"The Holy Family is always before us..."

They certainly are. A teenaged, unmarried, pregnant Mum, a foster father, both migrants. 

The last sentence of this Sunday's gospel has also been very conveniently airbrushed out by the Church over the years - Jesus obviously had brothers and sisters - but the hierarchs have pushed her virginity as the greatest of all virtues.

Also airbrushed out over the years is the Magnificat, probably the most radical words spoken anywhere in the Bible. Mary has been 'statue-ized', dressed in pastel blue, rosary beads hanging from her side, topped off with a halo. 

The last thing a Monsignor I know did before he toddled off to Lourdes last year was shut down the parish food programme for the homeless. Obviously Mary's words about the poor being given good things to eat didn't register as he bowed in front of a statue, rattling beads.