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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Some thoughts on this scripture
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.
Reflection
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.
Reflection
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.
Reflection
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.
Reflection
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.
Reflection
Dieu voit le cœur et sait dans quelle mesure je m’opposerai à des sentiments de haine, de convoitise ou d'orgueil. En d'autres termes, je devrais être fidèle à moi-même, réagissant plus au regard de Dieu qu’à celui des autres.