If we look at the qualities required to fulfill the request rather than the connotation of the word itself, what is simply being asked of women and men is sacrificial love.
In celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family, we draw attention to this fundamental fact about families, and, in this case, salvation. Not being his neighbor or kin, none of us can say what came from Joseph and what was of Mary, but we do know that the two of them made him the man he was.