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Gospel: Luke 2: 41-52
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast
of Passover,
and when he was twelve 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 that 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.
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Maybe you’ve heard the old Chinese proverb, “Not one family can put a sign outside their home with the words: No Problems Here.”
Not one family – not even the Holy Family – can say, “No problems here.”
We all experience stress, growing pains, and bumps in the road.
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Consider the conditions Mary, Joseph, and Jesus experienced that first Christmas night.
They were homeless. Mary gives birth to Jesus in a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn.
I don’t know about you, but if I were welcoming my first child into the world, I’d rather be anywhere else than a stable surrounded by animals.
Yet there they were.
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Then, shortly after Christ’s birth, King Herod tries killing the infant Jesus!
Imagine having just given birth to your first-born child, then being forced to flee your home because the king issued a death warrant for you son.
Nobody dreams of being homeless, persecuted, or a refugee.
But Mary and Joseph had no choice.
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Twelve years later, as we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus gets separated from his family in the temple. When Mary and Joseph find him, they’re exhausted from worrying.
These become the first words Mary speaks to Jesus in scripture: “Why have you done this to us?”
Every parent knows the fear of losing a child. Mary and Joseph were no different, reminding us that not one family, not even the Holy Family, can say, “No problems here.”
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But what makes the Holy Family “holy” isn’t just the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Our families could never compare with that.
What makes the Holy Family “holy” – and relatable to us – is the fact that they endured all of these trials together.
Being homeless, persecuted, refugees, and losing a child in a crowd must’ve been incredibly stressful experiences.
Yet the Gospels never describe Mary and Joseph in conflict; they don’t yell at each other, they don’t call each other names, or force Jesus to take sides. They endure everything together.
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Herein lies the invitation for us.
There’s a world of difference between being stressed and being divided.
Every family is stressed from time to time. But we don’t have to be divided.
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What causes stress in my family? Or, what threatens to divide us?
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It could be as simple as a minor spat at Christmas.
Or, it could be something a little more serious. Perhaps the venom of addiction; unresolved feelings; troubled finances; a daunting illness; an absentee spouse – either physically or emotionally; an angry teenager mad at the world.
Like the Holy Family, it’s possible to remain united in spite of these challenges.
Although it’s much easier said than done, there are three simple phrases that can build us up: Thank you. I love you. I’m sorry. Phrases that should be spoken often, if not every day.
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Not one family, not even the Holy Family, can put a sign outside their home with the words, “No Problems Here.”
At times, every family is tested. But the Holy Family remind us that it’s possible – and better – endure all things together.
May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Les Dawson (2) St. Paul Center (3) FSSPX.news (4) Good Housekeeping