The Holy Family did not come with a trouble free, prepackaged holy life.

Mary and Joseph had to struggle, face difficult trials, and figure many things out as they went along. What made them a holy family?

The obvious answer is God, and this is so. After all, the infant in the family was the Son of the Most High, Jesus Christ, who “advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Luke 2:52).

But there’s more to the picture than this alone. The passage right before the one we just read tells us that Jesus was obedient to his parents. It also tells us that his mother, Mary, pondered the lessons of life with Jesus in her heart, essentially meaning that she kept close to God in those obscure moments of difficulty.

What made the Holy Family holy was not the suffering, the setbacks, or the trials themselves, but rather their unfailing trust in God, who sustained them and their life of virtue amidst the hardships of life. Because they were faithful, God blessed their fidelity and made them a Holy Family.

George Hitchcock, The Flight into Egypt