Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 29, 2024
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.
In light of today’s feast day and gospel reading, I am reminded of how the Holy Family served as Basil Moreau’s model for the Congregation of Holy Cross, where priests, sisters, and brothers would live and work together just as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Today’s gospel provides some insight into what life was like for the Holy Family. Apart from the extraordinary events of the Annunciation, Immaculate Conception, and the Nativity of Our Lord, life must have become rather ordinary for them, and bringing their child, Jesus, to the temple at the age of twelve would have been faithful to Jewish festival custom.
Mary and Joseph left the temple and joined the caravan without realizing they had forgotten their son. It was not until they found him three days later engaging with the teachers in the temple that they were amazed by him and perhaps reminded that they were entrusted with raising the Son of God.
After explaining why he must be in his Father’s house, they still did not understand. This misunderstanding would surely have led most parents to rebuke their child for their disobedience. Despite the anxiety this caused Mary, she chose to “hold these things in her heart.”
When Mary found out Jesus stayed back in the temple intent on doing the will of the Father, she may have realized that God’s will was unfolding in ways she did not expect.
We often bring our assumptions and expectations of how our life of discipleship ought to look. When these are broken, we get frustrated, angry, and feel abandoned by God. Instead, Mary can teach us to follow God’s will in humble obedience by accepting our circumstances, as distressing as they may be, as being precisely the way God wills them to be at this moment.
Following Mary’s example, may we grow in acceptance of God’s will as it is and not as we would have it, trusting that God works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
Prayer
Good and gracious God, in your infinite wisdom you gave your Son a family. 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. Amen.
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