Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family C

Sometimes this story is called “The Child Jesus Lost in Jerusalem” Or “The Finding in the Temple.” Luke Timothy Johnson names this story “Jesus Teaching in the Temple.” We could look at the losses in our own lives from this perspective, and ask: “What is God trying to teach me through this experience?”

I have Mass at St. Isidore on Sunday, December 29 @ 9:30/11:30 am

I have Mass on December 31st at Holy Name in Birmingham @ 4 pm. 

frjoedailey@gmail.com

Transcript

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke. 
Each year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover, and when he was 12 years old they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. But not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. 
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. 
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. And his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man. 
The Gospel of the Lord. 

The Christmas story in Luke's Gospel describes the birth of the child born into the human family. Hidden inside the Christmas story is a hint of the Paschal Mystery. In fidelity to Israel's covenant, Jesus was presented in the temple as an infant. Once more, we see the piety of Jesus' family that draws them each year on a difficult pilgrimage for Passover. 
Today's episode about the boy Jesus at the Passover in Jerusalem sheds light on the later destiny of the man Jesus at Passover in Jerusalem. 
The entire Gospel of Luke is structured as a journey. Jesus travels from Galilee to Jerusalem, a journey that takes up much of the book, chapters 9 to 19. We see the centrality of Jerusalem and its temple when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem in chapter 19. He does not come as a stranger, but Luke writes day after day he sat teaching in the temple. 
Before Jesus goes up to Jerusalem, he visits the house of a tax collector Zacchaeus, in Jericho. We hear a descriptive line that equates finding with saving, for the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost. For Luke, being lost is like being dead, and being found is like being made alive. 
This is stated most dramatically at the end of the parable that we call the prodigal son. "The father says to his older son, 'Your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and has been found.'" 
After three days in today's Gospel is the same time frame for the day of resurrection. 
The story seems to anticipate the appearance of the risen Lord to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In today's passage, those who love Jesus are filled with anxiety because of his absence, his being lost. At the end of the Gospel we meet two disciples in anguish and sorrow. They had hoped in Jesus, but now he is gone. 
Jesus says to his mother and father, "Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?" This too is echoed on the road to Emmaus when the risen Christ says to the two disciples, "Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer?" 
To his parents who came looking for him, Jesus asks, "Why have you been searching for me?" Just as the women who came to the tomb are questioned by the angel, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" The incomprehension of the parents is the first note in the lack of understanding that plays such an important role in Luke Acts. Luke is showing us how even the most faithful of the people did not understand. Just as Jesus must progress in wisdom, so must all of us who follow, like Mary, keep these words in their heart. 
Using the example of Mary, today's Gospel invites us to own our painful days rather than forget them. Because every day, good or bad, easy or difficult, is a part of our story. And it is only when we embrace our whole story that we realize who we are, that we come to see the unique way that God is loving us. 
My 98-year-old mother was still able to be with us this Christmas, and as always, when we gather around the Christmas dinner table, those who used to take their place there with us are still present to us. We are more than we seem. "Beloved," John writes, "we are God's children now. What we shall be has not yet been revealed." This year, prompted by a question from my nephew, my older brother remembered a story about our younger brother when he was young. My nephew had never heard the story before. It was as if he were meeting his father again for the first time. 
Today's Gospel takes place near the beginning of Luke's Gospel, reminding us that if we begin the journey with Jesus, we must heed his call to leave everything and follow him. 
Sometimes this story is called "The Child Jesus Lost in Jerusalem" or "The Finding in the Temple." Luke Timothy Johnson names this story "Jesus Teaching in the Temple." We could look at the losses in our own lives from this perspective and ask, "What is God trying to teach me through this experience?" 
Luke's Gospel is the story of the Son of Man who came to seek out and to save the lost. We see this in the story of the shepherd who lost a sheep, the woman who lost a coin, and the father with two sons, both of whom were lost, although only one of them went off to a distant land. 
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus are going away from Jerusalem. They're leaving the church out of disappointment and sadness. And while they were talking and discussing, Luke tells us, Jesus himself came near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Sometimes when we feel that God has abandoned us, it begins to dawn on us that we are not alone. The two disciples on the way, to the two disciples on the way, Jesus said, was it not necessary? 
From that perspective, we might look again and see that what we are experiencing as losing our way is in fact God leading us in a new way. Was it not necessary? 
Did you not know? 
Is it possible that what is happening in our lives today is exactly what is meant to happen? That all is as it should be? That God is with us, walking with us, guiding us on the way, through death into new life?  
When we think we have lost Jesus, we should look again in prayer, in the scriptures, in the sacraments, and not give up until we find him again.