“In My
Father’s House”
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 travelers, they went a
day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and 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 favor.
It is clear that Mary ran the household.
It was she who spoke to her son. And it was to her, that Jesus addressed His
own comments. They did not expect to find Him in the temple. If we to go
missing for a while, would our own families know where to go to find us?