2024/12/29 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
- Christina Oropeza, Director of New Member Engagement
“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.”
-Luke 2:46-50
Every time I read this passage in the Bible; I’m always filled with panic on behalf of Mary and Joseph. Three days looking for their son! Mary appropriately says, “Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” I can only imagine. My heart stops if I lose sight of my son on the playground for a minute or two. But, amid all the searching and worry – Jesus once again reminds us, and His earthly parents, who He is.
I think verses 49 and 50 are especially enlightening. Jesus says, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And in verse 50, “But they did not understand what he said to them.” Even though both Mary and Joseph knew they would be raising the Son of God, they must have struggled wrapping their minds around this truth. I like to imagine the many times Jesus’s wisdom and holiness, far beyond his years and this world, would have shaken them to the core and reminded them of His divinity. What it would have been like to raise a teenage Jesus – you’d have these moments where it would pull you right out of the normalcy of parenthood and expectations of a teenager.
I hope that as you reflect on these verses, you are reminded of the incredible gift that God chose to send His son to us, becoming like us and feeling all we feel. Because of this, we can be confident that God sees us, loves us and truly understands when we face the many trials of this life.