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Feast of the Holy Family: Colossians 3:12-21; Matthew 2:13-15,19-23

In Christ, there is so much blessing.Let's enjoy it!
Be what you already are. Be what God has made you in Christ. This is what God is saying to us here. ‘You have been raised with Christ... You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:1,3). Paul is describing the new birth. Christ has made His home in us. New life has begun. Now that  Christ lives in us - what are we to do about it? How are we to live? - ‘Set your hearts and minds on things above’ (Colossians 3:1-2). This is how we are to live. We are to live out the life which God has put into our hearts. The new life begins when Christ comes to live in us. It does not end there. That is only the beginning. We are to go on, ‘being renewed in knowledge after the image of our Creator’ (Colossians 3:10). Christ wants to reign in us. He wants to enrich our lives (Colossians 3:15-16). In Him, there is so much blessing. Let’s enjoy it!

Herod dies. Jesus lives. The purpose of man is defeated. The purpose of God prevails.
In Matthew 2, the story unfolds according to God’s saving purpose and not Herod's Satanic schemes. Herod dies. Jesus lives. The purpose of man is defeated. The purpose of God prevails. Jesus’ time in Egypt is full of prophetic significance (Matthew 2:15; Hosea 11:1). Egypt was the place of bondage. God turns everything around, making it the place of protection (Exodus 1:11; Matthew 2:13-15). The emphasis is not on the place. It is on what God is doing, as He fulfils His purpose. From Bethlehem to Egypt and then to Nazareth - the young Jesus is being taken from place to place - all in the perfect plan of God. Again, the emphasis is not on the place but on God’s purpose. Nazareth was a humble place, dignified by the fact that God chose it to be the home of His Son. Our concern is not with wise men or famous places. ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus’.  ‘Stand amazed in the presence of Jesus’.

The Bible readings are taken from the Catholic Lectionary - Year A.

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