December 29: Why?

Feast of the Holy Family

“But they did not understand what he said to them.”

Mary and Joseph have just experienced every parent's worst nightmare: their son was missing for THREE DAYS, as they searched and asked and retraced the steps of their journey. Imagine their relief when they returned to the Temple and saw him at last. Surely they ran to him with joy and exasperation, only to hear his answer, “Why were you looking for me?” Why? WHY?!

Of course they did not understand what he said to them. Their hearts had gone through the wringer of fear and anxiety, their imaginations had probably thought of worse case scenarios, their minds could not understand why he would separate himself from the ones who loved him and had supplied his every need in every moment of his life up until then. And he seems to give a dismissive answer, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Like a sword to the hearts of Joseph and Mary, his response does not seem to take their anxieties into account.

This is hard to understand, so hard that Mary must store it away to ponder later, as we are told she “kept all these things in her heart.” But he returns to their home in Nazareth, and is obedient to them.

This Holy Family did not have a schedule given to them from Heaven. Yes, they were holy; yes, Jesus was the Incarnate Son of God; yes, Mary was sinless; yes, Joseph was a just man. They were good Jews, subject to the Jewish Law and open to the will of the Father. But they did not know where the will of the Father would take them. It took them to Bethlehem when they should have been preparing at home for the birth of Jesus. It took them to Egypt for several years to flee the murderous rage of Herod when they wanted to return home with their infant. It took them back to Nazareth at last, where they raised a child they knew to be the Messiah. And it took them over a painful journey of three days to find him in the Temple.

What did this require of them? The same thing that it requires of us: loving trust. They are the model for us of a life of love and trust, obedience and patience, great faith and hope and humility, knowing the will of the Father is always for our good, even when it is difficult.
Let us pray for the grace to continue to submit ourselves to the will of the Father, especially when it is hard to understand, when it seems something else would be better, when it costs us. It is then that our trust is deepened and our love grows.

By Kathryn Mulderink