THE SCRIPTURES sum up the hidden life of the Holy Family in Nazareth in a few words. That should not make us forget that there were weeks, months and years of ordinary family life with all its joys and anxieties and that this period was by far the longest in the life of Christ on earth.
Jesus was a true human child; it was the will of God that He grow in the same way and under many of the same circumstances as ourselves. It was Mary’s part to do for Him all that a mother does for a child, in nursing, carrying, and dressing Him as well as in teaching Him to walk, to speak and to read. Mary also did the cooking, sewing and washing for the Family. Saint Joseph provided for the Family through his carpenter’s trade. What his Family enjoyed or had to do without depended entirely on what he could provide through his labor. When Saint Joseph died, Jesus provided in the same way for His own and His Mother’s needs.
This Holy Family, so observant of religious duties, so resigned to the will of God in the trials of their obscure life, is a perfect model for Catholic families. Joseph is a model of fatherly vigilance and care; Mary, an example of love, modesty and faith; Jesus, a model of obedience which children can admire and imitate.
Information from The Life of Christ “Our Lord’s Life with Lesson in His Own Words for Our Life Today” The Catholic Press, Inc. 1959. © 1954 edited by Reverend John P. O’Connell, MASTD and Jex Martin, following mainly A Chronological Harmony of the Gospels by Stephen J Hartdegen OFM NIHIL OBSTAT John A McMahon; IMPRIMATUR Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago August 1, 1953. Print.
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