Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

29 Dec • Family = chaos

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On this Feast of the Holy Family, we recall Jesus being lost for days and finally found in the Temple, seemingly oblivious to the worry he caused his parents. Every family has some degree of chaos as different members pull in different directions. There is not only one way to be a "perfect" family. Families and churches are best when they let each member be the best version of who they really are, and then together they create their own best version of family.

Based on Luke 2:41–52

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parentsa saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”a  But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.    And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years,a and in divine and human favor.

(New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org)