Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
(Year A, Dec 28, 2025)
“How I cherish seeing the Lord of majesty showing himself – so far as bodily exertion and human emotion are concerned – not like the strong but like the weak. What a comfort it is to me in my weakness! Indeed, this weakness of my Lord certainly brings me strength and steadfastness in my weakness. For this reason, you who are strong in religious observance and very quick to embrace all sorts of austerities should be warned not to judge rashly those whom you see tempering their rigor somewhat to the infirmities of the weak.
I am entrusted with the care of my brother’s body and soul – for I do not love the whole man if I neglect anything belonging to either. If I see him suffering some distress, whether on account of the austerity of the food or of the work or of the vigils – if, I say, I see that he is tormented in body and tempted at heart – for it is extremely difficult for the mind not to be tempted when the flesh suffers grievously – if I see him in such affliction and, although provided with the goods of this world, I shut up my heart against him, how can it be said that God’s love dwells in me? (I Jn 3:17)
Surely, if I always conduct myself according to the rigor of the strong and do not on occasion accommodate myself to the infirmities of the weak, I am running not in the fragrance of Christ’s ointments but in the harshness of the pharisees. They vaunted themselves on their rigorous abstinence and condemned the disciples of the Lord, indeed the Lord himself, calling him a glutton and a wine-bibber. What must certainly be guarded against is fostering self-indulgent relaxation under the guise of accommodation. Blessed Gregory’s maxim must be observed: observance without rigidity and compassion without relaxation.”
– The Liturgical Sermons 3.33-35, Aelred of Rievaulx –