Daily Gospel Reflection

Losing Jesus

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we're exploring the genius of the gospel, the genius of the life and teachings of Jesus, and looking for new ways each day to anchor our lives in the gospel. Looking for a word, phrase, or idea. Open yourself up to the Spirit. Let's take a look.

Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 2:41:51. Now Jesus's parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when He was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. But supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey and they sought him among their king's folk and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking 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. And when they saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I would be in my father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. And his mother kept all these things in her heart. It's great reading so much in this reading. What is your word? What is your phrase? What is your idea?

I think the idea is, have you ever lost your car keys or have you ever lost your wallet? And like that anxious feeling you get. And imagine you've been entrusted the Son of God, the Messiah, the God child. And now you've lost him. Multiply the anxiety you feel when you think you've lost your keys or your wallet or something valuable by infinity and the anxiety that Joseph and Mary must have been feeling returning a day's trip back to Jerusalem, anything could have happened to Jesus. And they know that. And the anxiety must have been enormous. And then I think juxtapose that with the fact that we lose Jesus in our lives all the time, but we wander away from Jesus all the time, and we have no anxiety. We either not even aware of it or do it on purpose or whatever. So that's powerful. But the last words are some of my favorite words in the Bible. It says, "And his mother kept all these things in her heart." In this age of social media where people don't even have an unpublished thought. It's like everything they think they're telling the world. Mary kept these things in her heart that she pondered these things in her heart. She kept them just for herself. She knew that so much of her son was going to be shared with the whole world, but that these little encounters just between Jesus and Mary, just between Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, that these were just theirs. They were theirs to keep and theirs to cherish and theirs to ponder.

What is it that you should be keeping in your heart that you may be sharing with other people? What is it that you should be keeping in your heart that you're sharing with other people? And how do we reverse that trend, that habit? Have an amazing day. Remember, don't just be yourself, be the very best version of yourself. All that God created you to be.