Gospel Reflection Dec 29 – Deacon Frank Iannarino
Sunday, December 29
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Lk 2: 41-52
Gospel:
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.
Gospel Reflection:
This weekend, as we continue this wonderful Christmas season, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. Interestingly, the gospel from St. Luke chosen for this feast day does not include a story of togetherness and harmony in the household, but of separation and anxiety. Then again, it is in those moments when the opportunities for reliance on God and the striving for holiness are most visible and appreciated.
We know the story: Jesus remains in the temple when everyone else leaves Jerusalem to return home, and after three days of searching for him, Mary and Joseph find him sitting, listening to the teachers, and asking him questions. They have been anxious and concerned.
But Jesus says, “Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” Jesus’ utterance of his divine mission shows an obedience to the Heavenly Father but not dismissing that obedience which was due to Mary and Joseph. Jesus returns home with them and “… advanced in wisdom, age, and favor before God and man.”
While this statement of Jesus may not have been known to everyone, the Gospel tells us that there was something in Mary that stirred her to keep it close in her heart because her son was slowly revealing himself to the world.
Even in those early childhood years, Jesus was about his Father’s business. The Holy Family models for us that holiness in families is possible. And that holiness within the home leads each of us to be about the Father’s business and will in our lives.
Jesus obeyed Mary and Joseph in the most perfect and pure sense. Humble obedience allows for us to see the Father’s plan in our lives a little more clearly. Jesus models obedience in the home of Mary and Joseph. He models what it looks like to honor father and mother, and yet, at the same time he completes the Father’s will. Mary kept all these things in her heart and pondered them. May we, too, find our hearts, constantly, pondering the mystery of Christ and his great love for us.
Deacon Frank Iannarino