Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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.
Luke 2:41-51

Prayer

Dear Father we glimpse a mothers heart for a child, in particular your Son. The anxiety a mother and father feel when their child is lost. The love that shows in their concern to find the missing child. Jesus is a very special child that never once was lost. He is your Son and we will always find him with you dear Father. Just as we know that in Mary's heart he is there too. The account of finding Jesus in the Temple gives to us where we will always find Jesus in our day. In our Tabernacles, but most especially in our hearts, as he is in yours dear Father. May we come to also find Jesus in your house and keep his presence with us in our own hearts and share the love that he gives so generously. Amen