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Vocation Meditation -
Feast of the Holy Family 2010
Used with permission from ChristianComputerArt.Com
After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the Prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
When Herod died, an Angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, 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 there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the Prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazarene."
On this feast of the Holy Family, let us pray the prayer for families that the late Pope John Paul II gave during Christmas message in 1995!
It is you, O Divine Child of Bethlehem,
who save us, freeing us from sin.
It is you who are the true and only Saviour,
whom humanity often searches for with uncertainty.
God of peace, gift of peace for all of humanity,
come to live in the heart of every individual and of every family.
Be our peace and our joy!
Amen!
"Family, 0 Holy Family - the Family so closely united to the mystery which we contemplate on the day of the Lord's Birth - guide with your example the families of the whole earth!
Son of God, who came among us in the warmth of the family, grant that all families may grow in love and work together for the good of all humanity through the commitment of faithful and fruitful unity, through respect for life and the quest for fraternal solidarity with everyone.
Teach them therefore to renounce selfishness, deceit and the unscrupulous quest for their own gain.
Help them to develop the immense resources of heart and mind, which increase when it is you who inspire them.
May the joy of Christmas and the peace which the Birth of the Saviour brings into the world be in your hearts forever.
Amen.
For the full Gospel reading for this Sunday, visit the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops site.