Did you ever hear of a feast searching for a home? Today's feast of the Holy Family is one of those. We hear in our Gospel story how Joseph was told in a dream, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt." What a dream! Or was it a nightmare? To be commanded to take flight like refugees in the night, to have a newborn baby and no time to pack or plan, all this must have been frightening to say the least. Joseph was no stranger to life-changing dreams though. He had already been told in a dream to take Mary as his wife, even though she was with child. And now God was asking him to change course again.
Few of us have dreams like Joseph did, but we do share with him the challenge of reconciling our plans with the hard facts of reality. When things don't go our way, we can respond like the Holy Family, recognizing an opportunity to deepen our faith in God's providence. Their faith in God was like a spiritual compass that kept them oriented in the most unfamiliar circumstances. Let us hold up the example of the Holy Family by keeping God close to our family.
