Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
THE IMMACULATE HEART OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Psalter: Week 1 / (White)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 71: 8-9, 14-15ab, 16-17, 22: My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
1st Reading: 2 Timothy 4: 1-8
In the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by the hope I have of his coming, and his kingdom, I urge you to preach the word, in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking, or advising, always with patience, and providing instruction.
For the time is coming, when people will no longer endure sound doctrine, but, following their passions, they will surround themselves with teachers to please their itching ears. 4 And they will abandon the truth to hear fables. So be prudent, do not mind your labor, give yourself to your work as an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
As for me, I am already poured out as a libation, and the moment of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the just judge, will reward me, on that day, and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious coming.
Gospel: Luke 2: 41-51
Every year, the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, he went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents did not know it.
They assumed that he was in their group of travelers, and, after walking the whole day, they looked for him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem, searching for him; and on the third day, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
His parents were very surprised when they saw him; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for you.” Then he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand this answer.
Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and he continued to be obedient to them. As for his mother, she kept all these things in her heart.
REFLECTION:
“Ponder things in silence.”
Only a person who has a clean heart will be able to ponder and accept things that life has to offer, even in times of confusion. It is not easy to accept things when there are uncertainties. Consequently, it remains to be a great challenge to participate in God’s salvific act which still is in the process of unfolding.
Today’s Gospel narrates what is popularly known to many as the loss, and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple.
Mary and Joseph, together with the child Jesus, went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When they were to return to Nazareth, Mary and Joseph lost Jesus because the boy remained in Jerusalem. They found him in the Temple.
It was never easy for Mary to accept what had happened together with the boy’s words about the need for him to be in his Father’s house.
Despite this, Mary kept the things in her heart. When an untoward incident happens to us, we normally react immediately. Like Mary, we are called to ponder things in silence, figure things out, and then cooperate with God’s salvific plan.
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