Hierarchy or Equality?

Gospel– Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

I – The Vital Cell of Society

The words of the Liturgy, having been dictated by the Holy Spirit to the sacred authors, and wisely selected by the Holy Church, are divine. Each of the thoughts suggested by the readings for the feast of the Holy Family will enrich our heart and soul if we take a moment to reflect on them. They summarize a series of truths taught by God with respect to a fundamental aspect of society and the Church herself: family life. The family is the vital cell of society, where worthy men and women are formed to build the world of the future. It is also the source of religious vocations to serve the Church.

Since the family is an institution of natural law – as the history of all peoples attest, from remotest Antiquity – Our Lord Jesus Christ elevated Matrimony to the level of a Sacrament, in order to instil in spouses the necessary graces to fulfil their duties with a supernatural outlook.

In fact, above all of its functions, the family has a salvific mission. As our final destiny is bound to eternity rather than to this earth – for we are here only in passing – Matrimony can have no loftier objective than for each spouse to sanctify the other, and together, to sanctify their children. This implies that family life be lived in God, so that He be the essential element of the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children. The family may experience upheavals and sorrows, but if it is founded on grace and piety, its burdens are lightened and peace reigns.

The Holy Family is an admirable model for facing the trials and troubles of life with a noble spirit. Within it, father, Mother and Son lived in perfect harmony because God was in the centre. Accordingly, on this feast, the Collect prays: “O God, Who were pleased to give us the shining example of the Holy Family, graciously grant that we may imitate them in practising the virtues of family life and in the bonds of charity, and so, in the joy of Your house, delight one day in eternal rewards.”¹

Let us imitate the virtues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in our home lives, so that, when we cross the threshold of death, we may be integrated forever into the eternal family of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, with all the Angels and Saints. God wants to grant us the great joy of dwelling with Him in Heaven, and this is why He became Incarnate and lived for thirty years in a family – spending only three revealing His doctrine! He thus gave us a clear notion of the importance of the family nucleus, and the standard it should imitate.

II – Through Mary, the Redeemer Officially Offers Himself to the Father

When the Chosen People were liberated by the strong arm of God from the slavery to which they had been subject in Egypt, the last of the ten plagues to convince the Pharaoh to let them go was the death of all the firstborn of the land. But the Lord ordered the Israelites to mark the lintel and doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb immolated at sundown, so that when the destroyer passed by, they would be saved from the scourge, and the firstborn sons of Israel would be spared (cf. Ex 12:12-13).

With this, God assumed every firstborn of the Hebrews as His own – both men and animals (cf. Ex 13:2; 34:19). Theoretically, parents would have to relinquish their first son, handing him over as a victim for the Lord’s altar. But God prohibited human sacrifice, as was later specified by the Law of Moses (cf. Lv 18:21; 20:1-3; Dt 12:31), and these boys were thus destined to the priesthood. Subsequently, when God set the Levites apart for His worship (cf. Ex 32:26-29; Nm 3:12; 8:14), He ordained that the firstborn be ransomed by the family by the payment of a considerable sum of five shekels (cf. Nm 3:47; 18:16), which was the equivalent of half a year’s wages.² In New Testament times, this value corresponded to about one month’s wages, according to exegetical calculations.³

Additionally, after each birth, the mother had to be purified and offer a lamb in holocaust for the new-born, and a young pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering (cf. Lv 12:6,7), or two young pigeons or turtledoves (cf. Lv 12:8) for poor families.

The Temple of Jerusalem, the stage for the event narrated in today’s Gospel, had been rebuilt with considerably less material splendour than the original one, erected by Solomon with exuberant magnificence and richness, and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, when the older Jews looked upon the new edifice, they were saddened and wept (cf. Ezr 3:12-13), for it paled in comparison with the marvel they had beheld before the Babylonian exile.

Nevertheless, the prophet Haggai revealed to them that the second Temple would surpass the first in glory (cf. Hg 2:3-10), and this prophecy was fulfilled literally, for it received the visit of the promised Messiah: the Child Who entered upon Mary’s arm was God made Man, Who came to be presented in His Temple.

Fidelity and obedience in the fulfilment of the Law

Our Lady, conceived without original sin and entirely innocent, had borne Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, without having known man. She, Virgin before, during and after birth, did not need to be purified. However, meticulously faithful in religious observance, and a lover of the excellent virtue of obedience, she desired to fulfil the Law that obliged all women, in addition to consecrating her Son to God, and subsequently ransoming Him.

