Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 2:41–52 

If you are among the millions who enjoyed Ted Lasso during the Covid years, you might remember a strange episode. Season 2, episode 9, follows Ted’s assistant coach, Beard, through a night out in London. After Beard experiences adventures and mishaps, he looks for his girlfriend. Recognizing a church lit up by a neon cross, he walks in. There, he kneels and says an honest prayer. He then realizes there is a nightclub in the basement. He walks down, gets lost in the music, finds his girlfriend, and, of course, finds himself. 

I recognize Ted Lasso is nowhere near a Christian show, but the message I received from this episode has always bothered me. Beard has a choice, in a church that houses God upstairs and the world downstairs. He can either find himself by drawing near to God or near to the world. Although he gives God a wink and a nod, in the end, Beard finds himself in the world. Thus follows the message: only by journeying deep into the trappings of this world will we discover who we are and find happiness. 

Nothing could be further from the truth, and this week’s gospel offers us the exact opposite message. 

In Luke 2:41–52, Mary and Joseph experienced a parent’s worst nightmare. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem in a caravan to celebrate the Passover. When they returned, they assumed Jesus was in their travel group, but eventually, they realized He was not. For three terrifying days, the parents of our Savior searched everywhere for their Son. Finally, they entered the temple and found Jesus among the teachers. Mary, utterly beside herself, asks, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety” (Luke 2:48). Jesus responds, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). In other words, “I am lost to the world, but did you not know you could find Me by following Me to My Father?”

I have never fully understood this story. At first glance, it seems cruel that Jesus disappeared from His parents, and when Mary questioned Him about it, He responded flippantly. And yet, the more I sat in my discomfort, the more I realized that something deeper, more beautiful was happening. 

In Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s commentary, The Life of Christ, he explains, “It was a kind of glorified hide-and-seek. He was [Mary’s]; that was why she sought Him. He was in the business of redemption; that is why He left her and went to the temple.”[1]

Joseph and Mary knew they were raising the Son of God, but it must have felt incredibly ordinary in the same way that we know the Eucharist is the Son of God, but receiving Him can feel uneventful. And so, when they lost Him, they reacted as any other parents would. They looked for Him in the world: among the people, community, city center, and places other children might be. 

But it wasn’t until they stepped out of the world and into the temple that they found Jesus and, in doing so, a deeper understanding of themselves. Jesus, the world's Savior, was compelled to draw nearer to His Heavenly Father. Mary and Joseph had to draw nearer to God to find Jesus. After this incident, they must have understood themselves more clearly. Their purpose was different from the role of other parents. Raising the Savior of the world meant eventually letting Him go to the cross. In doing so, they would have their own to carry. 

Dear sister, where are you trying to find Jesus—by drawing nearer to the world or closer to the Father?

If you are trying to find Him in the world, you might be doing it in one of two ways.

You may be making Jesus into your image. The Jesus you worship loves the world as much as you do. He approves of all your thoughts, choices, habits, and compulsions. He never challenges you because He never disagrees with you. He is the Christ of this world and is very easy to serve because you are actually serving yourself, not Him. This might seem to work for a while, but eventually, you will feel lost when the world's promises fail to make you happy or holy.  

Another way you might seek Jesus in this world is by seeing Him only through your brokenness. No one knows your sin, shame, faults, and failures better than you, and you believe Christ sees you the same way. Trapped by worldly brokenness, you hide and withhold your heart from Him, because who could love someone like you? This might feel safe for a moment, but if you never follow Jesus out of your brokenness, you will never feel the freedom of seeing yourself through His eyes of love. 

If you can relate to either of these examples, I invite you to follow the example of the Holy Family. Mary and Joseph walked away from the world to find their Son. What about you?

The Lord reminds us in Isaiah 55 that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. But the more we seek Christ, the more He conforms our ways and thoughts to His. This means the world's offerings become less attractive as we see more clearly that true fulfillment is found in obedience to the Father. It also means that we begin to see ourselves through His eyes and trust in a new identity. Yes, you might be broken, but more importantly, He has made you a new creation, and it is that identity that He longs for you to live. 

Christ offers you a joy, hope, and identity that this world could never offer. It is there, with Him, that we will find all that we are looking for. How do you do this? Choose God over everything else. Prioritize prayer first in your schedule. Read His Word and do what He says over what you want. Believe what He says about you over what you think about yourself. Follow Him away from the world and closer to the Father. 

There, just like our beautiful Lady and Saint Joseph, you will find your Savior and, in Him, discover who He made you to be. 

Food for thought or journaling…

Where are you seeking Jesus? How might you be making Him into your image so that you can serve yourself when you are serving Him? How might you be rejecting the new identity that He longs to give you? What do you need to do in your life to be willing to follow Him at all costs? 

Dear Lord, There are so many things about Your life that are a mystery. Please reveal Yourself to me as I draw near to You, and help me to understand how the story of Your life always reveals Your goodness. So often, I want You, and I want the world at the same time. In my heart of hearts, I wonder, if I were given a choice between only You or only this world, what would I choose? Give me the grace, Lord, to choose You every time. Give me the fortitude to be willing to follow You wherever You would lead me. It is in You that I long to find fulfillment and a better understanding of myself. Help me to desire these things more and take the steps needed to do them. Amen.

[1] Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958), 45.