Christmas 1
“‘He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house”
Summary
“This morning, we fast-forward from the manger to Luke 2:41-52 where we find 12-year-old Jesus backchatting his mother after getting left behind at the temple. Mary asks: “Why have you treated us like this? your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety”. In contrast Hannah, in 1 Samuel 2:18-26, is content to leave Samuel in the temple and make a gift of her child to the Lord.
These mothers symbolise for us those who give birth to the future. When we participate in God’s creative work in the world we often struggle to relinquish control of what we have laboured to bring into being. Yet our task is to work towards a future which is not just for us and for our families but for God and God’s people.
Christmas day asks us to say yes to the call to bring something new to birth. Today we are asked to discern when to hold tight and when to let go and let God.
First Reading
1 Samuel 2:18-26
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, ‘May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord’; and then they would return to their home.
And the Lord took note of Hannah; she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
Now Eli was very old. He heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He said to them, ‘Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If one person sins against another, someone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord; but if someone sins against the Lord, who can make intercession?’ But they would not listen to the voice of their father; for it was the will of the Lord to kill them.
Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favour with the Lord and with the people.
GOSPEL
Luke 2:41-52
‘Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for 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. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour.
