Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
Today, we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Loreto. Loreto is a small town in the province of Ancona in Italy on the Adriatic Sea. It's located on a hill overlooking the sea. And there at the top of the hill is the Papal Basilica, which was built in honor of the Holy House of Nazareth, part of which is inside the basilica. At Nazareth in Palestine, there's the grotto of Our Lady's house, and there's a church there too, known as the Church of the Annunciation, but the house itself is at Loreto. Loreto is actually one of the most beautiful and most blessed pilgrimage sites in all of Italy because of the Holy House. This was the house where you could say Christmas began because it was where God became man at the Annunciation.
We can say that the Holy House was a house of prayer, a house of charity, and a house of service.
First of all, the Holy House, the home of the Holy Family, was a house of prayer. The Lord says to the prophet Isaiah, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” Isaiah 56:7, and Our Lord quoted that when He cleansed the temple, when He said, “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer.” We read that. Then Matthew 21:13. The home at Nazareth was itself a house of prayer. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph prayed together in their home. What do they say about the family that prays together? Will stay together, right? And they modeled that for us. God was at the center of their home. They prayed to the Heavenly Father. In truth, Our Lady and St. Joseph could have prayed directly to Jesus as well, too, since their son was a divine person.
Religious houses should be houses of prayer as well, first and foremost. Plus, we as religious have the blessing of having Jesus in our midst 24-7. We can go directly to Him any time with our prayers. He's not just spiritually present. He's really, truly, sacramentally present in the tabernacle, in the Holy Eucharist.
The Holy House was a house of prayer, and so it was a house of peace as well, too. Where the Prince of Peace and the Queen of Peace live, there's peace. Mother Teresa would say, “The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace,” she would say.
The Holy House was also a house of charity, as well. As far as house rules go, the first rule in the house of Nazareth, and maybe we could say the only rule, was charity. Joseph, the head of the family, and Mary, the heart of the family, knew how to cultivate an atmosphere of charity in the home. Question is, do the heads of our families know how to do that in our homes? It's important to be able to do that in your home. Charity is not just for other people outside. It's first and foremost for the home. Even religious houses and superiors need to know how to cultivate an atmosphere of charity among the religious. The Vatican II document on religious life is actually called Perfecta Caritatis, which is the perfection of charity. Because that's the aim of the religious life, and that has to be the focus of a religious community. Where charity is present, everything that's essential for a Christian is present. Where charity is lacking, really, everything is lacking, and nothing can make up for it.
In a home like the Holy House, where charity reigns, people and relationships are prioritized, not money, not possessions, not things to do, not school grades, not sports or musical performances, not busyness, not idleness, not addictions or unhealthy things, no. People are prioritized in a charitable home. In our homes and family life, we can become so focused on secondary things that we fail, that we actually fall into the trap of the Pharisees, which Jesus speaks of in Matthew 23:23. We can ignore the weightier matters. We can ignore what's really important. We can major in the minors, as they said. We can become competent in secondary things and incompetent in loving God and loving others. If that's the case, it takes insight to be able to see that. It takes humility to be able to acknowledge it, and it takes God's intervention and our cooperation to be able to remedy it.
The Holy House was not a house of shaming and blaming and accusing and defending and finger-pointing. It was a welcoming home. It was a home of encouragement and appreciation. It was a house of understanding. Words of encouragement, and appreciation, and thankfulness are so important in the home every day. Without those, families and relationships slowly or quickly break down. And charity also has an affective side to it as well, too. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph knew how to express affection. If charity was just a cold, calculating, rational response, you could even argue that a computer could be considered charitable. You could argue that, but it's not the case, right?
Thirdly, the Holy House of Nazareth was a servant's house because the three people who lived there had servant's hearts. It was the home of the King of the universe, the Queen of the universe, and the patron saint of the Church itself. Three lords, and yet no one lorded it over anyone else. Each knew how to focus on the needs of the others. Jesus says to those in authority in the Church, He says, “Know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and the great ones make their authority over them felt, but it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Very beautiful, Matthew 20:25-28.
Just as authorities and superiors in the Church need to be servants rather than masters, so too the authorities in a Christian home need to be servants more so than masters. If we don't know how to do this, we don't know what it means to do that. We need to pray for enlightenment, seek wise counsel from those who do know what it means to live that way.
Our homes certainly are a lot messier and more dysfunctional than the Holy House because of our sins and the sins of others, yes. We need to ask the Holy Family for the grace to know how to respond to our situation in a way that best reflects the character of Christ and of Our Lady and of St. Joseph too. Remember, Jesus does not promise us an easy life. He promises us a blessed life, not an easy life, and that includes the life in the home as well. We seek for ease and no problems. Jesus would prefer that we seek for blessings rather than for ease and no problems. When we have a problem with that, we struggle with that, you know what you do? Take it up with Him. He's willing to listen to your complaints. He doesn't mind. If you want to have it out with Him, He can take it.
Lastly, we can always visit the Holy House in prayer. We're always welcome to come there. In prayer, we can bring our struggles and our hopes and our sufferings to the Holy Family, and they will comfort us, give us the strength to carry on as well, too. They'll strengthen and comfort and encourage us even when no one else will because they love you so very much. So let's not hesitate to visit them in prayer. Their home is spiritually where our heart should be. Let's ask Our Lady today for the grace to know how to make our homes more like her home at Nazareth.
Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.