The Holy Family

In his reflections before praying the Angelus, on this Sunday during Christmas, the Pope spoke of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Today is the Feast of the Holy Family, and the day's readings of the liturgy are about families.  He spoke about the Gospel accounts of Jesus and his family when he was a child, calling them "the prototype of every Christian family," and speaking of what families of today can learn from them.

Asia News has an article about the Pope's reflections.  Full translations are available from Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

Here is an excerpt from Papa Ratzinger Forum:

"Mary and Joseph educated Jesus, above all, through their example. From His parents, He learned all about the beauty of faith, of love for God and His Law, as well as the demands of justice which find fulfillment in love (cfr Rom 13,10)."

Picture:  The Family of St. John the Baptist Visits the Holy Family, by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1817, at the Getty.  (For a page of the same artist's woodcut print illustrations of the Bible, see this site.)