The feast of the Holy Family is celebrated on Dec. 29 and I’d like to think about another “wholly” family – God’s whole family.
Scripture gives us few details about the first years and boyhood of the Child Jesus. Popes, especially Leo XIII, recognized the delicate nature of the family and promoted this feast with the hope that it might instill in Christian families something of the faithful love and the devoted attachment that characterize the family of Nazareth.
The feast of the Holy Family demonstrates Christ’s humility and obedience with respect to the fourth commandment (honor thy father and mother) while highlighting the loving care that His parents exercised in His keeping. Consequently, the feast of the Holy Family speaks to us of the fond and loving care that we must render to the Body of Christ – as guardians of the domestic church and all of God’s children.
In 1943, the Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States established Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to be family and guardians to help war-torn Europe and its refugees recover. CRS’ early work focused on the resettlement of war refugees in Europe. Today, more than 80 years later, the CRS mission continues to focus on refugees and the poor overseas by continuing to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ as its mandate.
In the 1950s, as Europe regained its balance, CRS began to look to other parts of the world, seeking out those who could benefit from the assistance of Catholics in the United States. For the next two decades, CRS expanded into Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
During this time, CRS built on its tradition of providing relief in emergency situations and sought additional ways to help people in the developing world break the cycle of poverty through community-based, sustainable development initiatives. These programs (that today include agricultural initiatives, community banks, health, education and clean water projects) ensure that the local population is the central participant in its own development and that a project can be sustained through the effort and resources of the local community.
In Our Lord’s time, the Wise Men crossed continents to share their gift with the Holy Family. Today, CRS continues to share the gifts of U.S. Catholics in creating a more just and prosperous world for all.
Since the early 2000s, CRS has applied a theory of change grounded in the concept of Integral Human Development (IHD) that protects life and promotes the good of the whole person. IHD, as found in Catholic social teaching, supports the ability of everyone to realize his or her full human potential in the context of just and peaceful relationships, a thriving environment and solidarity with others. IHD is the sustained growth that everyone has the right to enjoy and represents an individual’s cultural, physical, natural, economic, political, social and spiritual wholeness.
True IHD is a long-term, dynamic process based on human dignity and right relations. Progress toward IHD is achieved through active engagement with others in a just and peaceful society that respects the sacredness of life and the dignity of every person. The IHD concept is relevant for both the poor served overseas and the Catholic community and other people of goodwill in the United States.
For the new year, I offer this prayer: O God, let us follow the shining examples of the Holy Family in our loving service to the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized through our prayers and with our support of Catholic Relief Services’ staff here and around the world. Grant that we may imitate the virtues of family life and the bonds of charity. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.