Dec. 26th - The Holy Family
(Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Col 3:12–21; Lk 2:41–52)
On this Feast of the Holy Family, the first reading lays out clearly the respect and honor children should hold towards their parents, even in their old age. In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul focuses on the love and care that our Christian family – all brothers and sisters in Christ- should have for each other. The Gospel reading is almost in contrast to this – the boy Jesus seems not to care about the worry He causes His parents! We like to think that Jesus would have been a model child, so this story is disconcerting. Why would He behave this way? Well, at 12 years old, Jesus would be studying for His Bar Mitzvah. The Torah would be available to Him at this age, where when He was younger it would not have been. Now it is reasonable for Jesus to be asking questions about it – and, in Jerusalem, He would have access to the best teachers. Jesus makes the most of this opportunity to question these Jewish scholars. We can surmise that some of His questions may have been uncomfortable for them. They do not press Mary and Joseph to have Jesus stay and study with them – in fact, they oddly seem to lose sight of this student with extraordinary insights. In this story, Mary loses Jesus for 3 days. She will lose Him again at the crucifixion – for three awful days - before He returns in the Resurrection.