READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of Sirach Sir 3:2-6, 12-14
God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them. When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother. Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins —a house raised in justice to you.
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17
Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Luke Lk 2:41-52
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And 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 what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Mary, Joseph, Jesus: the Holy Family of Nazareth which represents a choral response to the will of the Father: the three members of this family help each other reciprocally to discover God’s plan. They prayed, worked, communicated. We must resume dialogue in the family: fathers, parents, sons, grandparents and siblings must communicate with one another … This is today’s homework, right on the day of the Holy Family. May the Holy Family be a model for our families, so that parents and children may support each other mutually in adherence to the Gospel, the basis of the holiness of the family. (Angelus, 29 December 2019)
From FAUSTI - Three times yearly, the celebrations recall the pilgrims to Jerusalem: for Easter, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Those who are far from Jerusalem can only go there once. Jesus enters into the obedience of His Family to the law of the Lord and goes to celebrate His Easter. He had already been to the Temple 12 years before to be offered to God (2:22). Now he comes back. Up to the age of 13 the child is a child of his parents who have received him as a gift. They have to teach him the Word that makes him son of God, the sole Father. From the age of 12 to 13 there is an apprenticeship that is definitive and then becomes an adult, "son of the law". who, like his parents, is called to know and fulfill the Will of God. Man becomes the Word that he listens. This has the power to generate him to a truly human life, that makes him free and responsible, capable of entering into dialogue with God. Some are never adult and free, but always remain small, in dialogue only with their exigencies. Jesus fulfils the obligation of the pilgrimage one year in advance, moved by the same desire that will push Him to Jerusalem to celebrate His Easter. His entire life will be an ascent, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where His Wisdom necessarily leads Him and keeps Him, always to being Son in obedience to the Father. The story anticipates the "Easter journey" of Jesus. Luke, after having outlined His prehistory through the fundamental lines of the promise, traces with vigorous perspective a plan of His future, revealing to us the Madness of His Wisdom, which will lead Him to the powerlessness that saves us. The three days of being in hiding in Jerusalem are the prelude to His death and resurrection. When the Easter days are ended, Jesus does not turn back. The others will have to go back to meet Him. But the mystery of His resisting in Jerusalem is not recognized by His parents. They cannot not think that He is in the "journey with the others". but His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55:8). Jesus is not among the parents according to the flesh, because His parents are "those who listen to the Word of God" (8:21). The lost Son is "found" after three days in the Temple, in the Glory of God, "seated", now at the end of the fatigue, which solemnly teaches in the Word of God those who were the teachers of the Word. He, the Servant who resists three days in Jerusalem, is Wisdom who questions and answers to the promise of God. When they see Him, they are " deeply affected " and they tell Him all the sorrow of the loss and the anxiety of the search. Jesus does not reproach for the search. He reproachs for the way, precisely those who "do not know" and do not understand Father's plan. The first and final Word of Jesus is "Father". The paternity of God makes for inclusion of the whole Gospel. He "must" care for the things of the Father, because He is the Son who listens and answers for what the Father has said. Things of the Father" represent His Will, in which the obedient Son lives at home, to the point of being He the Word of the Father. In His pilgrimage, definitively concluded beside the Father whom He listens to and to whom He responds, the path that leads us to the Glory from which we departed, is open to us. Mary, who still does not understand, is model of the Church: "she preserves through time" these sayings, like a seed that will grow. Like her, the catechumen does not immediately understand the great mystery of Jesus' three days with the Father. And like her, he keeps the words in heart, learns them by memory, even if their understanding still escapes him. In this constant remembrance of the Word received, the heart gradually illuminates itself in the knowledge of the Lord.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of Sirach
Sir 3:2-6, 12-14
God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.
Whoever honors his father atones for sins,
and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard;
he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,
and, when he prays, is heard.
Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;
he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old;
grieve him not as long as he lives.
Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him;
revile him not all the days of his life;
kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins
—a house raised in justice to you.
Second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians
Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17
Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 2:41-52
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast
of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And 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 what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor
before God and man.
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Mary, Joseph, Jesus: the Holy Family of Nazareth which represents a choral response to the will of the Father: the three members of this family help each other reciprocally to discover God’s plan. They prayed, worked, communicated. We must resume dialogue in the family: fathers, parents, sons, grandparents and siblings must communicate with one another … This is today’s homework, right on the day of the Holy Family. May the Holy Family be a model for our families, so that parents and children may support each other mutually in adherence to the Gospel, the basis of the holiness of the family. (Angelus, 29 December 2019)
RispondiEliminaFrom FAUSTI - Three times yearly, the celebrations recall the pilgrims to Jerusalem: for Easter, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Those who are far from Jerusalem can only go there once. Jesus enters into the obedience of His Family to the law of the Lord and goes to celebrate His Easter.
He had already been to the Temple 12 years before to be offered to God (2:22). Now he comes back.
Up to the age of 13 the child is a child of his parents who have received him as a gift. They have to teach him the Word that makes him son of God, the sole Father. From the age of 12 to 13 there is an apprenticeship that is definitive and then becomes an adult, "son of the law". who, like his parents, is called to know and fulfill the Will of God.
Man becomes the Word that he listens. This has the power to generate him to a truly human life, that makes him free and responsible, capable of entering into dialogue with God. Some are never adult and free, but always remain small, in dialogue only with their exigencies.
Jesus fulfils the obligation of the pilgrimage one year in advance, moved by the same desire that will push Him to Jerusalem to celebrate His Easter. His entire life will be an ascent, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem where His Wisdom necessarily leads Him and keeps Him, always to being Son in obedience to the Father.
The story anticipates the "Easter journey" of Jesus.
Luke, after having outlined His prehistory through the fundamental lines of the promise, traces with vigorous perspective a plan of His future, revealing to us the Madness of His Wisdom, which will lead Him to the powerlessness that saves us. The three days of being in hiding in Jerusalem are the prelude to His death and resurrection.
When the Easter days are ended, Jesus does not turn back.
The others will have to go back to meet Him.
But the mystery of His resisting in Jerusalem is not recognized by His parents. They cannot not think that He is in the "journey with the others". but His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55:8).
Jesus is not among the parents according to the flesh, because His parents are "those who listen to the Word of God" (8:21).
The lost Son is "found" after three days in the Temple, in the Glory of God, "seated", now at the end of the fatigue, which solemnly teaches in the Word of God those who were the teachers of the Word.
He, the Servant who resists three days in Jerusalem, is Wisdom who questions and answers to the promise of God.
When they see Him, they are " deeply affected " and they tell Him all the sorrow of the loss and the anxiety of the search. Jesus does not reproach for the search. He reproachs for the way, precisely those who "do not know" and do not understand Father's plan.
The first and final Word of Jesus is "Father". The paternity of God makes for inclusion of the whole Gospel.
He "must" care for the things of the Father, because He is the Son who listens and answers for what the Father has said. Things of the Father" represent His Will, in which the obedient Son lives at home, to the point of being He the Word of the Father.
In His pilgrimage, definitively concluded beside the Father whom He listens to and to whom He responds, the path that leads us to the Glory from which we departed, is open to us.
Mary, who still does not understand, is model of the Church: "she preserves through time" these sayings, like a seed that will grow. Like her, the catechumen does not immediately understand the great mystery of Jesus' three days with the Father.
And like her, he keeps the words in heart, learns them by memory, even if their understanding still escapes him.
In this constant remembrance of the Word received, the heart gradually illuminates itself in the knowledge of the Lord.