THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

The Holy Family

7 January 2024

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends,

Today's Gospel reading (Saint Luke 2:42-52) tells us of the Finding in the Temple. Mary and Joseph were returning from Jerusalem when they realized that Jesus was not with them. After searching for Him among others and retracing their steps back to Jerusalem, they found Him in the Temple "… sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. All that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. And seeing Him, they wondered."

When questioned, Jesus answered His Mother Mary, "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"

Jesus enters our lives with each of the Sacraments, especially in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. Then, we return to our lives in the world —often forgetting to keep Him with us. Things seem to go wrong, and we are tempted to ask, "Where is God? Why did He let this happen? Etc." We often lose sight of Him, but He never loses sight of us.

When we cannot see Him, we must retrace our steps and seek Him out. When and where did we walk away from Him? How did we forget Him? God is always with us, and He is the One who wakes us up to see and feel that we have separated ourselves from Him. He wants us to seek Him out and find Him. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened" (Saint Matthew 7:7,8).

We often must mentally retrace our steps to see where we went wrong. It was not Jesus Who left us, but we who left Him. Once we have discovered our error, we must repent and correct it. There are times when Jesus takes away our spiritual consolations without any fault on our part. This is for our benefit. It is a test. Will we still love and serve God when we do not receive any pleasure or consolation in our service? Will we love God even when He sends us our daily cross? Spiritual writers often speak of spiritual/mystical dryness or darkness in our souls. God is there, even when we cannot see or sense His Presence.

Whether we are the cause of our spiritual dryness or God is testing and helping us to mature spiritually, our response should be the same. We should seek Him out. Where will we find Him? He will be about His Father's business. We will find Him when we seek to do God's Holy Will in all things. The Will of Jesus is to do the Will of God the Father. If we seek to do God's Will, we will find Jesus there.

Quite often, it is simply a matter of asking ourselves what God wants us to do in this situation or circumstance. When we go to Church and pray and receive the Sacraments, we will find Him there because that is God's Will. However, when we go about our daily duties and obligations in this world for the love of God, we will find Him there as well.

Jesus is often found in the humble, mundane things we must do in this life. He is in the cooking and cleaning that we do for the love of God and our family. He is found in the day's work that we do for the love of God and our family, friends, and neighbors. He is found in our moderate celebrations and merrymaking that we embrace for the love of God and our neighbors.

Every young person can find Jesus in the love and obedience given to their parents, guardians, teachers, and superiors. In doing this, we imitate Jesus in today's Gospel: "And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them."

The family is perfected when Jesus is in everyone's heart and mind. We can find Him in the Church and Sacraments, but we will also find Him in everything that we do for the love of Him. After the Church, we will find Him in our prayers, especially our family prayers. After that, we will find Him in our work, studies, and moderate relaxation.

As we continue daily in the love and presence of Jesus, He will advance in us, "growing in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men." The life of Jesus within us matures and grows the more we seek Him out and keep Him near us wherever we go or whatever we do. We need to nurture this growth of God in our hearts and minds individually, but also we must do so as families. The perfect Presence of God is experienced in the unity of the family prayers and activities (especially receiving the Sacraments as a family) lived for the love of God and each other.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!