Crossing into the New Year with the Holy Family

12/30/2025

As we gathered on the Feast of the Holy Family (Dec 28, 2026) to mark the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope, we did so in a year that witnessed the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo. In our own Diocese, we entered into the second year of our Pastoral Renewal, You are Called, you Matter, and you Belong. We also marked this Jubilee Year through diocesan celebrations on the Marian feasts of Mary, Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, including a Diocesan Mass with the Apostolic Blessing and a Plenary Indulgence.

Many people have made pilgrimages to Rome, but also here to St. Mary’s Cathedral, where the Jubilee Year Cross has remained throughout the year, and to Our Lady of the Rockies Shrine Church. This year also marked the official enrollment of our Marian Shrine within the universal Confraternity of the Holy Rosary and with other Shrine Churches throughout the world.

The Jubilee Year served as both an invitation and opportunity for all of us to experience the grace of conversion, of turning our lives to Christ in a renewed way through prayer, penance and acts of charity. St. Augustine stated that “whatever our state in life, we cannot live without the three dispositions of the soul that unite us to God, to Christ: first to believe (faith), to hope and to love (charity). These, in fact, are the divine virtues of grace that were in abundance during this Jubilee Year of Hope and that we first experienced through our own lives in the family.

On this the Solemnity of the Holy Family I am reminded of St. John Paul II’s Encyclical Familiaris Consortium, the Community of the Family, where he stated, “The future of humanity passes by way of the family.” It is through the family that the hope of humanity passes. Family life, the role of parents and the gift of children are essential to our society and to civilization. However, the stability and integrity of family life have always been threatened, as we witnessed in the gospel last Sunday, with the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt due to political forces. Today, we also realize that family life is affected by social and economic factors, spousal separation, and gender ideologies that create confusion and anxiety for the young.

In the Old Testament reading from the Book of Sirach last Sunday, we see the influence of Hellenistic thinking being adopted by the teacher or sage in defending the role of the family in Jewish culture and religion. It is a teaching that expands upon the fourth commandment of the Decalogue: "Honour your father and mother." The family and the role of parents were seen as, first and foremost, the place for the transmission of human values and virtues to the young, including a faith in God. The honouring of one’s parents was the implicit recognition of showing reverence to God, who was the author of all human life.

Civilization has come to see the family as the essential foundation and building block of a stable society. The Church has also promoted respect and recognition for the necessary authority of the family to guide and form children so that parents are the first and primary teachers of the young. In our diocesan Renewal, one of the priorities we have as a diocese is our commitment to strengthen the family.

This is reflected in the diocesan sacramental preparation programs for First Reconciliation and First Eucharist, where we have empowered parents to be active and assume the role of being the primary catechists for their children. We introduced a marriage enrichment program for couples who had been married for one to five years, to accompany them in experiencing once again the grace and strength of the sacrament and their vocation of married family life.

This year, we initiated an outreach to couples in our parishes who were civilly married, which was called Sacred Grace. Close to 100 couples were invited to three celebrations of Mass where they renewed their vows in a sacramental union witnessed by their grandparents, parents and children. Finally, there were pastoral and spiritual events organized by diocesan movements dedicated to men and women, and which supported in their distinctive vocations.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he encourages the newly baptized in their Christian vocation by clothing themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. These virtues are important in imitating Christ, but also in establishing the relationships that are to exist in families and the community of believers. He stressed the importance of allowing Christ’s forgiveness and peace to rule in their hearts. These are the virtues that will sustain family life in times of struggle, difficulty, and challenge.

They also serve as the signs of the graces which many people have received during this Jubilee Year of Hope. The fruits and values that are found in everyday family life when our souls are united in faith, hope and love. As we conclude this Jubilee Year, “let us rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, and persevere in prayer” (Romans 12:12). May these remain a sure path for strengthening family life in the days ahead.