| Bread From Heaven Meditations on the Sunday Gospel for the Year of the Eucharist |
Feast of the Holy Family
Sunday December 26th
Sunday December 26th
The Gospel of the Lord - When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell
you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his
mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had
said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are
dead." He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that
Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And
because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a
town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be
called a Nazorean.
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell
you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his
mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had
said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
"Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are
dead." He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that
Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And
because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a
town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be
called a Nazorean.
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
The distance between Bethlehem and Egypt is nearly 100 miles and it is another 100
miles into Egypt before Joseph and Mary would be near a large city. In the larger cities,
such as Alexandria, they would find a sizable Jewish quarter (approximately twenty percent
of the urban population). It is probably in one of these city quarters where they spent the
time living and working in a foreign country waiting for the time when they could return to
their homeland. The 200 mile trip would certainly have been costly, not to mention difficult,
considering that Mary had only recently given birth and Jesus was but an infant.
miles into Egypt before Joseph and Mary would be near a large city. In the larger cities,
such as Alexandria, they would find a sizable Jewish quarter (approximately twenty percent
of the urban population). It is probably in one of these city quarters where they spent the
time living and working in a foreign country waiting for the time when they could return to
their homeland. The 200 mile trip would certainly have been costly, not to mention difficult,
considering that Mary had only recently given birth and Jesus was but an infant.
| Jesus the Apostles and You |
Imagine yourself traveling with Joseph and Mary,
perhaps as a young cousin of one or the other. Imagine
being awakened during the night as you slept peacefully
next to Jesus under the Bethlehem sky. Joseph seems full
of anxiety and is quickly loading the family’s equipment onto
their donkey. It is still dark out and you hear him urging
Mary to get Jesus and to wake you up. You are only half-
awake so you do not fully comprehend what is occurring,
but you do sense that Jesus’ life is in imminent danger.
What do you experience as you look at the young Christ
child sleeping peacefully next to you?
Next picture yourself, traveling the long, dusty road to
Egypt. The initial adrenaline rush of having fled in the night
is now wearing off. It is dawning on you that you have a
long and difficult journey ahead of you.
perhaps as a young cousin of one or the other. Imagine
being awakened during the night as you slept peacefully
next to Jesus under the Bethlehem sky. Joseph seems full
of anxiety and is quickly loading the family’s equipment onto
their donkey. It is still dark out and you hear him urging
Mary to get Jesus and to wake you up. You are only half-
awake so you do not fully comprehend what is occurring,
but you do sense that Jesus’ life is in imminent danger.
What do you experience as you look at the young Christ
child sleeping peacefully next to you?
Next picture yourself, traveling the long, dusty road to
Egypt. The initial adrenaline rush of having fled in the night
is now wearing off. It is dawning on you that you have a
long and difficult journey ahead of you.
| Conversation Starters with God: Lord, you hadn’t lived on our earth but a few days before we were already trying to destroy you. We know you come to bring peace, but we know that your very presence causes division, because you come to destroy sin. Lord, rather than allow me to be divided from you, reveal to me the ways that their still exists a division between You and I…Give me the grace to begin anew with You. Father, you command Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt. You give him no more information about how he will get there, how he will support his family in a foreign land, you seem to give him no material assistance to accomplish his task, and yet we recognize that all along you were right there with him, right there being carried in the arms of Mary. Lord, help me to realize that you are right here with me too and that whatever challenges you give me, you will also give me the means to meet them. (ask the Lord to reveal some of the ways he’s been silently working in your life) Jesus, there were probably many hours that went by during that trip to Egypt, when Mary just stared into your eyes as she held you in her arms. Help me as I adore you here now to be filled with some of those same sentiments and thoughts that entered into Mary’s heart and mind. (Ask the Blessed Mother to reveal to you what she experienced in holding Jesus and adoring Him during that trip) |
"Niepokalanow is a home like Nazareth. The Father is
God the Father, the mother and mistress of the home is the
Immaculata, the firstborn son and our brother is Jesus in the
most Holy Sacrament of the altar. All the younger brothers
try to imitate the elder Brother in love and honor towards
God and the Immaculata, our common parents, and from the
Immaculata they try to love the divine elder Brother, the ideal
of sanctity who deigned to come down from heaven to be
incarnated in her and to live with us in the tabernacle... "The
whole world is a large Niepokalanow where the Father is
God, the mother the Immaculata, the elder brother the Lord
Jesus in all the tabernacles of the world, and the younger
brothers the people." "My aim is to institute perpetual
adoration," he said, for this is the "the most important
activity." - from the writings of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe
God the Father, the mother and mistress of the home is the
Immaculata, the firstborn son and our brother is Jesus in the
most Holy Sacrament of the altar. All the younger brothers
try to imitate the elder Brother in love and honor towards
God and the Immaculata, our common parents, and from the
Immaculata they try to love the divine elder Brother, the ideal
of sanctity who deigned to come down from heaven to be
incarnated in her and to live with us in the tabernacle... "The
whole world is a large Niepokalanow where the Father is
God, the mother the Immaculata, the elder brother the Lord
Jesus in all the tabernacles of the world, and the younger
brothers the people." "My aim is to institute perpetual
adoration," he said, for this is the "the most important
activity." - from the writings of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe
| QUOTES ON THE EUCHARIST |
| LET US PRAY - Virgin Immaculate, you are the perfect model of adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. You adored Jesus in the little white Host with the same faith, reverence and wonder with which you adored Him on the first Christmas night and during all the years you lived with Him. Teach us not to forget that the small white Host is truly our God, infinite, eternal and omnipotent. Help us to conduct ourselves at all times in His presence with the modesty and reverence we owe to our God... Virgin Immaculate, perfect lover of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we ask you to obtain for us the graces we need to become true adorers of our Eucharistic God. Grant us, we beg of you, to know Him better, to love Him more, and to center our lives around the Eucharist, that is, to make our whole life a constant prayer of adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Amen - from "Treasury of Prayer: Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament" |
| BACK TO Year of the Eucharist Page |
| THE BACKGROUND |
| TALKING TO GOD - Father in Heaven, you give us this wonderful gift of the child Jesus, but it seems I can’t enjoy him in peace. No sooner has he come into my life, like on that night at Bethlehem, then I am immediately asked to deprive myself of that comfortable spot next to Him. Lord, sometimes I wish simply to be able to stop and rest beside you in the peacefulness of Bethlehem and yet before long I find I’m on the road, fleeing for some reason or another. Lord, help me to experience the fact that as long as I’m walking with you, I am walking with Peace. Maybe not comfort, but Peace. Oh Lord, where you are, that is where I want to be. Jesus, my Peace, Jesus, my All. |