2nd Epiphany
Luke 2, 41-52
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| Pinturicchio |
Every year his [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem
for the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they took him
with them. Now after they had gone there and fulfilled the custom during the
days of the feast, they set off on their way home. But the boy Jesus remained
behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; they thought he was among
the company of the travelers. After a day’s journey,
they missed him among their friends and relations. When they did not find 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
those who heard him were amazed at his mature understanding and his answers.
And when they saw him, they were taken aback, and
his mother said to him, “My child, why have you done this to us? Behold, your
father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
And he said to them, “Why did you look for me? Did
you not know that I must be and live in that which is my Father’s?”
But they did not understand the meaning of the
words he spoke to them. And he went down with them again to Nazareth and
followed them willingly in all things.
And his mother carefully kept all these things living in
her heart. And Jesus progressed in wisdom, in maturity and grace [favor] in the
sight of God and man.
2nd
Epiphany
January
19, 2020
Luke
2: 41-52
When the youth Jesus went to visit the temple in
Jerusalem, he underwent a
mysterious transformation.
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| Ferrari |
The
sweet and loving boy of great warmth and compassion was suddenly infused with
ripe understanding and sharpness of intellect. He was drawn to the temple to
engage its teachings and its leaders. His own life, his own future mission
flashed up and began its forward press.
Meanwhile
his parents discovered that they had lost him. And even when they found him,
they barely recognized him, so changed was he. The bright and shining soul
star, the star that had drawn the priest-kings to find him, had entered into
the temple of his body. He leapt forward in wisdom, maturity and grace.
There
are such times of transformation in all of our lives. The natural one occurs at
the beginning of adolescence, when the child’s own soul destiny is born. The
soul star of destiny enters the temple of the body.
As
adults our progress in wisdom, maturity and grace becomes a project pursued
consciously. It is the ever-renewed work of a lifetime--the polishing of the
star of our destiny, so that it shines in the spirit, shines on earth.
The
light of wisdom grows bright in us as we open ourselves in warm interest, in
self-imposed open tolerance, to the ideas and thoughts of others.
Our
maturity progresses as we open our hearts in sympathy, in compassionate
empathy, in affirmation of our fellow human beings.
Our
grace increases as we resolve ever and again to rise and take hold of the world
of the spirit, to cultivate in our own hearts and habits the ideals that dwell
there, in the realm of the stars.
Thus
may we also be and live in that which is our Father’s.
