into a world that we all long to see, but have yet to open our eyes to—a world where we will come face to face with the Messiah, Christ the Lord.

On that day we will be able to say, “Now, Master you can dismiss your servant in peace.”