Christmas can be a difficult time for families. The eagerness to celebrate and the joy of children can be countered by all kinds of problems and anxieties. In other words the Paschal mystery is not far below the surface for any of us. It may be worry about a parent in a nursing home, someone spending the holiday in hospital, or problems in relationships. Carrying the cross of daily faithful love remains no matter how wonderful our Christmas celebrations may be.

That same reality is present in the Gospel of Matthew. His account of Jesus birth and the events which surround it foreshadows the passion story later in the Gospel. From the moment of his birth Jesus life was under threat. He who is the light of the world threatened the works of darkness from the beginning.

Such thoughts are far from the homely advice given in the reading from Ecclesiasticus today. These are simple enduring values. Respect for parents no matter what their age or state of health. St Paul repeats the same advice with the added depth that recognises that God has made us his people out of love and that is our motive underpinning all our relationships.

We cannot understand today's Gospel unless we are familiar with the Old Testament which Matthew refers to constantly. Speaking of the flight to Egypt and the return to Israel of the Holy Family, he quotes the prophet Hosea, "I called my son out of Egypt." In full the passage reads:

When Israel was a child I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt... I myself taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in my arms.... I was the one looking after them. I led them with reins of kindness, with leading strings of love. I was like someone who lifts an infant close against his cheek; stooping down to him I gave him his food (Hosea 11/1-4).

Hosea speaks of God looking after his people Israel like a father looks after his children. Matthew is hinting to us that God is the Father of Jesus and that Jesus is to fulfil the early history of Israel. Just as God led his people gently by the hand out of Egypt to freedom so he will lead this child Jesus from the hands of evil men like Herod back to himself. He will in fact lead everyone to freedom through his Easter journey to Calvary and resurrection.

There is a lesson for us there. Each one of us has to be led by God. We do take time to grow in our faith: Many years in fact. At times out faith is tested and we grow stronger. So too in our families. So too with churches. As Christian communities we continue to grow. We grow in our awareness of ourselves as disciples of Jesus. That change and growth is not always immediately obvious to us. Sometimes we resist it. We have to be reminded and reflect on our relationships again and again with each passing year as we do today.

No one has ever seen God, John's Gospel tells us. But it is God's Son who has made him known. He has made God known by the love and compassion he lived. To know in this sense is to experience that love. God can be experienced in our relationships however difficult they might me at times, because God is love. The family is one privileged place where we both experience and learn that love.

Today we honour and pray for our families and seek the prayers of the Holy Family.