“It was becoming” – St. Thomas affirms –“that the Mother should be like her Son in humility […]. And therefore, just as Christ, though not subject to the Law, wished, nevertheless, to submit to circumcision and the other burdens of the Law, in order to give an example of humility and obedience; and in order to show His approval of the Law; and, again, in order to take away from the Jews an excuse for calumniating Him: for the same reasons He wished His Mother also to fulfil the prescriptions of the Law, to which, nevertheless, she was not subject.”⁴

Solemn and official offering of the Son as an expiatory victim

With our chronological mentality, we consider the tribute established by God through Moses to be the determining factor for the episode contemplated in this Sunday’s Liturgy. However, examining it from a higher perspective, we see that, in the divine plan, God’s main objective in promulgating these laws – relative to both the firstborn and the mothers – was that of one day accomplishing this presentation, so that Our Lord Jesus Christ would be offered up in holocaust soon after His birth, as a victim of reparation.

In all things, Our Lord was unique in history: primarily, for being Firstborn in a twofold sense, both of His Most Holy Mother, in time, and of God the Father, in eternity; secondly, because in presenting Him in the Temple, Our Lady did so with all her heart, and with full knowledge of the great mission that opened before her, namely of giving back to God the One Who was of God, so that, in the future, He would be truly immolated as an offering, shedding His own Blood. She already knew that the human race would be redeemed in this way, and had given her consent, since the day of the Annunciation, when she had said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). St. Joseph was also conscious of this, so that both, in effect, played the role of priests offering a sacrifice to God. The Virgin Mary is, then, rightly called Mother and Queen of priests.

For His part, the Child, as the Word of God, possessed divine and uncreated knowledge; and, as Man, He enjoyed beatific knowledge; His Soul contemplated God face to face continuously, ever since His conception. He likewise possessed infused knowledge, by which He comprehended the matrices of all things, by means of the intelligible species with which God endowed His understanding. Additionally, in His most excellent human nature, He acquired experimental knowledge – the kind gained progressively through the application of the intelligence, transforming into ideas the impressions transmitted by the senses to the imagination. Thus, when He entered the Temple as a tender Infant in Our Lady’s arms, Jesus verified what He had seen from all eternity, now with His human sensibility. Thus was completed the perfect cycle of all His forms of knowledge with respect to His mission.

With His Humanity brimming with emotion, He rendered Himself, solemnly and officially to the Father as an expiatory victim, entirely aware of the significance of this ceremony and, especially, of the purpose of His Incarnation and the full extent of the sufferings that lay in store for Him. This offering had been made from the first instant of His creation, as is read in the Letter to the Hebrews: “when Christ came into the world, He said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings Thou hast not desired, but a body hast Thou prepared for Me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings Thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Lo, I have come to do Thy will, O God,” as it is written of Me in the roll of the book’” (10:5-7). Nevertheless, now this was effected by the hands of Our Lady. Jesus, entirely ready to obey His Mother in everything, joyfully accepted, submitting Himself – He, the Creator of the universe, the Omnipotent One! – to her who had dominion over Him here on earth.

And although Our Lady and St. Joseph ransomed Him with a sum of money, it was only temporarily, until the time of the Passion. When the hour to ascend Calvary arrived, there was no lamb to take His place, there was no payment… He was crucified!

When Mary Most Holy and St. Joseph took the Child Jesus to the Temple – an occasion of profound transcendental significance for the course of human events and for the entire work of creation, special manifestations of the Holy Spirit could not possibly have been wanting.

An aged man receptive to the stirring of the Holy Spirit

The aged Simeon was, according to the Evangelist, “righteous and devout.” Without even knowing Our Lord Jesus Christ – indeed, before He had been born in Bethlehem –Simeon could rightly be called a Christian. He imitated Christ, even before He gave the example! What admirable merit!

He was, undoubtedly, a fiery soul who longed for the coming of the Messiah, and insistently beseeched God for this. What trials, what aridity this man must have weathered as he beheld a decadent Israel, Jerusalem in spiritual ruin, the Temple defiled by merchants… and he, powerless to act! Perhaps, anguished with the loss of so many souls, he presented sacrifices to God, questioning their worth since they were offered by his hands – so wretched in his own eyes. “When the Messiah appears,” he surely thought, “He, at last, will make a perfect oblation, and all the people will be purified!”

And so it was that he received powerful promptings from the Holy Spirit, and – perhaps by an angelic apparition or by a strong and persuasive interior voice – he was told that he would not die without having seen the promised Saviour. Did he enjoy an abiding sensibility regarding this prevision, or did he experience phases of desolation? What is certain is that he maintained faith-filled hope until the end!

