Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR C HOLY FAMILY - 31.12.06 1 Sam 1,20-22.24-28; 1 Jn 3,1-2.21-24; Lk 2,41-52 Dissonant story of hurt & search God’s
Incarnation is mysterious. The statement “the Word was made flesh” is central to Christian
belief. By it, we state that God’s Son did not come among us in a strange or
isolated way, but for real & in a real family he took our human condition.
He grew, was nurtured & matured in the context of a human family like ours.
Jesus, Mary & Joseph experienced confusion & conflicts, hurts &
hassles, anxieties & surprises, worries & misunderstandings,... as we
all do. Today, let’s consider the strange & dissonant story of Luke’s
Gospel. On purpose, Luke -a master in the art of implication- lets us readers
build up disagreement & expectations in the unfolding of Jesus’
‘lost-ness’, only to confront us with our ‘lost-ness’ in living our
Christian faith. He knows how frustrating it is -at his time & ours- to get
caught in conflicting ideas & situations, with the result that we do not
know what & who to believe in any more. Luke opens the scene with Mary,
Joseph & boy-Jesus going every year to Jerusalem, for the great Jewish Feast
of Passover. He leads us to reflect that, for reasons of safety over this long
trip (over 70 Kms), people travelled in groups or ‘caravans’ with other
relatives, who -like them- were pious Jews & kept the rituals & customs
of Judaism. He also points out that for many years Jesus had attended the
Passover Festival but this occasion was important indeed. It took place just
before his “Bar-Mitzvah (Son of the command)” at age 13, when he would be
expected to obey all the commands of Judaism. On this occasion, in the Temple
& for the 1st time, Jesus states: He is “Son of God” not of Joseph, as
Mary’s words would imply (‘Your father & I have been hurting for
you’). As such, he must be involved in “His Father’s affairs.” Being
caught up in God’s things. In today’s story, we would have liked to hear how beautiful &
inspiring the festival was, & how splendid the ancient customs & rituals
were Instead we are hit with strange behaviours, to the point of suggesting
parental negligence. After the festival everybody returns, but Jesus stays back, without his
parents’ knowing: that’s strange.
When they realize that he is lost, they are not concerned & presume that it
is safe to be lost as long as he is with the caravan: that’s strange.
They continue to head home for another full day & only then they start
looking for the boy: that’s strange.
They could just as well have said: trust him to be lost! It serves him right! he
got lost, let him find his way. He is old enough & should know what to do...
As the parents get to the Temple, the story gets an even stranger twist: having
been in Jerusalem for the Passover, the Temple would have been the obvious place
to look first. Instead -for 3 days!- they look everywhere else: why?
And when they find him, Jesus does not seem to be lost or concerned at all: why?
On the contrary he is astounding even the Torah-Teachers for his intelligent
debate with them: why? As the story
ends, we cannot help asking: who was really lost: the parents or the son?
Obviously the parents -& us readers- are confused. Now, here is the lesson
Luke wants us to learn. He has allowed us to criticize the parents’ search,
only to discover with us a new sense of wonder, as to who & where Jesus is
in his parents’ life & in our life. Only now we begin to realize that all
along, for them & for us the real search is not ‘where’ is the Lord, but who is the Lord
& what is he about. It’s natural
for the parents to vent out their loving concern, but only to be told that -as
Lord- He is in charge - & they did not understand, & neither do we. Today,
be in touch with past tragedies & hurts, stop in wonder & ‘stay with
the concerns of our Father’. ______________________________________ |
