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. Luke 2:41-52

Ever wonder where the story in today’s gospel from Luke comes from, the finding of the boy Jesus in the temple?  Luke may tell us when he writes:  “Mary kept all these things in her heart.”

Mary and Joseph are our key witnesses to the early life of Jesus. Wouldn’t  people after the resurrection of Jesus ask Mary, “How was he born, what was he like growing up?”  They must have asked her questions.

Mary must have been the one who told them of God’s invitation to bear his Son. From Mary we learn of his birth in Bethlehem; the shepherds, the strangers from the east, Herod’s attempt to kill her child, the old people in the temple who recognize him, their flight into Egypt. 

She would tells us “He grew up like other children. We brought him up. We were mother and father to him.  We held him in our arms, we fed  him, we clothed him, we taught him his first words, we helped him take his first steps, we brought him to the synagogue, we instructed him in our tradition, we taught him to pray, we listened to his questions. Angels didn’t bring him up. We did. “ The story of their journey to Jerusalem when he was twelve to celebrate Passover must come from Mary.  The words we hear in that story are surely hers: “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you.”

We call that period in Jesus’ life his “Hidden Life.” Did God choose those hidden years as a sign of God’s hidden presence in our lives and the life of our world? A hidden presence is God’s usual presence with us. 

Today’s Feast of the Holy Family is a celebration of the hidden presence of God in our families. “The child grew in wisdom and age and grace before God and man. “ Just as God gave Mary and Joseph an important role in raising Jesus, families are called to make  their homes a place for growing in wisdom and grace.