Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 26, 2021
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
I think a lot about the lessons, good and bad, that I teach my children. What do they learn when I dry their tears or encourage them to pick themselves up? What do they take away from seeing me stare at my phone or hugging their Mom? I’ve been a parent long enough to know that my children are attentively watching.
I wonder what Jesus learned from his parents’ relief at finding their son. What did he take away from their frantic three days of searching for him after leaving behind the safety of their caravan? What impression was left on Jesus in the wake of being lost in the eyes of his parents?
The gospel doesn’t tell us the precise answers to these questions. However, Jesus must have meditated on his parents’ example (and perhaps their haranguing) on the godly response to those who are lost.
In time, Jesus would tell a story about a lost coin and the great celebration when found. He preached a parable about a lost sheep and a shepherd who searched for it with reckless abandon. Later, Jesus reflected on a father who joyfully ran to his lost son the very moment that son took a step toward home.
Today’s gospel tells us that Mary, “kept all these things in her heart,” and I’m sure she did. But, I daresay, so did Jesus. Through the teaching and example of his loving parents, Jesus gained a newfound measure of insight into the heart of our God, who, when we are lost and cannot find our way home, loves us more than ever.
I pray that we may be infused with that wisdom and that we may give witness to it as beautifully as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Those around us are surely watching.
Prayer
Good and gracious God, in your infinite wisdom you gave your Son a family. In making him more like us, you allow us to better understand the providential care you extend to us, your children who call you Father. It is through a parent’s love that you reveal the length and depth of your own love; through the blessings and hardships of family life that you form us to be your servants on earth.
Give us the patience and understanding you gave to Mary and Joseph on the day they lost Our Lord when returning from the temple. Bolster us with the courage and wisdom we need to channel your love and mercy as father or mother, sister or brother. Bring us to see your presence in the midst of our families, which you reveal, as always, through your Son, Christ Our Lord.
Saint of the Day
The Feast of the Holy Family is an important feast in the life of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Blessed Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation, envisioned a community of priests, sisters, and brothers, all united together just as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were united together in the Holy Family.
In fact, Blessed Moreau established the Sacred Heart of Jesus as patron of the priests, St. Joseph as patron of the brothers, and Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, as patron of the sisters (she is also patron of the congregation as a whole as well).
Blessed Moreau wanted this community to be rooted in the virtues that were present in Jesus’ home in Nazareth. Following the model of love offered by the Holy Family, the Holy Cross community attends to one another in their struggles, assists one another in their good works, and celebrates together in times of joy.
All of us come from a family, and though few of our families are as holy as the Holy Family, the relationships between parents and children, spouses and siblings, continually offer opportunities to grow in virtue and in service to one another.
Today's featured image of the Holy Family comes from the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art on campus and is used with their permission. To enjoy more of the Raclin Murphy Museum's images on the Holy Family, visit their collection here. Relics of the Holy Family rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, including a fragment of Jesus’ crib and a portion of the cloth band with which Mary carried Jesus when she and Joseph fled to Egypt.
On this feast of the Holy Family, may we serve each other and grow in holiness within our families!
To learn even more about the Holy Family watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.
Image Credit: Simon Vouet (French, 1590-1649), The Holy Family, ca. 1604, oil on canvas. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art: Gift of Joyce McMahon Hank, 1983.023