Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 30, 2018: Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?

Where is our spiritual home, and how do we get there?

   We call God our Father, but what does it mean to be God’s children now, as the First Letter of John suggests we are?  John tells us that we are children because of the love the Father has bestowed on us in the gift and sacrifice of his Son Jesus.  If our hearts do not condemn us, that is, if we remain open to the love that is ours, if we keep his commandments and do what pleases the Lord, we can be confident in this intimate relationship with the Father and the Son, and enjoy our place in God’s family, residing with the Lord in his dwelling place, that sacred space where Psalm 84 situates the heart crying out for the living God. 

  In the First Book of Samuel, we have a hint of this intimate life with God when Hannah, the once-barren wife of Elkanah, entrusts her firstborn son Samuel to the temple in gratitude for God’s blessing in her life.  Without a son, unable to produce true family, Hannah is considered worthless in the eyes of her society.  When God blesses her with Samuel (and, subsequently, other children), Hannah, obedient to her vow, gives her son to the Lord, allowing Samuel to dwell in the Lord’s house, where, keeping God’s commandments, he will thrive.

   Likewise, at a young age, Jesus similarly finds the intimacy of his Father’s house a welcoming and intellectually fruitful dwelling.  When, in Luke's Gospel, having remained behind in Jerusalem after his parents have departed from the Passover feast, Jesus is found sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  He will return to Nazareth obedient in all things, preparing for that life which will culminate in opening humankind’s access to God.  We are God’s children now, because Jesus, God’s Son, came to dwell with us and remain in us, that we might ultimately dwell with God, seeing him as he is, our loving Father who invites us to infinite love and, ultimately, his eternal dwelling place.

Happy Feast of the Holy Family!

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