Thank so much for this, Emily!! I have a question though: you mentioned there is no template for what the Christian family should look like. I feel like some people would hear this and think, "what about the Holy Family?" What would your response be to that question?
Thank you again! I just showed parts 1 and 2 to my husband and I'm thinking it'll start some good conversations : )
Sure! The first thing that comes to mind is that the Holy Family wasn't a Christian family. They were a Jewish family. :-) Second, one of the great blessings of Holy Scripture is how silent it is on how the Holy Family lived their life. We know Joseph was a carpenter. We know Mary and Joseph never knew each other in the biblical sense. And we know Mary gave birth to one child, the Son of God. That's about it. We don't know how they spent their days, disciplined their son, settled disputes in their marriage, managed their household affairs, divided the workload, pretty much nothing. The first aspects of their marriage —celibacy and raising God—are impossible for anyone to imitate. The rest is all conjecture and not knowing any details spares us the impossibly silly task of trying to model our family life on the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Immaculate Conception, and quite possibly the greatest male saint to ever live.
And I should add, celibacy is of course possible for anyone…but it can’t be considered a must do for married life or else…well…that would be the end of humanity! So, that’s what I meant by “not possible.” It’s not possible to take that as our model in the normal way of things.
Thank so much for this, Emily!! I have a question though: you mentioned there is no template for what the Christian family should look like. I feel like some people would hear this and think, "what about the Holy Family?" What would your response be to that question?
Thank you again! I just showed parts 1 and 2 to my husband and I'm thinking it'll start some good conversations : )
Sure! The first thing that comes to mind is that the Holy Family wasn't a Christian family. They were a Jewish family. :-) Second, one of the great blessings of Holy Scripture is how silent it is on how the Holy Family lived their life. We know Joseph was a carpenter. We know Mary and Joseph never knew each other in the biblical sense. And we know Mary gave birth to one child, the Son of God. That's about it. We don't know how they spent their days, disciplined their son, settled disputes in their marriage, managed their household affairs, divided the workload, pretty much nothing. The first aspects of their marriage —celibacy and raising God—are impossible for anyone to imitate. The rest is all conjecture and not knowing any details spares us the impossibly silly task of trying to model our family life on the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Immaculate Conception, and quite possibly the greatest male saint to ever live.
That makes so much sense! Thank you for the explanation : )
And I should add, celibacy is of course possible for anyone…but it can’t be considered a must do for married life or else…well…that would be the end of humanity! So, that’s what I meant by “not possible.” It’s not possible to take that as our model in the normal way of things.
Definitely. Thank you for the clarification!