Luke 2:41-52 NRSVue
41Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. 44Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” 49He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”, 50But they did not understand what he said to them. 51Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
52And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor.
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Reflection on Luke 2:41-52
Inspiration from 2024-12-29 Daily Prayer
Jesus mixed so well with relatives and acquaintances that his parents could set out for home, trusting he was with their friends. Mary was especially close to Jesus since no man was involved in his conception. So it is like mother, like son. We thank the Father for sending his only Son into our world as a full human being, making it easier for us to relate to him.
Most of Jesus’ life on earth was spent in a small, unimportant town doing the very ordinary work of carpentry. We go to God through our humanity. There is a great lesson to be learned here. We can link our own often humdrum lives to his and, like Mary, ponder in prayer the mystery of God with us.
Further reflection
Let me take this scene slowly, Lord. Jesus is coming of age, entering his teens, and as an eager student, questioning his teachers. To his mother's query: /Your father and I,/ he points gently to another paternity: /I must be in my father's house./ No Gospel scene shows more clearly the gradual process by which he grew into a sense of his mission. Let me savour it.
Why choose this story to celebrate the Holy Family? It is not a story of peaceful routine, but rather of drama and hazards and difficult decisions. Jesus and family are displaced persons seeking a place to live.
Lord, you have tasted human uncertainties, and the difficulties of survival. Your mother, so blissfully happy when she prayed the Magnificat, had to adjust rapidly to homelessness and the life of asylum-seekers. Let me be equally unsurprisable when you ask me to taste uncertainties and plans going awry.
Tu parles à mon cœur, Seigneur. Je ne peux pas me réconcilier avec toi, à moins d’être réconcilié avec mon voisin. Ton pardon exige la contrition et l’expiation. Si j'ai volé, je ne peux pas demander pardon à Dieu avant de rendre ce que j’ai volé. Quand je sens une barrière en te parlant, Seigneur, cela pourrait être parce que je n'ai pas encore abattu la barrière entre mon voisin et moi.
Seigneur, tu diriges ma conscience vers l'intérieur. Je serai jugé non seulement pour mes actes extérieurs, mais aussi pour les mouvements délibérés de mon cœur.