Gospel Reading : Luke 2:41-51
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. 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, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day’s journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk 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 must 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.
What do the Fathers say?
The Venerable BEDE.
The Virgin, whether she understood or whether she could not yet understand, equally laid up all things in her heart for reflection and diligent examination.
Mark the wisest of mothers, Mary the mother of true wisdom, becomes the scholar or disciple of the Child. For she yielded to Him not as to a boy, nor as to a man, but as unto God.
Further, she pondered upon both His divine words and works, so that nothing that was said or done by Him was lost upon her, but as the Word itself was before in her womb, so now she conceived the ways and words of the same, and in a manner nursed them in her heart.
St EPHREM.
Blessed be Mary, who without vows and without prayer, in her Virginity conceived and brought forth the Lord of all the sons of her companions, who have been or shall be chaste and righteous, priests and kings.
Who else lulled a son in her bosom as Mary did? Who ever dared to call her son, Son of the Maker, Son of the Creator, Son of the Most High?
Who ever dared to speak to her son as in prayer? O Trust of Your Mother as God, her Beloved and her Son as Man, in fear and love it is meet for your Mother to stand before You!
St EPHREM.
I shall not be jealous, my Son, that You are with me, and also with all men. Be God to him that confesses You, and be Lord to him that serves You, and be Brother to him that loves You, that You may gain all!
When You dwelled in me, You also dwelled out of me, and when I brought You forth openly, Your hidden might was not removed from me. You are within me, and You are without me, O You that makes Your Mother amazed.
For when I see that outward form of Yours before my eyes, the hidden Form is shadowed forth in my mind, O holy One. In Your visible form I see Adam, and in Your hidden form I see Your Father, who is joined with You.
Have You then shown me alone Your Beauty in two Forms? Let Bread shadow forth You, and also the mind; dwell also in Bread and in the eaters thereof. In secret, and openly too, may Your Church see You, as well as Your Mother.
St AMBROSE.
Let us observe the rule of the Mother of the Lord; she, though more advanced in faith, did not disdain to learn the mysteries of her Son. ‘And His mother,’ it says, ‘kept all these words in her heart.’
Mark the wisdom of Mary: she did not hastily pour out what she knew, but compared in her own mind what she read in the prophets with what she now saw with her eyes. She did not speak out in a crowd, but treasured up the secrets of faith within her breast, awaiting the proper hour when the truth should be manifested by the Lord Himself. Let the souls of believers imitate this holy reticence, storing up the Word of God not on failing parchment, but in the living treasury of a pure heart.
Sources:
Bible readings from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Second Catholic Edition, copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Quotes of the Fathers from Thomas Aquinas’ Catena Aurea Translated by St John Henry Newman
St Ephrem Hymns on the Nativity
St Ambrose – Exposition of the Holy Gospel According to Luke
Artwork ex Wikimedia Commons