Devotional thoughts for the 1st Sunday after the feast of Yeldo - the flee of the Holy family to Egypt 29th Dec 2013
Reading: From the Gospel according to St. Matthew 2: 9- 15, 19 – 23
Dear and Respected Brethren,
By the Grace of God we are reaching the last Sunday of the current year and the first Sunday after the feast of Yeldo on 29th Dec 2013. We are obliged to meditate the act of fleeing of the Holy family ,In the first part of today’s reading we read about the visit of the three wise men from the East, who were guided by a special star to the spot where our Lord and Savior had incarnated. We are sure how they had worshipped our Lord and how they had honored our Lord. In verse 11 we read, “when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him, and when they had opened their treasures they presented unto him gifts; gold and frankincense and my rah.” In this one word “treasures” is noteworthy.
‘The word ‘treasure’ literally means riches or wealth that is stored up, riches which are much valued etc. It is damn sure that what were presented by the Kings from the East were not the earnings of a day or two. What they had submitted were their entire savings of their lives. We are exhorted how to submit gifts to God, whenever we feel so. We often submit offertory on the Sundays. What is our feeling and understanding about it? Are we submitting this as a gift from us to God Almighty or with some other feeling? Let us make sure that we are presenting the same as a part of God’s gifts to us. God Almighty is the owner of worldly riches and what all are held by us are the riches which have been given to each and every one of us by Him as a trust to take care. We often forget this basic truth thinking that what all are in our possession are the trusts handed over to us by God Almighty for the proper care and administration. Our Lord wants us to preserve our treasure as per His desire and plan and not in accordance to our own selfish plans and ideas. Otherwise God will ask us where our treasure is. Refer St. Matthew 6: 21, and St. Luke 12: 34. In our Lord’s view the good treasures stored in the hearts are more important and precious than all sorts of the worldly treasures. Refer St, Matthew 12: 35 and St. Luke 6: 45. For this reason only our Lord exhorted us several times to preserve treasures in heaven. Kindly refer St. Matthew 19: 21, St. Mark 10:21, St, Luke 18: 22. God wants us to have treasures in heaven through the constant and meaningful prayers, systematic and regular sacramental lives as well as with charity works. We could build up treasures in heaven with prayer, fasting and systematic and regular sacramental lives as taught us by our mother Church. When the wise men left the place God’s Angel appeared to St. Joseph and instructed him to flee to Egypt with the new born child and his mother.
St. Joseph obeyed God’s command without doubting for a second. He depended God’s mercy and care and undertook the great risk of travelling on foot to Egypt. St. Joseph had to take care of the ‘son of God’ and His mother during their flee to Egypt. The time period fo their troublesome journey to Egypt through the hills and valleys and desert is not given in the Holy Bible. Traditionally it is believed that they were attacked by many robbers on the way and God miraculously saved them. And two robbers stopped them on their way and tried to loot them. And these robbers were crucified on the left and right of our Lord later at Golgotha. It is believed that only because of the goodness of one of the robbers, infant Jesus was not attacked and this robber was the one who was crucified on the right hand side of our Lord.
Let us think what would have been our response, if we were in the place of St. Joseph? All the pains and sufferings undertaken by St Joseph made him to be honored as the father of all unknown saints. Let us try to follow the foot steps of St. Joseph by seeking his continued intercession.
May God bless us all.
Jose Kurian Puliyeril’
Kottayam.