This Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family.  When people start to compare the Holy Family with their own family, they may note many shortcomings.  The Holy Family seems like the ideal family and one’s own family may seem to be far from the ideal.  However, there are actions that can be learned from the readings that apply to all families. 
    The family does not have to be perfect but can start to implement these actions with the help of God.  First and foremost, a family needs God in their lives.  Throughout the readings we have instances where God is mentioned, and when it comes to the Holy Family, they were a law-abiding religious family.  They went to the temple right after Jesus’ birth to give thanks to God and fulfilled all the precepts of the law. 
    Jesus was brought up in a very religious family.  The problem with some families is they are very infrequent in their religious  practice.  There are even some parents who do not want to baptize their children until they are old enough to decide for themselves.  Meanwhile all the time is lost and when they think they will decide for themselves to be baptized, they are very far away from God. 
    Second, there needs to be respect for parents in the family, and as well parents should not provoke their children.  This ties in with the first point.  A family (and sometimes it’s just a group of people who share the same blood), who does not pray together and does not have God as the center of their lives, starts to unravel and  disintegrate.  Parents who let their children make the decisions (including baptism) soon will realize that the grown children will not respect them or listen to them in any way or form. Everyone must be responsible for their role.  This is a major problem with families, that the roles are not clearly defined.  Parents want to be friends with their children while they are asked to take care of their religious and moral upbringing.  Children do not want to listen to parents, disrespect them, and prefer to listen to their friends and the influences of the world.  The word “children” here is really meant to say those grown people who still are lacking maturity because no order was given in their house. 
    Third, another important component in families so they can strive like the Holy Family is gratitude. This too is severely lacking in some families. St. Paul reminds with a simple phrase be thankful. This is happening less and less with generation after generation that have a sense of entitlement. They want, they deserve, they get. This is the mentality of many children who have not suffered a bit in their lives, and everything has been given to them.  There is a phenomenon happening of grown children into their thirties and forties and beyond who are still living with their parents and expect them to pay for their bills.  Saying a simple thank you is a way to teach children to be grateful, not giving them all they want but teaching them to work hard to acquire any material good is another way to teach them. 
    Finally, another word of advice to be like the Holy Family is putting some of these together and say what St. Paul recommended: give thanks to God in the assembly of the faithful by “singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”  This happens when things are working well in the family. This happens when a family implements all these points discussed, and thus the family will flourish like the Holy Family.  When the Holy Family is thought about, many people think they are beyond grasp, but what they did was very human and very doable for other families to do.  Let us ask the Lord to bless the  families who are striving to follow the example of the Holy Family.