Jesus Never “Lost”, Always Found in the Father’s House: Are We Also Found in the Holy Family at the Father’s House? - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – Cycle C

If you are a Catholic parent….

You and your spouse always attend Mass with your children so that they will learn what it means to be Catholic. And it was a “deal” you made with God and with each other when you married in the Church. For this God has brought you and your spouse to make one flesh union (Genesis 2:24).

“Ite, Missa est”….”Mass is ended. Go in peace!”  "Deo gratias!"..."Thanks be to God!"

Your children were behaving throughout Mass.

Recessional hymn is done. It’s time to get out of the church and rush to your car before the church parking lot exit will become a bottle-neck.

So, you and your spouse motioned your children to head out of the church to the parking lot with you. And you thought they were with you. But, you realized that they were not with you. So you rushed back to the church, and viola, there they were! They were talking to a priest about the Scripture Readings and his homily.

Has this kind of thing ever happened to you?

If it has, then, you probably relate yourself to Mary and Joseph in the Gospel Reading for the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, on Cycle C (Luke 2:41-52), in which Mary and Joseph realized that 12-year-old Jesus was not with them on their way back to Nazareth from Jerusalem, upon completing Passover Pilgrimage, and found him in the Temple.

This Gospel narrative must be very familiar to all confirmed Catholics, as it is reflects the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Holy Rosary.

As law-abiding Jewish parents with steadfast faith in God, Mary and Joseph took their Son, Jesus, who was 12 at that time, to the Temple in Jerusalem for Passover observance, as required by the Law (Exodus 23:14-15; Deuteronomy 12:5; 16:5-6; cf. Isaiah 33:20) (Luke 2:41-42).  And the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph spent 7 days (Exodus 12:14-20) for the Temple-pilgrim Passover observance, the family was to return to Nazareth. But, unbeknownst to Mary and Joseph, Jesus was not with them as they were heading back to Nazareth, as he remained in the Temple (Luke 2:43).

At first, Mary and Joseph thought that Jesus was in a caravan, which was crowded with other villagers of Nazareth, as fulfilling the legal obligation of the three annual Temple-pilgrimage festivals (Passover/Pesach, Pentecost/ Shavuot, and Tabernacle/Sukkot)(Deuteronomy 16:1-17) was rather a communal event. So, many village people traveled to and from Jerusalem in caravans. In today’s context, it was like your whole neighborhood people who share the same religious faith go on a required pilgrimage together in a bunch of chartered busses. And at the time of Jesus, men and women were in different caravans. Children rode either with their fathers or mothers. So, you can imagine it was quite challenging for Mary and Joseph to keep their eyes on Jesus all the time.

Having traveling back to Nazareth from Jerusalem for a day, Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus was not with them. So, they first looked through their relatives and acquaintances in caravans. But, they could not find him among them. Then, they returned to Jerusalem and, voila!, finally found him in the Temple, impressing teachers of the Law (Torah) in his discussion with them, after spending three days of searching (Luke 2:44-47).

Imagine how Mary and Joseph had felt during these three days of search.

Having found Jesus in the Temple, Mary and Joseph were astonished at what they saw, and Mary asked Jesus:

Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety (Luke 2:48).

Obviously, Mary was highly emotional. The way she questioned Jesus even sounds as if reprimanding Jesus for being inconsiderate to how she and Joseph had felt about the situation.

And Jesus replied to her and Joseph:

Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house ? (Luke 2:49).

This reply of Jesus may sound as if he did not care about how Mary and Joseph had felt. But it is straight to the point of this particular Lucan Gospel narrative of finding Jesus in the Temple.

What Mary and Joseph had to find was not only the physical being of Jesus per se but an aspect of the unfolding Christological nature of Jesus. And this is what Jesus wanted Mary and Joseph to understand by saying that I must be in my Father’s house (ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναί με). Basically, Jesus was signaling to his mother, Mary, that he is not merely a son to her and her husband, but first and foremost, the Son to God the Father, who sent him to the world out of His love (John 3:16) through the Holy Family, parented by Mary and Joseph. And how he was sent first to Mary and Joseph was reflected in the Gospel Reading for Christmas Midnight Mass (Luke 2:1-14) and theologically further reflected in the Christmas Day Mass (John 1:1-18).

