I Must Be in My Father's House
Introduction: Holy Family: May you be blessed as you
continue to gather with your loved ones during this season of love, joy, and
peace.
Most people see Christmas as a time
for families to gather together and share gifts as sign of their love for each
other. It is a particularly “familial” season. That is because we celebrate GOD
being born into a human family and allowing us to become members of the family
of GOD, through the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Being a family is truly joyful, but it also demands a giving of ourselves in
loving service of one another.
Today’s focus is on family life, with
the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph taking the center role as can be
seen in the Gospel. The Gospel relates the events when Jesus was about twelve
years old and stayed in the Temple while Mary and Joseph journeyed home.
The theme of family relationships is
seen in one of the Hebrew scriptures (First Reading) from the Book of Sirach. In
this book, we hear how parents have received a special position from GOD in
relationship to their children. The role of parents comes from GOD. As we
reflect on this, we realize that parents must reflect the love
of GOD the Abba-Father. They receive their example of how to love and care from
the way the First Person of the Blessed Trinity loves and cares. The reading
goes on to speak of the honor and respect due to the parents by the children.
Again, we have a perfect example within the Trinity. Jesus, GOD the Son, was
ever conscious of His need to honor His Abba and do the will of His Abba in all
things, even death – death on the cross. The reading also speaks about the need
for children to take care of their aging parents.
First Reading, Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6,12-14: He who fears the Lord
respects his parents
Commentary: The Book of Ecclesiasticus is a
collection of wise instructions on how to behave in accordance with the Law.
The author must have been an expert in the Law, living in Jerusalem. He sees
the Law, not as a tiresome set of rules to be obeyed, but as God’s loving gift
to his People, to show them how they should act to keep close to God. It is
therefore to be treasured, a guide of inestimable value. The reading for today
is a meditation and expansion on the commandment, ‘Honour your father and your
mother’, explaining just how this should be put into practice. What was Jesus
like as a baby? Did he cry? He must have done, it to make his baby's feelings known.
Did he bawl and howl? Did he cry when he scraped the skin off his knees? Did he
fall out of trees and break his arm? Did he make mistakes? Did he play pranks?
He must have made jokes. He must have been a wonderful joy to his parents,
loving, delightful company, full of the devastatingly simple wisdom of
children. And they must have been loving, wonderful company for him, too, an
anchor of affection and security.
Responsorial Psalm 128:1-5: O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
This psalm celebrates the blessings
that come to those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. It begins by
affirming that those who live in reverence and obedience to God will experience
the fruits of their labor, signifying material and spiritual prosperity.
Second Reading, Colossians 3:12-21: Family life in the Lord
Commentary: In an incredibly short space the
Letter to the Colossians gives a whole series of instructions on living in
community: compassion, forgiveness, love, and peace – not to mention
gratitude. Love is a sort of overcoat, holding all the other qualities
together. If we reflect on these and put them into practice there can be no
rivalry or hostility in the Christian community – even within a family,
where the strains of Christmas often make love grow thin. However, a loving
family is the model for the different relationships of a loving Christian
community. God’s fatherhood and motherhood is the model for human parentage,
and Christ’s devotion to his body in the Church is the model for the devotion of
spouses to one another. The reading begins with an inspiring reminder that we
form the chosen people of God; God’s choice leaves us little alternative to the
attempt to behave as God’s people. The paragraph ends with the counsel to do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus; Christians are those over whom the
name of the Lord Jesus has been called, making us members of his company and
putting us under his power. This is the challenge really to act as God’s
people.
Gospel, Luke 2:41-52; Mary
stored up all these things in her heart
Commentary: This little incident, the only one
told of Jesus’ youth, has two attractive lessons for us. Firstly, it is a joy
to see Jesus behaving just like any other twelve-year-old. He was a real child,
and a child of that age goes off exploring, adventuring, frog-hunting, sure
that the all-powerful, all-knowing parents will know where he or she has gone.
Parents meanwhile worry themselves sick at the unexplained disappearance. Mary,
the young mother, knows her son and the ways of the twelve-year-old. She does
not scold or expostulate but just accepts him with love and relief. Secondly,
Jesus’ reply gives us a glimpse of his relationship with the Father. Whether the
correct translation is ‘in my Father’s house’ or ‘on my Father’s business’
matters little. Just as his questions to the teachers showed his wisdom, no
doubt as yet unsharpened, so his reply to Mary shows his total absorption with
his Father, inarticulate also. Jesus’ human mind needed to develop and become
fully articulate. Even he needed to go on learning and clarifying to himself
who and what he was. We learn only gradually who and what we are. A child’s
development – even a divine child’s development – is not to be
rushed.
