Feast of the Holy Family

The feast of the Holy Family, which is situated appropriately between Christmas and New Year’s Day, serves as a context for the events it bridges: the birth of Christ and the octave of Mary. Living in a loving manner sometimes can be most difficult within the family (the domestic Church), where intimate conflicts yield deep wounds, and where routine and familiarity can breed contempt and complacency. So we look to the Holy Family as models of fraternal love in a world of fractured family life and institutions. You’ll find the entire reflection online.

St. Raymond of Peñafort

St. Raymond of Penyafort, whose feast we celebrate on January 7, was a Spanish Dominican friar in the 13th century, who compiled the Decretals of Gregory IX, a collection of canon laws that remained a major part of Church law until the 20th century. Watch a short video about him online.