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Sunday Scripture Study

Feast of the Holy Family - Cycle C

December 30, 2012

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Opening Prayer

First Reading: Sirach 3:2-7,12-14

Psalm: 128:1-5

Second Reading: Colossians 3:12-21

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:41-52

The Feast of the Holy Family, which developed in the 17^th century, honors the family group of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Built on the Gospel accounts, this family is looked upon as a model of ideal family life. To promote family life and build up devotion to the Holy Family, Pope Benedict XV established this feast for the Universal Church in 1921.

This story, which we know as the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary (like many other stories found in the “infancy narratives”) appears only in Luke’s Gospel. The infancy narratives end in the same location as they began, in the Jerusalem Temple (Luke 1:8).

All male Jews ages twelve and older were required to make three pilgrimages to Jerusalem every year—at the feasts of Passover, Weeks (Pentecost), and Booths (Tabernacles). Custom excused those who lived far away from the feasts of Weeks and Booths, but not Passover. Even though only older males were under obligation, often the entire family would go, traveling in large parties or caravans (males and females with small children traveling separately until making camp at evening) for convenience, fellowship, and safety.

This is the first time we hear about Jesus since the return of the Holy Family to Nazareth from Egypt, where they fled to escape the wrath of King Herod (Matthew 2:16-23). It is the last time we hear about him until his appearance at the Jordan to be baptized by John (Luke 3:1ff). This undocumented period of time is often called “the hidden years” of Jesus’ life.

QUESTIONS:

What was the significance of this Feast, for which Joseph and Mary made a pilgrimage from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year (see Exodus 12; Deuteronomy 16:1-8)?

How much does Jesus seem to know about his mission? How much do his parents know (Luke 1:26-56; Matthew 1:18—2:23)? If Jesus is God, how could he “advance in wisdom and age and in favor before God and man” (verse 52)? See CCC 472.

Why do you think Luke included this episode in his Gospel? How did Luke know about this, and other details surrounding Jesus’ birth and childhood (see verse 51)? In this same verse, what is Jesus attitude to Mary and Joseph? How is this a reflection of the First Reading?

What three qualities did Jesus display before the teachers in verses 46-47? What two reactions did he provoke by his actions in these two verses?

Why do you think Jesus was “surprised” that his parents were looking for him? Where should they have looked? How have you looked for Jesus in all the wrong places?

Has your hunger for God ever been misunderstood by your family? How? How do you maintain a healthy balance between daily responsibilities and serving God?

Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 531-534, 583, 503, 2599, 517, 472

I turn to you, dear parents, and implore you to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth. -St. John Vianney

When We Lose Jesus

Pastor’s Column

Solemnity of the Holy Family

December 30, 2012

“My child, why have you done this to us?

See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you!”

(from Luke 2:41-52)

The story of the finding of the child Jesus in the temple resonates with us on many levels, not only because it gives us a brief window on the very human lives of the Holy Family when Jesus was twelve years of age, but also because it helps explain how Jesus acts in our lives as well! The gospel stories are the stories of our lives.

We are all in the family caravan with Jesus, Mary, Joseph and their many relatives and friends as they return from Jerusalem to Nazareth after their Passover pilgrimage. We too are journeying through life, going on our way in this world and suddenly, Jesus seems to have gone! He is nowhere to be found! Do you panic? Will you miss him? The Holy Family searches for Jesus with great anxiety.

Was it my fault that Jesus has gone missing? We cannot help but wonder if we are to blame for this. Certainly the Holy Family must have had similar thoughts as they frantically searched for their lost son. But in fact, this is the normative way God acts in our lives: Jesus is both fully God and fully human, and in his divinity, he will sometimes seem to “disappear” from our feelings, or will appear to be absent to our calls, precisely so that we will search for him. Even his parents had to learn this lesson, and so do we!

The Holy Family did not know where to look at first. From this we realize that Mary and Joseph were not in constant communication with angels or other mystical experiences, even though they were raising God’s son! We too, do not always find our prayers answered the first time we ask! God makes us wait and search and persevere in our desire to find the Lord and his will for us. We may at times not even know which way to turn, which path or decision Jesus wishes for us, but we know that, in the end, Christ will be there to guide us, as he was for his parents.

Jesus’ actions were not immediately comprehensible to Mary and Joseph. First they were “amazed” to find that Jesus could hold his own with the best minds in Judaism, which indicates that he didn’t exhibit much of this prior to this incident. Then, it took them a while to grasp Jesus’ point that while Joseph was a foster-father, Jesus’ REAL Father was in heaven. Remember, the angels and shepherds were a 12 year old memory by this time! In the same way, God’s actions on our behalf and in our world may not always make sense to us right away. Sometimes the Lord asks us to trust him before he explains everything!

Father Gary