Other Plans

Reflection for December 28, 2025 — Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, urging him to take Mary and the child Jesus and flee to Egypt so King Herod cannot harm them. Find the daily reading here.

I don’t know exactly what kind of life Mary and Joseph envisioned when they were first betrothed — back in those simple times when they were just like any other couple who had hopes, dreams and no angels telling them what to do.

Whatever their plans were, I think it’s safe to say that the future God had in store for Mary and Joseph was not one either of them expected. I would imagine they both anticipated something a little quieter. A little more stable (no pun intended). A little less tumultuous.

It exhausts me simply to read through the chaos of their movements in today’s Gospel. Flee to Egypt, return to Israel (but not Judea! Herod’s son is there! Divert to Galilee! Divert!). Settle in Nazareth (let me remind you, this is all happening with a baby in tow, and without the aid of a minivan). Take a deep breath, but don’t get too comfortable — now it’s almost time to lose your kid in Jerusalem. Then you’ll have about 20 years off before he starts raising people from the dead, and that’s when things start to get really crazy.

The story of the Holy Family is the ultimate example of the phrase “God had other plans.” If any four-word sentence encapsulates what we can expect from the Christian life, it is this.

I thought I was meant for that job, but God had other plans. I thought I would live in this place, but God had other plans. I thought I was supposed to become this person, but God had other plans.

We can do all the right things. We can make all the right choices. We can say, over and over again until our voice wears out, “Thy will be done.” But all we can know for sure is that God has other plans.

©LPi