On that day, he felt supernaturally impelled to go to the Temple, and he was docile to these promptings. It is clear that he had no reason to go, for it was not his priestly shift, and perhaps he had already retired; nevertheless, despite his years and his physical debility, in the cold of winter, he rose above the ills of old age, and set out eagerly and swiftly in search of the Christ Who would arrive. His empressement and enthusiasm were even keener than in his youth.

The reward of the righteous and devout

When Simeon saw St. Joseph and Our Lady entering with the Child Jesus, his heart pounded and he was gripped with emotion. Finally, the Messiah had come! He certainly called them forward, having them pass ahead of the other families and mothers who were waiting to be attended by the priests of that shift, so that they could also fulfil the Law.

Providence’s invariable mode of action can be noted here: God pledges something, but ends up giving much more. In his humility, as a righteous man, Simeon had imagined he would see the Redeemer at a distance, walking down a street or through a square. With the promise thus fulfilled, he could die. Instead, he was awarded the privilege of holding the Infant Christ, only 40 days old – of taking God into his arms! We are at liberty to imagine that the Child Jesus showed gracious tokens of affection as He gazed upon Simeon, perhaps touching the old man’s beard with His divine hands.

Such demonstrations must have moved Simeon to the depths of his soul, forming a type of gothic arch within him: On one side, God, Who was that Child, acted upon his interior “with His right hand,” filling Simeon with bliss, enthusiasm and extraordinary jubilation in light of His wisdom and the future that awaited Him; on the other, the Child, Who was God, completed, “with His left hand,” those inwardly felt sentiments with exterior manifestations, stroking Simeon’s beard and transmitting, with His smile, an apex of consolation…

“Simeon, who had sought with a devout and faithful desire, found what he searched for and recognized what he had found, without any other indication, that is, without any human testimony. […] Can we possibly imagine how that gentle and meek Christ penetrated the chaste heart of that devout old man […], and inspired his sentiments? […] The old man’s soul melted in the embrace of this Anointed One […] and he said: ‘[…] I now see what I have awaited, I possess what I have desired, I embrace that for which I have longed. I behold God my Saviour, clothed in my flesh, and my soul has been saved. […] By simply touching this Child, this new Man, my youth has been restored like that of an eagle, just as was promised to me: I will go to the altar of God, at which Mary offers to the Father, the God Who gives joy to my old age and, even more, restores my youth.’”⁵

This is the reward of the righteous and devout. Those who practise virtue and pray perseveringly draw down God’s benevolence and recompense. We must take this point to heart, and never slacken in the practice of prayer. If, in all uprightness and devotion, we request a particular favour with constancy, it will be generously granted to us, even if at the close of our life.

The sense of the Messiah’s universal mission

Simeon’s joy shines forth in this inspired canticle, for he sees his affliction assuaged, his prayers heard, and his efforts in search of perfection crowned! What more was there to live for? His vocation was completed; the promise, fulfilled.

His words, moreover, convey a clear sense of the universal mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He sees, in that Child, the entire scope of Redemption that had come for “all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” This affirmation on the lips of a Jew was unprecedented, for they were highly nationalistic. Simeon spoke as a true prophet, through a revelation from the Holy Spirit. In a scene of incomparable beauty, the Old Testament closes its last act in the person of Simeon, as he takes the New Testament, in Person, into his arms.

A couple that impresses, a Child who attracts …

Mary and Joseph must have pondered how it was that Simeon reached such a lofty understanding of Jesus’ destiny.

His declaration likely sparked a commotion around the Holy Family, for he had not spoken to them exclusively, but also to the bystanders. In fact, both the ritual of the presentation of the firstborn as well as the purification of the mother were public acts, which any person could witness. After crossing the Court of the Women and ascending the stairs that led to that of the Israelites – the route that was actually obligatory for the mothers who went to be purified – the sacrifices could be observed from a balustrade or small door, a place very conducive to social commentary.⁶

The Blessed Virgin had certainly already awakened admiration upon her entry, being an altogether singular lady of rarest beauty. She was recollected, wore a garment that reached her feet, as was customary for that time, and kept her head covered with a veil that only partially revealed her face. St. Joseph must also have impressed by his character, for he radiated an aura of gravity and a strong personality.

This Holy Couple made an impact on everyone, and in keeping with the communicative nature of Middle Eastern people, the other woman undoubtedly stopped the Blessed Virgin along the way, asking her about the Son she carried in her arms.

