Lost and Found

Every year, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas.

So, we call Jesus and Mary and Joseph the Holy Family; paintings always place a halo over their heads. In order for us to see how this family encountered problems just like other families, the Gospel chosen for this Sunday is about Jesus' boyhood years. Joseph is by now a carpenter in Nazareth, and Mary is a busy housewife and mother of a teenager! As parents, Mary and Joseph are well aware of their responsibilities. Being God's divine Son does not prevent Jesus, however, from acting with all the inexperience and spontaneous behavior of any normal twelve-year-old. What an exciting experience for a boy from a small town to travel to Jerusalem for the Feast!

Fascinated with the learned teachers He found in the Temple, He loses track of time and, like most teenagers, doesn't think about the terror that a missing child can cause for parents. After three frantic days of searching, they find Him, only to hear Jesus rather naively ask, "Didn't you realize I had to be in my Father's house?" No, they don't understand, but they tucked it away in their hearts, along with a lot of other unanswered questions.

Mary and Joseph, like millions of other parents, were acting as good, responsible caregivers who were having difficulty understanding their son. So what else is new? Teenagers don't understand themselves either. Was Jesus just carried away with impatience to start His ministry? For Joseph and Mary, the fact that Jesus was divine made His actions all the more mystifying to them.

What Jesus did after that is really the great lesson for all families -- He humbly bowed to their authority. When He saw how upset they were, He promptly left the Temple, and went back obediently to Nazareth where He "advanced in age and grace and wisdom."

As I write this, I am not so sure Jesus’ question “Didn't you realize I had to be in my Father's house?" was so much naïve as it was profound.  After all, if you think about it He wasn’t lost—He knew exactly where He was.  I would never disparage Mary or Joseph, but the fact of the matter is they lost sight of their son.  So Jesus’ response to His mother for me is more of a gentle reminder that when we lose sight of Jesus, it’s not through His fault, but our own and we will always know where to find Him—at work doing the Will of God and inviting us to follow.   

What makes a family "holy"? Is it all so simple? Just to love, communicate with, and forgive one another, and keep the commandments! Of course, simple answers like that are the hardest to accept! John says we must believe in the Son and keep His commandments. Joseph was totally committed to heading this "holy family" because the Angel told him to do it. Mary, at the risk of her reputation, gave birth to Jesus, and was a faithful, protective mother because God wanted it. And Jesus was a faithful son, subservient to human parents because His heavenly Father willed it so!

Our families would find their disagreements, stressful relationships, and resentments that spoil the joy of family harmony so much easier to solve by imitating the faith and loving trust of the Holy Family.

Today marks the end of 2012 and tomorrow the dawn of 2013. What a powerful gospel reading the Church has chosen for the occasion! It serves as a statement of who we are as Christians, the gifts we have been given and where we are headed, to our promised destiny.

St. John reminds us that in the beginning was the Word. He speaks of creation, our salvation, the role of St. John the Baptist and our gift as Christians. What more could we be given than that which is described by St. John:

But to those who did accept Him He gave power to become children of God. (John 1:12a)

Yes, we can choose to join the millions who make trivial New Year's resolutions which fade away in days or weeks. But how much more beneficial to embrace again today, the gifts God has already given us? Let us resolve to remain open to the graces of God in 2013 and respond even more generously to His endless Love.