1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24 Luke 2:41-52
Last week we celebrated the birth of Jesus. In today's gospel he is twelve years old. Along with the account of the flight into Egypt for safety, these are the only scriptural pictures we have of the whole family together… Mom, Dad and the Boy. I guess that's why scripture scholars refer to this time in Jesus's story as the Hidden Life. We have no other information about their life in Nazareth before Jesus's public ministry.
If our last picture of the Holy Family was the Bethlehem scene we would be missing some interesting details.. We would be missing a possible, “ No, he's not with me! I thought he was with you! “ and "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety! “
Ah, the real stuff of family life… Misunderstanding… failure to communicate… the curiosity and adventure of children in face of the protectiveness and anxiety of parents. Been there. Done that… More than once.
Remember, our faith tells us that all three of these people, including the son, are fully human. Have you ever known any “tweens”? Leaving childhood behind they stretch toward adulthood, toward independence and their place in the world. And so it is with this young boy.
Yet, the gospel says,"He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them… and (Jesus) advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.” It is this holy, ordinary family which becomes the sacred ground in which Jesus is nurtured to adulthood.
Years ago when my parish staff responsibilities included some pre-confirmation interviews with eighth graders, I often asked the students how they would describe “holy” and if they knew anyone they saw as holy. Of course, they often cited a grandparent who attended mass during the week, "even when they didn't have to!”
But I was amazed at the number of times students said that they saw their parents as holy. Usually it was because of the way their parents cared daily for the family or the way they saw their parents reaching out to help others beyond the family circle. I think those kids were onto something.
For it is in the family that love is learned and first practiced. And it is in this practice of love that we most often see holiness in ordinary clothes, so ordinary that we may miss it.
Let us pray that all families realize their potential to be sacred ground.
by: Pat Schnee
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