Gospel Reading: Lk 2:41-52
EACH year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.
Reflection: The Holy Family
When family members come together, Christmas becomes a happy occasion for all. Family reunions and homecomings usually take place during the Christmas season. What a wonderful feeling for family to be reunited after a period of separation. It is a joy to see how new members are added to family and clan, how very young members grow up, pursue careers, and start their own families. In the same way, it brings great joy to see the elderly members of the family, with gray hair and health problems, still bring inspiration and light to all. At this time of the year we also reconnect with our dear departed who have passed on from this life but have etched enduring memories in our hearts.
When the heavenly Father sends his Son Jesus to the world to save mankind, he brings him into a family, in the line of David from Israel. A simple carpenter is destined to care for Jesus and to guide him as his legal father while on earth. Mary, a humble virgin, is chosen to be Jesus’ mother. Their quiet life in Bethlehem will be shattered by the threats of Herod so they have to leave for Egypt. Only after Herod died does the Holy Family return to Israel, but this time to Nazareth in order to fulfill the prophecy, “He shall be called a Nazorean.”
Jesus lives a quiet life in Nazareth as the son of a carpenter. Growing up, he advances in the consciousness and realization of his true identity as Son of the heavenly Father. In one of the feasts in Jerusalem, the people are struck by his wisdom. His response to Mary is puzzling: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Do we give enough leeway to our family members to discover their own potentials so they can spread their wings?
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
