FranciscanMedia.org | Sunday Soundbites | Feast of the Holy Family

Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.

Program for Sunday, December 26, 2010
(Feast of the Holy Family)

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Sunday Soundbites Archive

Transcript

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the Sunday Soundbite for the Feast of the Holy Family.

At a family reunion some years ago, I was struck by the physical resemblances among my family members. The facial characteristics of some of the older folks there were visible in some the younger members. I wondered, too, whether the values which motivated my immigrant ancestors to come to America some one hundred and fifty years ago, were still present in my family today.

Today's Gospel, from Matthew's account of Christ's infancy, shows us a family grappling with a crisis. Joseph has to take Mary and Jesus to safety, to avoid the clutches of King Herod, who seeks the child's life. Scripture scholars tell us that there's meaning below the story's surface. Matthew is reflecting on Old Testament references which lead us to see Jesus as the "new Moses" and the "new Israel." The story of the Israelite slaves leaving Egypt for freedom in the Promised Land would have appealed to Matthew's audience. They were, most probably, a Christian community struggling to focus its new identity in relation to its Jewish origins.

Our American religious experience is also rooted in family origins: our ancestors who struggled to keep the faith as oppressed slaves, impoverished immigrants, persecuted minorities. Knowing where we've come from, and keeping ourselves rooted in Christ and his mission, can help us weather any crisis.

I’m Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the Web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Meet Father Greg Friedman

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director with the Media Production Team at Franciscan Media. He also hosts American Catholic Radio each week, and produces videos for www.AmericanCatholic.org, including the "Two-Minute Take." Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide. He also produced the popular faith-formation series Catholic Update Video, used in parishes around the U.S. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis Seraph Parish, located in the inner-city neighborhood of "Over-the-Rhine" in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can contact him at letters@franciscanradio.org.

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