This Sunday's sermon is offered by The Most Rev. Theresa Margaret "Margo" Wilson, BOSA, Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado. She is also the rector of Good Shepherd of the Hills Cathedral in Pueblo and the Fouder and Superior of the Benedictine Order of St. Michael the Archangel.
The Wisdom of a Twelve Year Old Boy
When Jesus was just twelve years old, he went with Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. After the feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary started home and were unaware that Jesus was not with them. This was because in those days the children were watched by many people who traveled together in caravans.
Jesus actually had stayed behind because he was engaged in a discussion with the religious leaders in the Temple. The Temple courts were famous for being a place of learning. The coming Messiah was the topic of much conversation in that day. Jesus was listening intently and asking many questions as twelve year old boys are prone to do.
When Mary noticed that Jesus was not in the caravan, she became frantic and asking everyone if they had seen him. No one seemed to know where he was, so Joseph and Mary went back to Jerusalem to find him. As a parent myself, I can only imagine the emotions that Mary experienced when she could not find her son.
When Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem, they went to the Temple to look for him. There they found him speaking to the scholars and they were astonished. The wisdom of that twelve year old boy astounded everyone that day. Why is it that even today, many are astounded by what Our Lord can do for us? I just celebrated the fifth anniversary of my cancer diagnosis and I can assure you that Our Lord has had His hand on my life all these days. The cancer that I had was every advanced and I was not given much hope of recovery. The doctors’ consensus of opinion was that with treatment I would have about a fifty percent chance of survival, and without treatment only about a twenty-five percent chance. I have always believed that my days are numbered by God as the Scripture teaches and therefore He was the only one whose opinion counted at that time. Obviously my numbered days had not come to an end!
Jesus reply to his parents when they expressed their anxiety about his disappearance was, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know I had to be in my Father’s house?” His father, Joseph and mother, Mary, did not understand what he meant by those words. We know what he meant because we have the rest of his story.
For each of us in this day, we have a need to be in the Father’s house doing His work. That may mean doing Mass at a regular service, taking communion to the sick, visiting a prisoner, helping an elderly home-bound person, giving someone a ride who has no transportation, cooking a meal for someone who is hungry, or simply listening to someone whose heart is aching. We are in Our Father’s House when we abide in Him and He abides in us. Let us stay with Him in this New Year and be about His business.
