Have you ever stopped and tried to define the word Sacrament? It’s interesting…we’re a Sacramental Church and yet it is painfully difficult to define Sacrament. Think of it right now…if someone came up to you and asked you to define Sacrament in one sentence how would you do it? I suspect you’d probably just list the 7 Sacraments. But to give a theological definition of the mystery of Sacrament is pretty hard. And yet we come here every Sunday to receive the greatest Sacrament of all. Sometimes right here at mass we celebrate the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. Just yesterday James and Sara celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony here at this altar. After the wedding I celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The last time I saw my Dad he and I celebrated the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Sacraments happen every day and yet it’s difficult to define exactly what Sacraments are. So here’s a couple of quick explanations.

The Baltimore Catechism - A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace. Our Current Catechism – A Sacrament is a sign of grace, instituted by Christ himself and given to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. St. Thomas Aquinas – Sacraments are visible signs of inward grace. But even these one liners are still pretty abstract. So here’s how I like to explain Sacrament…it’s something physical that points us to a much deeper reality. Many of you have heard me liken Sacraments to an iceberg. There’s part of the Iceberg that is obvious…the tip jutting up out of the water. You can see it and even touch it…but we all know that that’s just a small part of the immense iceberg that lies…unseen and under the water…every bit as real. So…Holy Eucharist…one of the Sacraments…happens right here before our very eyes in Belton Texas. There’s people…a priest…a churchbuilding…bread&wine…prayers…kneeling…singing…leading…responding. But we all know that the Eucharist carries a much deeper…broader reality. The Bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood…Jesus…the 2^nd person of the Trinity…the Word that Created everything comes literally into our presence. These un-provable realities of Sacrament are the part of the iceberg that lies out of sight under the water but is every bit as real. It’s the unseen grace given by God himself in the Sacrament so that we may become holy.

So what’s the point? The point is…Sacraments have everything to do with the Holy Family…the Holy Family…and your Holy Family. Families are Sacramental in nature. Physical realities that exist at a specific time and place with specific people. Father…Mother…Children…Eating dinner…watching TV…mowing the yard…doing the laundry…going to work and school and coming home in the evening. But like the iceberg…Families participate in a much deeper reality that is often difficult to see because life in a Human Family can be complicated by so much distraction. So today…the feast of the Holy Family…I want us to bring into view the Sacramental reality of families…I want us to be able to understand in the very challenge of daily family life the incredible value afforded us by the family that lies just beneath the everyday routine.

How many of us…at some point in the last week…have wondered in the midst of the Christmas decorations…chaotic gift giving and receiving and trash bag patrol…extended family stays and all of the stress that that brings…big production meals…barking dogs…tired toddlers…awkward comments launched out over the Christmas table between family members who no doubt love each other but are all dealing with the stress in their own way…getting to mass early enough to have a seat…how many of us in the midst of the madness have wondered…did I miss the whole point of Christmas?

And yet…I think…lying just underneath this chaos is the Sacramental reality of Family. There is deep joy that can’t easily be seen. Sisters who don’t always see eye to eye…Husbands and Mother in laws…frustrated teenagers…over functioning mothers…blow up mattresses for the visitors and the 14 used towels that now sit in the laundry room needing to be washed. In the midst of it all…Sacrament occurs. Because if asked whether we’d prefer to not participate we would always say no…I want to be here. And that’s what makes families holy. The Christmas meal is a version of this meal where your real family…dysfunctional as it is blessed by God…joins in one of the most fundamental rituals known to the human person: simply doing what humans need to do…eating together and thus sustaining life…recognizing our identity in coming together as people to relate with one another over food. That’s part of the Sacramental character of your Christmas drama…which you may or may not have realized. The tip of the ice berg was all the business of it all. The depth of the ice berg is coming to an odd peace about who we are as families and how thankful we are for that reality in our lives. If your family is anything like my family…and I assume it is…this was my Christmas experience too. Terrible and Wonderful all at the same time. This year in particular for my family…with Dad in the hospital actually on his last day…my mom and sister and brother in law…with a place setting for Dad on the table…ate a meal…and then we went to see him. Wonderful and Terrible all at the same time. That of course was the experience for The Holy Family…wonderful and terrible at the same time…remember they had to flee in fear of an angry King.

We will never be confused with the Holy Family…but we take note of them seeking to tap into our own Holiness as Family. Sometimes our coming together as families…foibles and triumphs included…is in itself the Christmas miracle. And that Christmas meal is like this meal. We come together…admid our sins against each other…there’s sometimes irritation…jealousy…and unhealthy competition…sometimes it’s boring and predictable…sometimes we amuse ourselves with old stories…and sometimes we even sneak the occasional glance at the watch to see when it will all be over so that we can go back to our safe predictable lives. And at your meal as at this meal…because it is Sacramental…the outward activity points to an inward grace…redemption is happening although you may not realize it. Families are funny…families at home and our family here at Church. Most of the time they’re frustrating and almost never meet our expectations. But in the end…without fully understanding the mystery of the Sacrament…we keep coming back to the family Christmas feast year after year and the Eucharistic Feast Sunday after Sunday for the same reason…we need it! We love our families at home and we love our family at church it without fully understanding them. And that is truly Sacramental.