Indeed, much more than the words of Simeon, the Child Himself attracted attention and inspired awe, all the more when Mary withdrew the coverings that enveloped Him and presented Him to the view of all, holding Him out to Simeon. Who was this Child? The most beautiful Infant that ever was, or ever will be in all of history; an extraordinary, colossal Child, exuding intelligence – the Creator of the universe, Light of the world, and Son of God!

Rock of scandal!

Still inspired by the Holy Spirit, Simeon announces that Jesus is destined for the salvation and ruin of many in Israel – and, we might add, in the whole world – emphasizing His vocation as a rock of scandal. With Christ’s appearance, the Truth Incarnate – by being Who He is, and by His life, more than by doctrine – would denounce many who had cloaked their sins with a variety of sophisms. Everything would be made explicit.

We must be convinced that whoever sincerely embarks on the path of Our Lord and strives to keep to it by forthright conduct and a life of holiness, will sooner or later become a rock of scandal and a sign of contradiction, like Him, creating conditions for many hearts to be revealed.

A sword to pierce her soul, without touching her body

Simeon’s words are a clear and plain reference to the torments of the Passion. As mentioned above, Mary had prior knowledge of the Redemption to be accomplished by her Divine Son, and had given her “yes” to God’s will. At this moment, however, she was hearing the prophecy of someone of her same human nature, a priest of that beloved Temple where she had served during her childhood, a person whom she held in veneration as a minister of the Lord. Accordingly, she took what he said at that moment as the word of the Holy Spirit.

The old man indicated what awaited her with all exactitude, since a sword would indeed pierce her soul, without touching her body. At this juncture, aware that she was to face the horrific suffering of seeing her Son die by crucifixion, she must have said within her heart: “O my God, behold Thy slave! I accept most entirely whatever the sacrifice may be!”

We are called to be of this same spirit, ever disposed to let the sword of suffering pierce our soul. If, among the thousand titles with which the Blessed Virgin is honoured, that of Our Lady of Sorrows is included, it is because God, in His very great love for her, did not wish to deprive her of the benefit of sorrow.

A model for women in the Church

Just as Mosaic Law demanded for any claim or proof of facts in court (cf. Nm 35:30; Dt 17:6; 19:15), St. Luke provides, at the outset of his Gospel, two witnesses to Jesus’ divinity, to confirm the entrance of the Saviour into His Temple and mark the beginning of the fulfilment of His public mission.

The first is the priest Simeon, and second, the prophetess Anna, described in greater detail than any other woman in the New Testament, since the third Evangelist wished to present her declaration as being trustworthy and authentic. She merited such esteem, for, while no mention is made of righteousness, it becomes clear that, like Simeon, she was a righteous person. Thus, in this testimony, St. Luke encompasses humanity in its totality – man and woman.

Anna is an example of penance, generosity, love and apostolate. She is the model for women in the Church, who should be characterized by a spirit of penance, of unwavering generosity and self-giving, filled with love of God and the constant desire to benefit others. Additionally, the Gospel text emphasizes that she “never left the Temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer,” with the intention of showing that God chose a woman who was dedicated to a truly contemplative life.

And this invitation extends to us. We, too, must abide, not in the Temple of Jerusalem, but in God’s temple, which is each one of us, if we are in His grace. For Our Lord said: “If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). We ought to live in this temple, constantly serving God, and concerned with His glory. Yet we must avoid assuming that Anna, over the course of her eighty-four years, enjoyed an unabated sensation of enthusiasm, free of struggles or aridity… this is not possible for human nature after original sin. To base one’s prayer on mere sentiment is to act according to instinct alone; devotion must be logical, founded on the principles of faith, as was Anna’s piety.

Let us now turn our attention to the atmosphere created around the Holy Family with the pronouncement of Simeon’s words, when the venerable old Anna – by then, a celebrated prophetess – entered the scene… Those present must have stepped aside to open a space, and fixed their eyes on her, in the expectancy that she would say something. While her words are not registered, it is possible to conjecture that her pronouncement regarding the Child left everyone utterly astonished.

Thirty years of exemplary obedience

Just as God created Adam from clay, forming a beautiful figure into which He infused a soul, He could perfectly well have moulded a magnificent form – from diamond dust, for instance – from which Jesus would emerge as a fully formed adult, ready to set out on His public life. But instead, He deigned to take on flesh, spend nine months in the most holy maternal cloister of Our Lady, and be born as an infant. He cries and does not yet speak, even though He is the Creator of the universe; He, the Almighty, capable of instantly assuming the plenitude of bodily strength, acquired it gradually. He preferred to grow and develop in the normal process, within a family.