Reflection: How can families grow together in
mutual love, harmony, and care for one another? When God made a covenant with
his people, he taught them his way of love:
"You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength - And
these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart - and you
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you
sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and
when you rise" (Deut 6:5-7).
God the Father's love is a covenant
love that binds people together as his beloved children. His love is the
cornerstone that binds man and woman in one flesh in marriage, and in their
mutual love for their children, and for their children's children for
generations to come. God wants his love to be the center of all our
relationships and all that we do. That is why God gives us his Holy Spirit so
we can love as he loves us. "God's love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). We love
because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Jesus was born into a family
devoted to the word of God: When
God sent his only begotten Son into the world, Jesus was born into a human
family as a Jew who was raised according to the teaching and wisdom of God's
word in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament Scriptures) and the religious
customs of his people. Jesus was born under the law of Moses (Galatians 4:4)
and was circumcised (the sign of being a covenanted member of Israel) on the
eighth day and given his name, Yeshua in Hebrew (Jesus in English) which means
"God saves."
We know little about Jesus' early life
at home in Nazareth. Luke in his Gospel account gives us a glimpse of Jesus'
growth as a boy into young manhood. Luke tells us that Jesus was obedient to
his parents - Mary, his mother and Joseph, his foster father. As devout and
God-fearing Jews, Joseph and Mary raised the boy Jesus according to the
Scriptures and Jewish customs. It was the duty of all Jewish parents to raise
their children in the instruction and wisdom of God's word in the Scriptures.
"Hear, my son, your father’s
instruction, and reject not your mother’s teaching" (Proverbs 1:8).
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
A home life centered on
prayer and the reading of Scripture: Jewish
home life was centered on daily family prayers, including the singing of the
Psalms and the reading of the Scriptures. Every Friday evening, the family
gathered for a festive meal with the lighting of the Sabbath candle and prayers
of blessing over the bread and wine to open the celebration of the Sabbath holy
day. Each Saturday morning the family attended the Sabbath service which
includes a reading from the Torah (five books of Moses) and chanting the psalms
at the local community synagogue. Older boys were sent to school on weekday
mornings, called the "house of the book" (either at the synagogue or
the rabbi's house), where they were given further instruction in the reading
and study of the Jewish Scriptures. Every Jewish boy was required to memorize
the first five books of the Jewish Scriptures (the Torah or Books of Moses) by
the age of 13. They also learned to memorize and put into practice the wise
counsels found in the Book of Proverbs (Wisdom of Solomon) and the Book of
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) which was another common book of instruction for Jews
living throughout the Greek-speaking world.
Jesus' journey to the
Father's house: Jews
were expected to travel to Jerusalem for the high feasts each year (Passover,
Pentecost, Tabernacles). Jesus undoubtedly traveled with his parents every year
from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. This eighty-mile journey
normally took three days. So families often traveled in large groups, for
safety and comfort.
Luke records a remarkable incident
that happened when Jesus went up to the temple at Jerusalem for his first
Passover at the dawn of his manhood (usually the age of twelve for Jewish
males). It was at this key turning point in his earthly life that Jesus took
the name "father" from Joseph and addressed it to God his Father in
heaven. His answer to his mother's anxious inquiry reveals his confident
determination to pursue his heavenly Father's will. Did you not know that I
must be in my Father's house? (Luke 2:49)
Jesus obeyed and served his
family at Nazareth: While
Jesus identified himself as Son of the eternal Father in heaven, he,
nonetheless, submitted himself with love and obedience to Mary and Joseph. Like
all godly parents, Mary and Joseph raised their son in the fear (Godly respect)
and wisdom of God. Luke tells us that Jesus grew as a man in wisdom, stature,
and favor with God and with the people of Nazareth, his hometown. He remained
at Nazareth until the age of 30 when he was baptized by John at the River
Jordan and anointed by the Spirit for his mission as the Messiah and Savior of
the world. (Thirty was the traditional age when a Jewish man could become a
rabbi who taught and formed disciples in the knowledge and wisdom of God's
word.) Do you seek to love and serve your family and to pursue peace and
harmony in your home, neighborhood, and community?
The Lord Jesus came to show us the way
to our Father's house and family in heaven. Listen to his word and obey him and
you will find great peace, joy, and favor in serving him now and forever.
Lord Jesus, you came to restore us to
peace and friendship with the Father in heaven. Where there is division, bring
healing and restoration. Where there is strife bring peace and forgiveness. May
all families and nations on the earth find peace, harmony, and unity in you,
the Prince of Peace and Savior of the world.
