The family is nothing less than the image of the Most Holy Trinity (01/03/93)

The family is nothing less than the image of the Most Holy Trinity

Christmas message of Bishop Basil to the reverend fathers, venerable religious, deacons and beloved faithful of the Eparchy of Stamford.

"This day in David's city a savior has been born to you, the Messiah and Lord." (Luke 2:11)

Christ is born! Let us glorify Him!

My Dearly beloved people of the Diocese of Stamford,

As we gather in our homes and in our churches to celebrate the Birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and as our prayers and our thoughts turn to our beloved relatives and friends both here and in Ukraine; and as we think also of family members who for one reason or another may not be at home for Christmas, we appreciate the importance of the Christian family on this feast day.

It is the Will of God to send His Son to save us through birth into a human family. He was born of His Blessed Mother as an infant and grew up in a family setting, so that He should truly be, as St. Paul teaches, a human person like us in everything but sin.

The family is nothing less than the image of the Most Holy Trinity, because the family is the place where husband and wife become one flesh in Christ, "who has made us both one" [in the words of the Epistle to the Ephesians, (5:31)], and where through the unselfish gift of husband and wife to each other, God brings new life into the world.

As we think of the family, we naturally think of the Mother of the family. In a mysterious way, the woman, the wife and mother, is the pivot of the family. For this reason, our Ukrainian Catholic tradition honors the Blessed Mother of God not only on Christmas Day itself, but we also have a special Feast of the Blessed Mother on the second day of Christmas. The Church invites us to this celebration of the Blessed Mother so that we should reflect on her crucial role, and on the importance of the mother in every family. In pastoral work, I see how often the mother is the person who holds the family together, and we should all appreciate and honor this vocation. Jesus Christ, of course, is the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary. As we chant in the Kontakion:

"He Who before the Daystar was born of the father without a mother, today is born on earth of thee without a father. The Star proclaims the good news to the Magi, as the angels and shepherds sing of thy wonderful motherhood, thou Full of Grace." In this way, God has given our human race a new beginning, yet linked through the Blessed Mother with all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.

However, it was the Will of God that Jesus Christ should know the care and love of a human father, and thus God entrusted Mary and her Divine Son to Saint Joseph on the Sunday after Christmas, together with King David, the ancestors of the family to which both Joseph and Mary belonged, as we read in the Gospel, and also St. James, "the brother of the Lord." (Gal. 1:19)

St. Joseph is outstanding in our Christmas celebration because he reminds us of responsibility and sacrifice. We see from the Gospel that he did not fully understand the task he had assumed, but that he accepted that task completely. Without this responsibility, this unshirking fulfillment of our share, no family can survive. Fathers, mothers, and children alike need to accept St. Joseph as a model, an example. We must be willing to do our part with faith and trust in God, even when we do not understand everything perfectly at first.

The inclusion of King David and St. James in our celebration reminds us of the extended family, which today is so threatened in America. With constant moving and many other social factors many families lack real involvement with grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins, but both the Holy Bible and the history of human experience tell us that the extended family is very important. So I congratulate those families who are blessed to maintain a warm love through several generations, and I invite our parishes to give particular support to small families who may be isolated by death, or great distances from grandparents and relatives. Let our parishes be places of genuine Christian fellowship, where we seek to supply each others' needs and wants.

I mentioned above the pivotal role of the mother in each family. This resounds in the hearts of the Ukrainian people; Ukrainian society throughout history has strongly emphasized the importance of each mother. This is probably why devotion to the Blessed Mother of Cod, the Immaculate Theotokos, is very highly developed among Ukrainian Christians. This devotion to the Blessed Mother is a significant gift from God, and in every generation we should do our best to maintain this devotion and even increase it.

This Christmas, I hope that in each of our families, we shall resolve to strengthen our family life in the New Year which lies before us. We all know what effort this requires; I only wish to remind you of these matters. We must plan particular times to pray together (as well as going to church together regularly), and we should read the Holy Bible together systematically. In their modern-day rush tempo, our families also need sorely to relearn how to sit down and communicate at meals, more often than at Christmas and Easter. Families need to converse together which means placing strict limits on television and other electronic intruders. And families need to work together, in family projects for the common good, and in occasional projects for the support of individual family members. We all know these things very well, but they will not happen unless in each family we take time out to plan how and when we shall do them.

So, beloved, I send each of you my archpastoral blessing this Christmas. I ask your prayers and your ongoing concern for our Church in Ukraine, and I ask your prayers, your concern, and your deep commitment to the work we have begun here in America during this decade of evangelism. We are surrounded by people who do not know Jesus Christ, and we have no right to keep Christ a secret! May our love, and our joyful celebration, proclaim Christ to those around us! And may the joy and love of Christ be always in your hearts!

ÝBasil
Bishop of Stamford
(New York and New England)

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