At first sight, the make-up of the Holy Family is a mystery. St. Joseph, as the head, the pater, the Patriarch, holds the greater authority, and the fruit born of his wife belongs to him, from the moment he wedded Mary. She, for her part, in view of the privilege of the divine motherhood, is not only the Mother of the human nature of the Child, but also of the Person, and therefore, as Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity united hypostatically to this Child, has power over God. In spite of this, she subjects herself to Joseph. Finally, Jesus, as a Son, lives in obedience, accepting the guidance and instruction of Joseph and Mary in all things. It is a paradoxical situation: the Omnipotent Creator and Redeemer, Author of grace, He whose origin is lost in eternity, having instituted a family, totally submits Himself to the authority of His legal father, who is not His father by blood, and to that of His Mother, a creature born in time.

Let us imagine Our Lady teaching Jesus to speak, or a 15-year-old Jesus submissive to St. Joseph in the carpentry shop, when He could easily, by a simple act of His will, have transformed those boards into the most beautiful and perfect furniture ever to exist. “The greater submits Himself to the inferior. […] Joseph was older, and thus Jesus honoured him with the respect due to a father. […] Joseph knew that Jesus was superior to him in every way, and was in every way subject to him. Knowing the superiority of his inferior, Joseph, in fear, gave orders with moderation.”⁷

Why this inversion? In order to provide the example of faithfulness to hierarchy, even if the one called to command is neither the most virtuous nor the strongest. Providence is a jealous defender of authority, and desires that this be so! The Child Jesus knew that He gave more glory to His Father in Heaven by honouring His father on earth. He, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, decided to become one among men, by His Incarnation, to accomplish the Redemption from within human nature, and to acquire kingship over humans, becoming an inexhaustible font of pardon and of full atonement for all sins.

III – In Opposition to an Egalitarian World, the Divine Example of Obedience

In light of the doctrine that the Gospel for the feast of the Holy Family offers us, the first reading (Sir 3:2-6,12-14) takes on deep significance: “Whoever honours his father atones for sins, […] he stores up riches who reveres his mother. […] Kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins—a house raised in justice to you” (Sir 3:3-4,14).

The rule of order, discipline and respect that stands out in this passage is both inspiring and moving. There is a perfect hierarchy in the family, created by God; however, this does not apply to carnal parents alone, but to all authority, especially religious. Accordingly, whoever loves this principle is pardoned of his sins, for reverence paid to superiors is, in essence, an act of religion and worship to God, which obtains stupendous graces as a result.

When each one of us, in our particular state, is called to obey, let us remember the Child Jesus: thirty years of His earthy journey was spent in the family setting, in submission to St. Joseph and to the Blessed Virgin. He had no faults to repair; rather, He atoned for the transgressions of humanity.

This “honour your father,” of which Jesus provides the example, is a tenet that profoundly offends today’s liberal mentality. The revolutionary attitude preached by the contemporary world is one of revolt against all authority, of rebellion against any mandate and the promotion of egalitarianism. This state of spirit does not betoken “atoning for sins,” or “storing up riches.”

It is true that we are all equal insofar as we have a head, torso and members, but it is folly to defend the existence of absolute equality. God does not stutter; He creates no two identical beings! On the contrary, God is anti-egalitarian; He loves hierarchy and desires a graduated human society, so that some depend on others and are happy to see the superior aspects of those around them. If, then, we wish to live one day in the Holy Family of the Blessed Trinity in Heaven, contemplating God face to face, let us understand that the path of obedience, flexibility and submission is worth more than all the works that we can accomplish. ◊

 

Notes

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¹ FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH. Collect. In: THE ROMAN MISSAL. English translation according to the Third Typical Edition approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and confirmed by the Apostolic See. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2011, p.176.

² Cf. TUYA, OP, Manuel de; SALGUERO, OP, José. Introducción a la Biblia, vol. II. Madrid: BAC, 1967, p.343.

³ Cf. RICCIOTTI, Giuseppe. Vita di Gesù Cristo. (Ed.14). Città del Vaticano: Poliglotta Vaticana, 1941, p.282.

⁴ ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiæ, III, q.37, a.4.

⁵ BL. GUERRIC OF IGNY. Sermo II in Purificatione, n.2-3. In: Sermons, vol. I. Paris: Cerf, 1970, p.327,331. (SCh 166).

⁶ Cf. FILLION, Louis-Claude. Vida de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, vol. I: Infancia y Bautismo. Madrid: Rialp, 2000, p.180; EDERSHEIM, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. I. Grand Rapids (MI): Eerdmans, 1976, p.197.

⁷ ORIGEN. In Lucam, Homilia XX: MG 13, 1852-1853.