But neither Mary nor Joseph understood what Jesus meant by this reply at that time (Luke 2:50). So, Mary kept reflecting what her Son, Jesus, meant by “he must be in his Father’s house” (Luke 2:51), as she reflected what the shepherds’ visit meant when she gave birth to him (Luke 2:19), as Jesus returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, remaining obedient to them (Luke 2:51).

And Jesus advanced in wisdom and in physical size, gaining more favor from the Father and people (Luke 2:52).

Now, what can we make out of this Gospel narrative in terms of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph?

Some may say that even the Holy Family had a child-parent problem, like many of our families, as Mary the mother had to express how she and her husband were in searching him, in a tone as if Jesus were disrespectful to his mother and his earthly father – as if he behaved against the teaching in one of the options for the First Reading (Ben Sira 3:2-6, 12-14) and of Colossians 3:20 and of Ephesians 6:1-3. And those who see this way, may also think that Jesus was “lost but found”, because this is how humans read this Lucan Gospel narrative on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in regard to their annual Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

To human eyes of Mary and Joseph, Jesus was “lost” for three days (Luke 2:46). That was why she and her husband had been anxiously looking for him (Luke 2:48). And, in our human perspective, the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, had a typical family problem of an early adolescent son acting disrespectfully to his parents.

Now, let’s shift the gear and as read this Gospel narrative from God’s perspective. Then, can you say that Jesus as “lost”?

Of course not! Jesus the Son of God has never been “lost” in the eyes of the Father and never will be, because the Father and he are always one (John 10:30, 38; 14:10-11, 20; cf. John 17:21), being in the hypostatic consubstantial union, as the Father and Jesus the Son are in the hypostatic union also with the Holy Spirit in forming the Trinity. And in this Gospel narrative, Jesus was in his Father’s house (Luke 2:49). So, how can we say Jesus was “lost”, from God’s perspective?

Saying that Jesus was “lost” , therefore the Holy Family was imperfect for having one of these typical human family problems, is based on a human interpretation.  However, in truth, Jesus’ Holy Family is not just the earthly and human family with Mary and Joseph, which was not perfect, but his original divine family, the Trinity, is perfect, as he is in consubstantial hypostatic union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And none in this Triune divine family is “lost” and cannot be lost. So, Jesus’ divine Holy Family is always perfect as the Father is perfect (i.e. Matthew 5:48).

Given Jesus’ dual Christological nature: being fully divine and being fully human due to the mystery of the incarnation (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:31, 35; 2:7; cf. John 6:35, 48, 51, 53-56; cf. Matthew 26:26-28//Mark 14:22-24 //Luke 22:19-20), Jesus’ Holy Family reflects this Christological dual nature of divine and human. Thus, the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, is the Holy Family on the side of Jesus’ human nature, while the Trinity is the Holy Family on the side of Jesus’ divine nature. Through the Annunciation to the Nativity of the Lord, the original divine nature of Christ was made in union with humanity to dwell and grow in this human family in Nazareth, parented by Mary and Joseph.

The Temple incident of Jesus exposed a potential tension between the divinity and the humanity in Jesus. Not fully understanding this Christological nature and mystery in her own Son, Mary was anxious and rather upset about Jesus, making the earthly Holy Family imperfect.

Mary still had a lot to learn about her Son, his divine aspect of the Christological nature, though archangel Gabriel first mentioned it to her at the Annunciation (Luke 1:32-33, 35), then, Simeon and Anna at the Presentation (Luke 2:29-32, 34-35, 38).

Perhaps, Mary, with Joseph’s consent, could have offered Jesus up to God, as Hanna did so with the consent of her husband, Elkanah, in offering up their son, Samuel, to God with gratitude, leaving him in the house of the Father, so that he can grow as an obedient son, in service to the Father’s will as a Nazirite (1 Samuel 1:20-22,24-28). But, obviously, it was not in the Father’s will for Jesus, as he was offered up as the ultimate salvific Korban Pesach – Lamb of God to take away the sin of the word (i.e. John 1:29; cf. Exodus 12:3-14; John 19:16-42). So, Mary and Joseph had to go through this rather stressful experience in searching Jesus to learn more about the divine Christological nature in him. But, the initial stress was replaced with the joy of finding him in the house of the Father, as the completion of the Joyful Mysteries, following the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, and the Presentation.

