2nd Epiphany 2020, Our Father's

2^nd Epiphany

Luke 2, 41-52

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.

2^nd Epiphany

January 19, 2020

Luke 2: 41-52

When the youth Jesus went to visit the temple in Jerusalem, he underwent a

Ferrari

mysterious transformation.

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.

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2nd Epiphany 2018, Spirit Child

2^nd Epiphany
Luke 2, 41-52

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

Durer

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 14, 2018
Luke 2:41-52

For perhaps long periods of time the stream of our life flows smoothly. Then suddenly something unexpected happens—a great event, a loss, a chance encounter, and something new breaks forth.

In today’s reading, this moment in the life of the young Jesus is just such a moment. It is a kind of second birth. For three days he was cocooned in the Temple as His soul was being born. The child is becoming a man. Things can no longer be what they once were. For a moment, the light flares up in great promise, awakening both fear and hope. The mother ponders this in her heart. But His parents’ grief and confusion over the loss of the sweet, uncomplicated child will ultimately be a gain for all of humanity.

But it is not yet time. The Spirit Child has a further path before him. And so he covers the flame again. He goes home in humble submission to his earthly parents, to grow, to progress, to mature. The poet expresses this moment:

I cover the divine flame in my heart
for if I turned God loose from my house
the earth would reveal to your eyes what mine always see—
existence is a lamp, and I …
the oil it
burns.*

We, too, are nurturing a spirit child. He is brought to birth in prayer, in the Act of Consecration of Man. We hear Him speak of what belongs to the Father. We don’t always understand. But we ponder in our hearts. And we carry Him home, and out into the world with us where we, too,  ‘progress in wisdom, in maturity and grace in the sight of God and man.’ Luke 2: 52.

*“The Oil It Burns”, by Kabir, in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 234.

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2nd Epiphany 2017, Wisdom, Maturity, Grace

2nd Epiphany

Luke 2, 41-52

Jesus found in the Temple, Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

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 15, 2017

Luke 2, 41-52

Most parents of an adolescent know the feeling: you wake up one day, and the sweet child you knew has suddenly become a stranger. He or she has a mind of their own, with their own agenda. Where does this all come from?

James B. Janknegt

We all carry a 'young son' within us. It is our destiny, our karma, which we brought with us – our mission, our calling, our intentions for our life. It rises up in youth, sometimes dramatically, sometimes more quietly. It is often not so clear for us as it was for the young Jesus.

These promptings of destiny can continue to arise throughout life. Some can be fulfilled and disappear, while others arise only later. There are surprises, sometimes dismaying, as we hear what our inner 'young son' has to say to us.

Much about our own destiny we may not understand. But we need to follow it willingly. And, like Jesus's mother, we need to keep all these things in our hearts, so that we, too, can progress, in wisdom, in maturity and in grace.

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2nd Epiphany 2016, God of Transformations

2^nd Epiphany

Jesus Among the Doctors, Durer

January 17, 2016

Luke 2, 41 - 5

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.

Tissot

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.

2^nd Epiphany

January 17, 2016

Luke 2, 41 - 5

Twelve is a number of completion. The thirteenth begins a new cycle. We might think of January as the thirteenth month of the past year, a month that both looks back and looks ahead.

In their forty years of wandering the desert, the Hebrew people had something that remained the same – the commandments, written in stone. Their God was a God of Anchoring Permanence, who accompanied them in all their changing circumstances.

Durer, inset

With Jesus things began to change. At twelve he undergoes a process in the temple that changes him so radically that his parents barely recognize him; they cannot understand what he is saying. This is the development of a God of Transformations, a God of Change. He will continually change and transform in his life on earth. And like John his predecessor, He will encourage his followers also to change their hearts and minds. At the same time, his is not a rebellious overthrow of the past; he still honors what was written in stone. Instead he will amplify the meaning of the commandments, giving them even greater depth and nuance, greater meaning.

Our lives too have a mixture of permanence and change. We can remember and honor the immutable. And at the same time we can develop the flexibility and fluidity to operate with nuance in the midst of change. Christ is the great teacher of transformation. He gives us the strength and the flexibility for all the changing conditions of our lives. And like the mother, we are to keep all these things living in our hearts. 

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