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We all know what it
is like to lose little things. We understand what it is
like to misplace your keys, or cell phone, or your favorite
pen. It is much harder for us to understand losing a much
bigger thing. For example, can you imagine how the air
traffic controllers must have felt last October, when that
Northwest Airlines Flight #188, an Airbus A320, a large
jetliner, didn’t land in Minneapolis? They must have
thought that they lost the plane, and the 149 people
on-board. Now, of course, we know that it was the pilots
who were not doing their job, and went 150 miles past their
destination. This past year, we’ve also heard a lot about
people losing their homes. We’ve heard the story too many
times this year. I guess that in tough economic times like
these, it is easier to understand how somebody could “lose”
something as big as a house. A couple of years ago, we had
a person who was visiting here at St. Maria Goretti, for the
John Michael Talbot concert. After the concert, when they
went out into the parking lot. Their car was gone. They
thought that it had been stolen. The Westfield police were
called. A radio bulletin went out, asking all on-duty
officers to be on the lookout for a gold, four-door Buick.
We came back into the church to wait, and it dawned on me to
ask, “Did you park in the north parking lot, or the south
parking lot, because you know that we have two?” Guess
what? The gold, four-door Buick was sitting right there in
other parking lot. The person had just gotten confused when
they went out a different set of doors than the ones that
came in through. So, it is even possible to “lose”
something as big as a car. Some people do that all the time
at the mall parking lot. Maybe it’s a lot easier to lose
big things than what we think.
Today we hear one of the
few stories recorded in the Gospels from Jesus’ childhood.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph had gone to Jerusalem to visit the
Temple for the Feast of Passover. On their way back to
Nazareth, it takes them a whole day to realize that their
twelve-year-old son is NOT with them, so they turn around and
high-tail it back to Jerusalem. Now, Jesus was
twelve—years-old. Back then, that was practically an adult.
And this was way before our modern age of Nancy Grace, and
pictures of children on milk cartons, and the near daily
abduction of children that take place in our country today. But
still, we can all imagine the terrible fears that must have been
racing through both Mary and Joseph’s minds, as they scrambled
back to Jerusalem to look for their Son. What could have
happened to Him, that he wouldn’t have let them know about, so
that they wouldn’t worry like this? As we just heard, they find
Him in the Temple. He’s listening to the teachers, asking them
questions, and teaching them a few things. And Jesus tells His
parents, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s
house?” You know, that answer works in a Gospel reading
two-thousand years later. At the time, Mary and Joseph must
have wanted to kill their twelve-year-old. Can’t you just hear
St. Joseph saying, “I’ll give you your Father’s house.” This is
a very interesting story.
After this, the Holy Family
returns to Nazareth, and the Gospel points out in particular,
that Jesus was obedient to His parents. Could it be that He
didn’t want to upset them as He had in Jerusalem?
My brothers and
sisters, even Mary and Joseph lost Jesus for three days. Mary,
the Queen of Heaven and Saint Joseph, both of whom loved Jesus
so much, lost Him. A son is a very big thing to lose. This
Gospel reminds us that ANYBODY can lose Jesus. Our Faith is
precious. It is a living thing. Our relationship with Jesus is
one that needs to be maintained and cared for, every single
day. If we start taking our Faith for granted, it is the surest
way ever to lose our Faith, and to lose Jesus. This is why we
need to pray every day. This is why the Church says that all of
us need to come to Mass on Sunday, to get re-charged in our
Faith. This is why we must live our Faith out by our deeds and
in our compassion, because to not do so, jeopardizes our
relationship with Jesus. Make no mistake about it, you can lose
Jesus in your life, if you are not practicing your Faith. You
will lose Him not because of Him. In His love, He will always
be there waiting for us to come back to Him. But we lose Him
and it is entirely our fault. We ignore Him. We don’t talk to
Him. We don’t live the Christian life. And then one day, we
wake-up and we say, “Where’s Jesus?” “What happened to my
Faith?” It is bad enough when this happens to individuals. It
is deadly when it happens to families. That’s right. Not only
do we need to keep our Faith strong as individuals, but it is
even more important to do together as families, and even as a
Parish family.
We’ve got millions of Catholics
who have “lost” their Faith. It’s true. It is destroying our
families. And it is up to all of us who still have Jesus, who
still have Faith, to witness to all of those who have walked
away.
We’ve got a lot of work to do.
And as individuals and as families, we’ve got to stay strong in
our Faith and close to Jesus always, not just for ourselves, but
also for our brothers and sisters who are going to need us.
May God bless us on this Feast
of the Holy Family, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!
St. Maria Goretti…Pray for us
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