Taken from pfsgm meditations on the Finding of Jesus
Passover: Mary and Joseph go up with a whole caravan of family and friends to celebrate the most important Jewish holiday at the Temple in Jerusalem. In the midst of the festivities and travels, they leave Jesus behind – and have to search for three days before they find him again!
One of the great ironies of this scene is that Jesus is actually the meaning of the Passover; the memorial of the exodus from Egypt to Canaan, which the Jews celebrated each year with the sacrifice and meal of the unblemished lamb, was only a foreshadowing of the great Exodus from death to Life to be completed by Christ Himself – the unblemished Lamb who would give himself up in sacrifice on the cross and as a meal in the Eucharist.
And yet it is precisely at the feast of Passover that the meaning “gets lost;” the ritual and celebration are there, but the Heart is momentarily forgotten. Why would God allow this to happen to the most perfect family on earth? Mary and Joseph obviously didn’t sin here, but this painful event in their lives helps us understand how easy it can be to lose “Jesus”...even during religious holidays.
The gifts, the parties, the preparation, the festivities and family drama – sometimes in the hustle and bustle we can suddenly realize that we've lost track of God in the midst of it all. In those moments, though, Mary and Joseph serve as examples for us, because they don’t lose an instant in looking for Him again. And where do they find Him? In the temple, in His own House – which for us, now, is the Catholic Church (where we find Him in a unique way, still tangibly present to us in the Eucharist!).
It’s the octave of Christmas, the eight-day celebration of God-made-Man among us. The 25th is over, but Christmas has only begun. Is Jesus still the at the center of our thought, concern, conversation – or have we gotten swept along by the busyness and left Him miles behind? If so, let’s imitate Mary and Joseph, and go back to the temple to find Him: with Scripture, Mass, Confession, Communion, and prayer with other members of the Body of Christ.
“For the human being, following the Word of God, going with Christ, means fulfilling oneself; losing it is equivalent to losing oneself.” (Benedict XVI)
Image: Il Ritrovamento di Gesù nel Tempio, Sofia Novelli