LOST AND FOUND IN JERUSALEM

HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF HOLY FAMILY, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

When God willed to come in the form of man, he came through the family. He could have wished to come in solitude; but for Him to complete the work of salvation for humanity, he subjected himself and bore our human nature, lived in a family, trained in a family, and worked in a family. As we know, Jesus lived a hidden life of thirty years with his family and worked for three years in the public eye. That means for every year in public life, he spent ten years in family life. Here we meet the import of family life and work to our collective life in the world. The feast of the Holy Family commemorates the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as it focuses on natural family life. The Feast Day was officially instituted by Pope Benedict XV in 1921, and was then moved from being celebrated on the Sunday after Epiphany to the Sunday after Christmas in 1969. The feast of Holy Family is not celebrated to prove the shortcomings of our natural families. It does not intend to make our various families feel less in dignity. It is celebrated to inspire our natural families and to show us the importance of family life. The family remains the nucleus of every society; it is the domestic Church.

In the Gospel (Luke 2:41-52), Jesus was a twelve year old boy who went to the feast of Passover together with his father and mother. This feast must have been relevant for the growth of the boy Jesus in his life as a Jew. It must have meant a lot for the twelve year old boy. Remember, twelve is the number of years a Jewish boy must reach to be regarded as bar mitzoah which would mean becoming a son of the law. Most probably, the feast of Passover attended by the family of Jesus that year must have also been a way of celebrating the growing boy who would become the son of the law. But is it not surprising that the child would figure out his own way of marking his celebration? He who was the fulfilment of the law subjected himself to the celebration of himself as the son of the law. In Luke’s story, the boy Jesus stayed back in Jerusalem after the feast was over. The parents assumed he was in the caravan, but discovered after they reached home and after series of searches that the boy did not come home with them. The boy was lost. They had to go back to Jerusalem to look for him. Lo, the boy whose unknown where-about must have caused some tension in his parents was found sitting in the midst of doctors, listening to them and asking them questions. His intelligence was astonishing.

The doctors were the teachers of the law. Yes, since he had attained the age of the law, what is it that would debar him from sitting with the legal teachers, the boy Jesus must have thought to himself? The astonishing experience of people who listened to the boy confirms his extra-ordinary knowledge, and the fact the law was having its fulfilment in him. The picture of the boy sitting together with doctors shows the convergence the law would have in him. The parents found him, and as anyone would think, Joseph (as the man of the house) may have been trying to figure out the best way to punish the boy. And Mary, the mother quickly asked: son, why have you done this to us? Why have you given us the psycho-emotional pains of having to look for you? Now, you can just imagine the answer of the boy. It was an answer that had the undertone of trivializing the pains the parents had passed through. And by this answer, the boy gave the impression that the parents were disturbing him. Of course, which parent can understand such a boy? Mary and Joseph did not understand him.

However, one can also understand that the boy was trying a new thing, meeting others and may have desired the best way of celebrating his bar mitzoah as it would remain significant in the redemptive work for which he had come. He would liberate humanity from the slavery the law had caused and would envelope her in his law of love. That Jerusalem where he listened to and questioned the teachers of the law would also become the place where the law of slavery would condemn and crucify him so that the law of love would emerge and resurrect. Yes, the boy’s response far from being naughty pointed to something supernatural; it was deeply theological. And Luke added, the boy went back and he lived under the authority of the parents, as the mother continue to store those things in her heart. Surely, any child who goes under the authority of the parents would continue to grow in wisdom and God’s favour would reside with him. Honour your father and mother so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth (cf. Eph. 6:1-3). Jesus honoured the parents, and through teaches us the lesson of respect in family life.

Should that not the basis of our natural families; love and respect? For Jesus, the family was his greatest Academy. It is in the family that one develops concern for others, trust in others and sacrifice for others. In the family, we learn that living with people demands the harmony of the ability to give and to receive. In between these acts of giving and receiving is love. Thus, the mechanics of the family life prepare us for entering into the eternal movements of the inner life of God, whose children we are. Being the children of God signifies having a family with God. In this family, the Father lavishes his love on us (cf. The Second Reading; John 3:1-2,21-24). We ought to see ourselves like Samuel who was devoted to God for the rest of his life (cf. The First Reading; 1 Sam. 1:20-22,24-28). Every one of us belongs to this family of God, and ought to allow our divine family to influence the various natural families of the world. We are happy to be part of this family of God. Happy Feast Day to all of us. God Bless you.