In fact, every parent needs to learn about his or her children through what they reveal as they grow physically, psychologically, and spiritually. This is why Catholic parents shepherd their children as Christ the Good Shepherd guide us and care for us in keeping all of us in the verdant pasture and in the secure sheep pen (i.e. John 10:1-18; Psalm 23:1-6). So did Mary and Joseph, caring and providing for Jesus from his birth on all the way into his young adulthood, enabling him to grow in wisdom and strength, with increasing grace from the Father and good fellowship with people around him (i.e. Luke 2:52), as all caring Catholic parents do and want for their beloved children. And this is just a normalcy of human family of Catholic faith, and the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, was no exception as a human family of faith.

So, the concluding portion of the Holy Family feast Gospel narrative on Cycle C (Luke 2:51-52) indicates that this Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, strove toward perfection, like the Holy Trinity, as Jesus continue to grow in wisdom and size, in God’s favor and favor of people around him. After all, he came into this human Holy Family to dwell among us (John 1:14) as he is Emmanuel, which means, “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).

By virtue of the Sacrament of Baptism, we have been born into the Holy Family extended from the Trinity through Jesus the Christ as he has been incarnated (i.e. Romans 8:15-17, 22-27; cf. John 17:21; cf. Romans 9:4; cf. Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27), and also in the Holy Family with Mary and Joseph. Remember, it was Jesus who proclaimed that his mother is also ours, as John represented us (John 19:27).

It means that we all in God’s Holy Family and strive to be like Him as His beloved children (1 John 3:1-3; cf. Matthew 5:48) and have our “filial piety” to the Father as adopted children of God by abiding by His Law, especially as commanded by His Son to love one another as he has, to remain in this Holy Family of the Triune God (1 John 3:1-24). And we like accordingly in our respective human families, as husband, wife, and children fulfilling their respective roles to keep the family I love and peace (Colossians 3:12-21; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; cf. Ben Sira 3:2-6, 12-14), as exemplified by the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, which we celebrate as the feast on Sunday during the Christmas Octave, between the birth and the circumcision of Jesus.

Our family fulfillment (Colossians 3:12-21; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; cf. Ben Sira 3:2-6, 12-14) is not just in our human families but for our Holy Family, parented by the Father and in connection to the Holy Trinity, thanks to Christ’s incarnation and born into the human Holy Family parented by Mary and Joseph, and thanks to the Holy Spirit, the spirit of adoption (i.e. Romans 8:14-17, 22-39). We are also in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (i.e. John 19:27), as we all are in the house of the Father, in which Jesus said that he must be in to his mother (Luke 2:49), through our faith. And the house of the Father (Luke 2:49;cf. John 14:2-4; cf. 2 Samuel 7:10-16; 1 Chronicles 17:9-14; Isaiah 2:2-5; 5:7-8; cf. Isaiah 66:10-24; Revelation 21:1-22:6). This has been made possible to us because Christ has been sent to us out of the Father’s love (John 3:16) to redeem to, as incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus (John 1:1, 14; Luke 1:31, 35; 2:7). We have been adopted to God’s Holy Family attached to the Holy Trinity and to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, because Christmas happened in Bethlehem and continue to happen in our hearts.

So, Paul has written for those who have welcomed the incarnated new born Christ into their well-prepared hearts, not in a “manger” :

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is the bond of perfection. And let peace of Christ control our hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:12-17).

So, on this happy feast day to have found child-Jesus in the house of the Father, we ask ourselves:

Are we also found in the Holy Family at the house of the Father?

Yes, we are, as we have welcomed the newborn Jesus into our hearts this Christmas.

Through Christ, sent from his Holy Family of Trinity, without being separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit, because of the hypostatic consubstantial union, to us, incarnated by the Holy Spirit in the human flesh of Jesus, born of Mary, we are adopted as the Father’s Holy Family members, attached to the Holy Trinity, and adopted to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, because Mary is also our Mother, thanks to Jesus. We are forever grateful for the Holy Family in the house of the Father on the holy mountain of Zion.