5

FINDING

“Lost and found,”
words that appear
over and over again in our life.
The time we lost a wallet,
the time we lost our keys,
the time we lost a wedding ring,
the time we lost a friend,
and the time we thought we lost God.

Lost and found,
death and resurrection,
the seesaw of life,
sorrow turning into joy
when our prayers are finally answered.

Jesus was now 12 years old.
And as usual
Mary and Joseph went up to Jerusalem
for the great feast of the Passover,
the feast of the Unleavened Bread.
On the road to Jerusalem
the pilgrims sang and rejoiced,
enjoying these moments
far away from the “everyday”.
“I rejoiced because they said to me,
‘We will go up to the house of the Lord.
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.’”

Joy, wonder, the marvels of a big city,
especially for a small boy.
Family, food, friends, being with a crowd,
so different from the quite life
of a small town like Nazareth.

And Jesus’ eyes took in everything,
but especially the thousands of lambs
being brought into the city
to be slaughtered for the feast.
Jesus watched the lambs.
They seemed to sense that something was wrong,
that something was going to happen to them.
Why this trip to Jerusalem?
Why not stay back home,
safe and far away from this city?
Jesus felt for them.
During the whole feast
he could hear their strange silence,
their quiet resignation,
their patience,
their wondering about the “what’s next?”
Did they know
that they were about to be slaughtered,
about to give their bodies,
so others could eat?

Death.

And on that night
different from all other nights,
Jesus sat there eating the lamb,
picking up the bread
and with each sip of the cup
he took deep thoughts
into the past
and began to wonder
about the future.

And at times
he went to the window of the house
where they were staying
and he listened to the music
and the laughter
coming from the houses on the street,
people in upper rooms,
celebrating a last meal
with their relatives
before they would be heading home,
back to the grindstone,
the millstone,
the fields
and the carpenter shops.

In the morning Mary and Joseph
packed everything and started home,
filled with that satisfied feeling,
with that “wanting to get home” feeling,
back to reality,
back to work.

The holiday was over,
the vacation was ended.

Then they discovered half-way home
that Jesus was missing.
Where is he?Where is Jesus?

She thought he was with him.
He thought he was with her.

It was a normal mix up.
It happens in every family.

They looked everywhere,
till they realized
that he must still be back in Jerusalem.
Lost?
Dead?
Where is Jesus?

And on the third day
they found their lost sheep,
their lost coin,
their lost son,
resurrected,
very much alive,
and teaching in the temple.
They stood back and watched him.
Questions.
Questions.
Questions.

He was searching,
probing,
testing out all that he had wondered about
in the carpenter shop and in the synagogue in Nazareth.

Finally, they went up to him
and asked the question
that all parents ask,
“Why did you do this to us?”
“Don’t you realize we were worried?
Don’t you realize
that we care about you?
Don’t you realize
that you just can’t do a thing like this to us?”

And Jesus answered,
“Don’t you realize
that I must be about my Father’s business?”

Anger? Fear? Frustration? Wonder?
What was their reaction
to those strange new words
coming from a 12 year old boy?
Parents trying to figure out a child.
He was becoming a man.
Jesus went home with them to Galilee.
And Mary and Joseph
continued to talk about Jesus
and why he did this to them.
Kids. When do they become free?
When do they really leave home?
Is it long before they actually do it?

They didn’t know.
And Mary turned all these questions
over and over again in her mind.
The sword was starting
to make its sharpness felt.
She began questioning God
in the temple of her heart.

Questions.
Questions.
Questions.

Prayer.
Prayer.
Prayer.