Joseph was a tradesmen, a carpenter. He made things out of wood: plows, tables, chairs, ladders and maybe parts of houses. He lived in Nazareth. Before Jesus was born he traveled to Bethlehem and then Egypt for a short time, but the majority of his life was in a small insignificant town.
He wasn’t highly educated. He never had much money. He never wrote a book, fought in a war or held any political office. As far as we know, he never tried to do anything significant to make the world a better place to live.
Mary was a housewife. She cooked, cleaned and took care of Joseph and Jesus. She never had a paying job. She only had one child. She wasn’t highly educated. She never had much money. She never wrote a book or held political office. She traveled a little, but lived mostly in the little town of Nazareth.
Jesus was the only child of poor parents. He lived a very ordinary childhood and learned to be a carpenter like his father.
To the world around them this was all they saw of Jesus, Mary and Joseph during the time they lived together as a family in Nazareth. And yet today, we celebrate this ordinary family as not just a holy family, but as THE Holy Family. Not because they did amazing things. Not because they were great leaders or great workers of social justice. They are The Holy Family because of one reason. Every single time God asked them to do something, they said yes. With joy and love, this family always, without fail, did everything the Lord asked of them.
They may have been thought of as ordinary by the people who knew them in Nazareth, but in the eyes of God they were champions, warriors, selfless, loving, humble, just, faithful, prudent, temperate and so much more.
They were holy.
Sacred Thinking by Mike Denz 