The Fifth Saturday: The Fifth Joyful Mystery – The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
Gospel Reading: Luke 2:22-51
MEDITATION
1. Jesus is only twelve years old… yet how much suffering He has borne till this day! The Purification completed, the Angel of the Lord in a dream commands Joseph to flee to Egypt, to save the Child and the Mother from the murderous hands of Herod. Here is yet another sign of obedience. While still dark the holiest, most obedient, poorest and humblest family on earth takes flight. It lives in poverty and obscurity in Egypt, a land immersed in superstition, idolatry and sin. The Innocent have been cut down by Herod, who spares not even his own son, and who in the end dies, gnawed by worms and steeped in an unbearable stench. The prophecies regarding the birth of the Messiah have been fulfilled. The exile comes to an end and Joseph receives the Angel’s order to return in Israel. And Joseph is always the head of the family. Jesus and Mary are silent and allow themselves to be guided, as they observe the laws of most perfect obedience. What countless difficulties there are in this second voyage! What trials and privations! O holy Patriarch Joseph, true model of the interior soul, let my soul share that inner silence of yours, that peace produced by perfect obedience to God’s commandments, and that pureness of heart and mind, that I may fully fulfil his divine plans, his holy inspirations, and his words being spoken to me through my superiors and through the duties of my condition.
2. “And when he was twelve 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” (Lk 2:42-43).
This happened not through his fault but through the design of divine Wisdom. Jesus remained behind, to manifest himself to the Jewish teachers, to reaffirm the idea of his divinity to Joseph and Mary, and to make them both the model, refuge and consolation of troubled souls. Only those souls in love with Jesus, who no longer feel the sweetness of his presence and devotion, and who find themselves plunged into the dark night of the senses and passions, of aridity, temptations and abandonment… these souls alone can understand the overwhelming grief that oppressed the holy hearts of Mary and Joseph! They ask around and search for him; but no one has seen him.
O Mary, O Joseph, what was your anguish in that moment? How great was your grief? How did you pass those cruel nights? How many fears! How many thoughts! How many reproaches against yourselves you each made! The furies of Herod and the dangers of Egypt made you suffer nothing in comparison to this: then you had Jesus by your side, while now He is no longer with you.
My God, my God, how often have I lost you without feeling any sorrow! How often have I lived without you, untroubled? What would have become of me had You yourself, through your kindness, not sought me first?
3. “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions… And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Lk 2:46-51).
These are the only words of Saint Luke which reveal what Jesus did until the thirtieth year of his life. And the other Evangelists said nothing, because He did not want us to know anything of his first thirty years, other than that He was obedient to those whom his Father had given him as his superiors.
This obedience is a summary of all his life and teachings, and, according to the Apostle St. Paul, the origin of all his glory. “He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name…” (Phil 2:8-9).
In fact, his first words reported in the Gospel are words of obedience. “Did you not know,” he said to his Mother when found by her in the temple, “that I must be in my father’s house?” (Lk 2:49). In his private life Jesus appeared to others simply as a son obedient to his wise and moderate parents.
Consider here, my soul, with what great sorrow, humility and perfection Mary and Joseph commanded and received obedience from such a Son… whom they knew to be their Creator. Joseph as head of the family was respected by the Mother and the Son of God, and this superiority infinitely humbled him: to witness God submissive and obedient to a mere carpenter. Mary knew that when commanding her Son she was only obeying God’s wishes. Jesus obeyed both parents in silence with respect and gladness, as being those who held the place of God his Father. Behold, this is the most perfect obedience ever offered here on earth. O sweet model of a hidden life! They were precisely observing God’s law, and were living according to their condition by the work of their hands! At the end of their labour they would retire to pray. And what prayer! And how many heavenly gifts!
In his public life too Jesus showed himself as obedient to the will of his Father. Here is his teaching: He had descended from heaven in order to do his Father’s will, and this was his nourishment. His teaching was not his, but his Father’s. The cup He had to drink for us was the one given to him by his Father.
He summed up in charity the complete observance of the Law; however, complete proof of charity is found in the practice of obedience. “If you love me” he says “you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). “He who does not love me does not keep my words” (Jn 14:24).
Therefore, we cannot please God if we do not love, and he who loves, obeys. Indeed, love and obedience reconcile and unite our souls with God, and gain paradise.
In fact, with perfect submission He obeyed unjust judges, an idolatrous leader and cruel ministers, as superiors given to him by his Father in that moment. Therefore, in offering obedience we must not consider, in those who command us, age or suitability, merit, genius or affability, or even virtue or holiness. We must only consider Him whose place they hold. Jesus raised obedience to its highest perfection. The Son of God served in a humble home, to the point of tiring his very delicate body, without hope of reward. On the contrary, He well knew that by obeying his Father he eventually would have given up his serenity and honour, his life and blood, in exchange for a most ignoble death between two thieves.
And that his last words might be in conformity with the beginning and course of his life, when dying on the cross he cried out: “It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” (Jn 19:30; Lk 23:46).
Therefore, the wisdom of the Christian lies in obedience; thus, David often would ask of God: “Lord, teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God” (Psalm 142:10). “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life”(Psalm 27:4). As a faithful servant who knows and does the will of his master.
O eternal Incarnate Wisdom, I adore you. Everything is naturally submitted to you: the Angels and the worms, the earthly and celestial bodies. Nevertheless, to confound my pride you hide your greatness, you even subject yourself to your cruel and unjust creatures. What need have you of Mary and Joseph’s guidance for thirty years, compelling them to command you, that you may offer them your obedience, you who are the true light and infinite Wisdom, who govern those obeying? You see my constant rebellion, the result of presumption and self-love! I therefore am endlessly restless and full of a thousand errors, low spirits, contradictions and anger.
O divine Master, make my spirit and flesh submissive to you, and let not this filth ever oppose your will.
Infuse my wretched soul with the virtue of obedience, and reform it of all error and of its mean faults.
O purest Mother of God, O glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, the humblest and most obedient of all creatures, have mercy on the pitiable transgressions of my pride. From your most obedient Son obtain for me the grace of always doing his will. Amen.
VIRTUE – Obedience.
REFLECTION – Do today the will of others, without offering opposition. Restrain the idea that you must always be right in everything, and that your advice must be taken. Be persuaded that God is more pleased with us when we obey another, even if not the best person, than when we follow our own judgement. Obedience, the Wise Man says, is worth more than sacrifices.
EJACULATION – O Mary, Star of the sea, save me from the distress in which you see me.
