“ ‘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?’ ”
This short dialogue between Jesus and Mary offers a window into the relationship between Jesus and each individual person. Mary’s question, “Son, why have you done this to us?” is one I myself might ask of God countless times throughout the day. With anxiety and bewilderment, I wonder where God is in the midst of turmoil or uncertainty. “I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Yet, Mary is quieted by her 12-year-old son. “Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” In the same way, I might quiet myself in times of trouble, assured that I will always be able to find Jesus in his Father’s house.
God, help me understand that troubles and anxiety will come but that I don’t have to go looking far to find peace, to find Jesus in his Father’s house.
By being present in his Father’s house as a boy, Jesus began to recognize his divine identity through obedience to his parents and to his Father in heaven. God, help me be able to find you today and simply be with you. I know you don’t want me to look for you with anxiety, so I ask the grace to see you through the ordinary trials of the day present with your Son, who asks, “Why are you looking for me?” You know my heart, Lord, and you know why I look for you. Help me find you!
Today a moment might come when I ask, like Mary, why God has done something in a certain way. I don’t need to think too hard about what is happening. In fact, he hasn’t done anything that brings harm or anxiety. The anxiety is in losing faith, not knowing how to find him, or in looking for him in the wrong places. “I must be in my Father’s house.”