December 29, 2024/29 de diciembre de 2024

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Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (C) - Being astonished by the presence of Christ

Late Christmas afternoon, my family gathered together at my mom and dad’s house for Christmas dinner.  My nieces and nephew were waiting all day for the time to open the presents.  I believe everybody was happy with their gifts.  (Usually you can tell from the expression on their faces if they are not happy as soon as they open up the present).  Before everyone departed for the evening, my 8-year-old niece made this proclamation, “This is the best Christmas ever!”  Her mother asked her to explain why she said it was the best Christmas ever.  After some whispering in her mother’s ear, we learned the answer.  It was not because she got everything on her Christmas list or because she was happily surprised by all the gifts.  It was the “best Christmas ever” because she spent Christmas with her family - her extended family.  My brother, since he was married, has always lived out of state - at the closest, perhaps two-and-a half hours away, and we would often not see him and his family until the weekend after Christmas.  But this past summer, my brother and his family moved to Delaware County and now are about a half hour from my parents and my sister and her two children.  We could all be together on Christmas day, but little Lucia had more in mind than just December 25th when she made her proclamation.  The “best Christmas ever” included going to a Christmas show with her cousins the weekend before Christmas, making cookies with Nana, and having us over to her house to see her Christmas tree, and going to our cousin’s house for the traditional “Seven Fishes Dinner.”  It was an astonishing statement from an 8-year-old.  The adults were astounded by her.  She helped us to realize the gift and the blessing of the nearness of family.  It is something we can take for granted if it has always been there or not realize its value unless we have been away or have been without it for some time. 

          “Astonishment” is the reaction Mary and Joseph have when they find Jesus in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers after he was lost for three days.  This astonishment of finding Jesus overcomes their “great anxiety”.  Mary, as any good mother would do, asks Jesus for an explanation for what he has done -  this unexpected event that has caused them great distress.  Jesus responds, “Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  The Gospel notes that neither Mary nor Joseph understood Jesus’ response.  This is consoling for us.  Mary is the perfect human being.  Joseph, the “just man”, righteous in the eyes of God, was hand-picked by God to be the foster-father of Jesus.  Mary and Joseph are the model parents, but that does not mean that they were immune from unexpected problems, anxieties, and suffering.  And they too do not always understand why God does what he does or allows to happen what happens.  Even when they get the answer from Jesus, the answer does not make sense to them.  Mary and Joseph, as perfect and holy as they are, still need time to know Jesus.  They are in a relationship with the Mystery of God who has become a Man.  Holiness does not require understanding the ways of God.  Holiness requires staying with the Mystery and being open to the Mystery when we do not understand.  This is what the gift of astonishment gives us.  Being astonished or amazed  or “astounded”, as those who heard Jesus speaking in the temple were, is the opposite of taking everything for granted.  It is the opposite of presuming we have all the answers or know the right way to interpret reality.  Being astonished allows us to be open to something greater than our own understanding.  Astonishment, in fact, allows us to expand our understanding and to grow in understanding.  If I think I already know how things should be, not only will I not seek an answer, but I will not recognize the answer when it is right before my eyes.  Being stuck on our own criteria is what shuts down the possibility of astonishment.  Astonishment is what allows us to be open to God and to follow the ways of God, because God is always bigger or more than our understanding. 

          Mary and Joseph felt anxiety during the three days Jesus was missing, and this anxiety moved them to search for him.  Anxiety for us too can be a sign that we are distant from Jesus.  Something that is central to who we are  - our relationship with God - when missing, or taken for granted, generates an anxiety in our souls.  This is true for all persons, even those who are non-religious.  They know something is missing in their lives, even if they do not know what it is and can’t name it.  This anxiety is what often sets someone out on a search for an answer to the emptiness they feel - sets them out for a search for meaning - and what often brings someone to faith in God or back to the Church.  Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple - his Father’s house.  They found him there after three days.  After three days in the tomb, Jesus rose from the dead.  His body is the new temple, the dwelling place of God, and we find him today in his Mystical Body, the Church.  The Church is our extended family of faith.  It is where the mystery of Christmas lives and his presence is revealed.  May we allow ourselves to be astonished before the Mystery and have the eyes of a child and the heart of a child to recognize his presence and follow the Mystery and stay with the Mystery when he is proclaimed.  For those who see Him, it is the best Christmas ever.
 
 

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St. Charles Borromeo Parish / Parroquia San Carlos Borromeo
1731 Hulmeville Road
Bensalem, PA 19020

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