The Holy Family

Joseph, righteous Joseph
Even when it seemed your betrothed had betrayed you
You did not seek revenge.
Your patience and forgiveness prepared you to digest your dreams.

Your pregnant wife risked your reputation
Yet you honored her, even postponing your marital rights.

You left all you knew for Egypt,
For the sake of Mary’s child.
Then you returned to Nazareth,
Caring more for his life and destiny than any other desires you once carried.

Although it was out of ignorance,
What a joy it must have been when they called him,
“Jesus, son of Joseph.”


Mary, blessed Mary
Your plans were set:
you would move from your father’s house to your husband’s
you knew what was coming –
until that strange and wondrous day when you learned that God had chosen you.

You did not understand – how could you?
But in humility, you obeyed and glorified God.
You risked your honor and your engagement for the sake of God’s son.
You suffered the indignity of birthing him in a stable,
You travelled with him to and fro, trusting your husband’s dreams.
You did not understand your son’s words
And yet you sensed his power and prompted it,
Like only a mother could.

You treasured all these things
Even as a sword pierced your heart.



Jesus, Christ Jesus
Your very existence transformed your family.
You gave Mary and Joseph, a simple and humble couple,
a royal purpose for their life together.

You remained part of the invisible Trinity
Even as you entered an earthly one:
Father, mother, child.

Though God, you underwent the humiliations of the flesh:
Born of woman, circumcised on the eighth day,
Subject to your parents’ discipline.

You honored your family by your willingness to become one of them,
Being the only baby who ever chose to be born and to bless.

When you tried to tell us your true origin
We used your family against you,
Claiming to know who your father was.

You shocked us with the way you overturned bloodline loyalties,
Accepting as mother and brothers anyone who obeyed God’s will.
Even as you gave your life away for your family and for the whole world,
You placed your mother in a new family
That transcended ancestral allegiances.

And you reconciled all of us to your heavenly father,
That we would be adopted into your family forever and ever.
Amen.