parents, after the festival is over. When his parents fail to find him in their caravan, they turn around and go back to Jerusalem, searching for their son for three days, a holy time. They find him in the temple, sitting with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. This dialogue is a foreshadowing of the encounters that will occur between Jesus and the teachers throughout the rest of the gospel.
When Jesus’ parents find him, his mother asks him why he has put them through the anxiety they have felt during their three days of searching for him. He replies with his own questions, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (2:49)
Luke stresses Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High. The angel Gabriel tells Mary that the child she will conceive in her womb will be called “Son of God” (1:35). In today’s passage, Jesus declares that he is in his Father’s house, the temple. However, Luke also regards Joseph as Jesus’ earthly father, who presents him to God in the temple and takes him to the temple on his twelfth birthday for Passover. Thus, “Father” refers both to God and to Joseph.
We address God as our Father often in prayer. Today, we honor Joseph as Jesus’ father. While the role of fatherhood is always changing, today’s pericope presents a few characteristics that are worthy of our reflection. First, as his earthly father, Joseph exposes Jesus to the traditions of his people. Passover is the most important feast on the Jewish calendar, and when he is old enough to understand it, Joseph takes Jesus to experience it. Modern fathers need to share religious feasts with their sons in addition to those associated with sports.
Second, Joseph trusts his son to be with the group of travelers. Trust remains an important virtue for fathers and sons to share even though it may be violated often by twelve-year-old boys. However, they will never learn trust if they are never trusted.
Third, the innocent wisdom of a child is not to be dismissed. A son may say some amazing things. Fathers should ponder those truths, even if they do not understand them.
And fourth, obedience is to be insisted upon, but not abused. Jesus went home to Nazareth and was obedient to his father, while his mother treasured all these events in her heart. A son’s obedience to his father provides the boundary for growth in both human and divine wisdom.
Meditation: What virtues does/did your father possess? How did they help you grow in both human and divine wisdom?
Prayer: God our Father, you entrusted the care of your only-begotten Son to St. Joseph. Help us to imitate his virtues that we may grow in knowledge of your ways. Guide us with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who lives and reigns with you, Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen.
March 25: Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Immanuel
Isaiah 7:10–14; 8:10
Scripture: “. . . Isaiah said: ‘. . . [T]he Lord himself will give you [, King Ahaz,] a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel’” (Isa 7:14).
Reflection: The biblical text for today’s first reading on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is chosen for two reasons. First, it is an annunciation by the prophet Isaiah. Second, this is the fulfillment quotation used by the author of Matthew’s Gospel (1:23) after Joseph is instructed to name Mary’s son Jesus. It is also alluded to in Luke’s narrative of the annunciation (1:27).
In context, the reader needs to know that King Ahaz of Judah is attacked by an alliance of other kings, including the King of Israel. The small southern kingdom of Judah was not going to be able to withstand the coalition of enemies. However, the LORD promises Ahaz that the Davidic dynasty will continue despite the alliance. The LORD invites King Ahaz to ask for a sign, any sign as “deep as Sheol or high as heaven” (7:11) that the prophetic word would be fulfilled. Ahaz, however, refuses because he is seeking military help from Assyria.
So, the prophet Isaiah announces that the sign will be “the young woman . . . with child [who] shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” (7:14). What Isaiah announces is that King Ahaz’s wife will give him an heir so that the Davidic line will continue. In due time, Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, was born, and Assyria came to conquer Israel and make Judah a vassal.
The name Isaiah gives to the new king is the second in a series of names, each having a specific prophetic meaning. The birth of Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, serves as the Lord’s sign of his presence with the king of Judah. The name means “God is with us” (8:10).
After Judah fell to the Babylonians in 587 BC and the Davidic monarchy came to an end, the name “Immanuel” was used in popular messianic expectation of a new king who, like David, would drive out the Roman occupation forces of Palestine and restore self-rule to the country once again. However, this never happened. So, in due time, the author of Matthew’s Gospel came to understand that Jesus was the new king who came to establish a kingdom that was not of this world. Thus, Matthew understands Jesus’ birth as fulfilling Isaiah’s promise of a sign to Ahaz.
Celebrating the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, which is never marked on a Sunday, gives us the opportunity to reflect upon our names as signs. If Immanuel is a sign of God’s presence to King Ahaz, in what capacity does our name serve as a sign of God’s presence to ourselves and others? For example, “Mark” means “brave,” and can serve as a sign of God’s bravery in the face of oppression. “David” and “Mary” mean “beloved,” referring to the relationship God established with both of them. “Jesus” means “Yahweh is salvation,” indicating that God was saving his people in the person of Jesus. Get a biblical dictionary or go online and find the meaning of your name and how it is a sign of God’s presence to you and to others.
Meditation: What does your name mean? How is it a sign of God’s presence to you and others?
Prayer: Ever-living God, you bestow signs of your presence upon your people to awaken them to your power to save. As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of your Son, make us grateful for the salvation you bestowed on us through him who is named Jesus Christ. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
God’s Will
Hebrews 10:4–10
Scripture: “. . . [W]hen Christ came into the world, he said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)” (Heb 10:5, 7).
Reflection: The author of Hebrews, a sermon illustrating the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, contrasts the offering of animal sacrifices with Christ’s obedient offering of himself to God. Using Psalm 40:6–8, which serves as today’s Responsorial Psalm, the author declares that God did not desire nor take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings. What God desires, according to Hebrews, is obedience to his will. Thus, Christ “abolishes the first in order to establish the second” covenant (10:9). Hebrews continues, “It is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (10:10). The obedience of Jesus to God all the way to his death on the cross is what God desires of us. In other words, Jesus is a model of faithfulness for us.
This passage from Hebrews is chosen as the second reading on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord because it contains the announcement of God’s will and it focuses on the result of Jesus doing that will, namely, the sanctification of all people through his death and resurrection. Because animals are not rational, they could not do God’s will; they became sacrifices offered