Daily Quote from the Early
Church Fathers: Jesus'
humility shows us his divinity, by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.
The Lord's coming every year to
Jerusalem for the Passover with his parents is an indication of his human
humility. It is characteristic of human beings to gather to offer God the
votive offerings of spiritual sacrifices and by plentiful prayers and tears to
dispose their Maker toward them. Therefore, the Lord, born a human being among
human beings, did what God, by divine inspiration through his angels,
prescribed for human beings to do. He himself kept the law that he gave in
order to show us, who are human beings pure and simple, that whatever God
orders is to be observed in everything. Let us follow the path of his human way
of life. If we take delight in looking upon the glory of his divinity, if we
want to dwell in his eternal home in heaven all the days of our lives (Psalm
27:4), it delights us to see the Lord's will and to be shielded by his holy
temple. And lest we be forever buffeted by the wind of wickedness, let us
remember to frequent the house, the church of the present time, with the
requisite offerings of pure petitions." (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE
GOSPEL OF LUKE 1.19)
from separation to amazement:
“All who heard Him
were amazed.” —Luke 2:47
On the third day after being separated
from the twelve-year-old Jesus, the Blessed Mother Mary and St. Joseph found
Jesus at the Temple (Lk 2:46). Mary received her Son back into her care for
another eighteen years. She and Joseph were among those who were amazed at Jesus’
answers (Lk 2:47). Mary treasured all of this in her heart (Lk 2:51).
After occasional separation from her
Son during the course of His three-year public ministry, Mary also found Jesus
on Mount Calvary, hanging in agony on a cross. She received Him back after He
was taken down from the cross (Jn 19:25). Surely, she looked at her divine Son
and was “amazed at” His humility and love, “so marred was His look beyond that
of man” (Is 52:14). After another separation from Jesus when He was buried in
the tomb, Mary received her risen Son back on the third day. Scripture does not
record the risen Jesus appearing to His mother. However, many saints, mystics,
and holy visionaries have written that Jesus appeared to His mother after
rising from the dead. As at the Temple twenty-one years ago, the Blessed Mother must have been amazed at Jesus’ answers about His Resurrection account.
Today’s feast of the Holy Family is an
encouragement for all families, even the most wounded and broken ones. The Holy
Family experienced separation, persecution, grief, and death. Yet they focused
on faith, hope, and love, and endured all things (see 1 Cor 13:7). Put your
family in the hands of the Holy Family. Be amazed at what the Lord will do with
and through your family.
Prayer: Father,
make many holy families who love and forgive. “Those who keep His commandments
remain in Him and He in them.” —1 Jn 3:24. Praise Jesus, Son of the living God!
Praise God our “Father from Whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its
name” (Eph 3:14-15).
The personal action for today: How can the life of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, strengthen me in my relationships with members of my family? Would people say the hallmark of the family I belong to is love, understanding, and support? Which characteristic of a family mentioned in Colossians 3 do I need to practice more in relationship to my family? What can I do to strengthen the bonds of my family, and the families with whom I come in contact?
Saint Thomas Becket: A strong man who wavered for a moment,
but then learned one cannot come to terms with evil, and so became a strong
churchman, a martyr, and a saint—that was Thomas Becket, archbishop of
Canterbury, murdered in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.
His career had been a stormy one.
While archdeacon of Canterbury, he was made chancellor of England at the age of
36 by his friend King Henry II. When Henry felt it advantageous to make his
chancellor the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas gave him fair warning: he might
not accept all of Henry’s intrusions into Church affairs. Nevertheless, in 1162
he was made archbishop, resigned his chancellorship, and reformed his whole way
of life!
Troubles began. Henry insisted upon
usurping Church rights. At one time, supposing some conciliatory action
possible, Thomas came close to compromise. He momentarily approved the
Constitutions of Clarendon, which would have denied the clergy the right of
trial by a Church court and prevented them from making direct appeal to Rome.
But Thomas rejected the Constitutions, fled to France for safety, and remained
in exile for seven years. When he returned to England he suspected it would
mean certain death. Because Thomas refused to remit censures he had placed upon
bishops favored by the king, Henry cried out in a rage, “Will no one rid me of
this troublesome priest!” Four knights, taking his words as his wish, slew
Thomas in the Canterbury cathedral. Thomas Becket remains a hero-saint down to
our own times.
No one becomes a saint without
struggle, especially with himself. Thomas knew he must stand firm in defense of
truth and right, even at the cost of his life. We also must take a stand in the
face of pressures—against dishonesty, deceit, destruction of life—at the cost
of popularity, convenience, promotion, and even greater goods.
Superb, excently put fabulous.
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