December 28th |
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Luke 2:41-52 |
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| Background: Luke’s stories of Jesus’ hidden life are the ones that capture our imagination, perhaps because we find we can relate to the feelings of those involved in the story. While the Christmas story speaks of special knowledge on the part of Mary and Joseph, today’s reading presents them as deeply religious (going to Jerusalem every year rather than only the required number of times) parents who are distressed when they find their son missing from the group. This selection makes the humanness of Jesus very real. We can imagine his parents frantically searching among all their friends, whose children they thought Jesus was with during the journey home. We also can imagine their surprise and chagrin when they find him explaining the scriptures to the elders. Though Jesus tells them about his father’s business, they do not understand. They want him back with them in Nazareth. He goes dutifully, aware, perhaps, that he is not yet fully prepared to respond to the spirit within him that had allowed him to astonish the elders. |
read the padre |
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Story: Once upon a time not so very long ago, the week after Christmas was shaping up to be a total disaster for one family. The 18 year old daughter’s boyfriend picked Christmas night to tell her he was in love with someone else. Two days later, her sixteen year old brother and his friends had a beer bash at a home where the parents of the party giver were absent. When the Dad returned to work after Christmas, he was handed the unpleasant task of telling four of the people who reported to him that their jobs were being eliminated. The Mom who generally held things together was exhausted from all the Christmas preparations. She was feeling a bit sorry for herself because no one in the family seemed to appreciate all she had done. Everyone was into heavy sulking. Finally after a few days, the twelve year old twins (a boy and a girl) who, being computer nerds were delighted with their new computer toys and thought life was grand, had had it with the sense of doom and gloom that permeated the house. At dinner that evening the twins began talking to each other about all the good things that had happened to them that year, including all the good things that had happened to their family. At first, the other family members, all caught up in their own problems ignored the twins, a not uncommon occurrence when those two got into one of their "twins" conversations. However it soon became apparent that the twins were up to something. The initial reaction of the others was to tell the twins to stop; but soon the rest of the family got the message and joined in with their litany of graces. Things began to get better for everyone from that point on. And the twins went back to their computer games. |
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