Joseph and the Temple
Gospel: Lk 2:41-51a
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031924.cfm
Today is the solemnity of St. Joseph in the Roman Catholic Church. A solemnity is a special feast day. This particular solemnity happens during Lent every year. Two separate readings can be used today to showcase a different story about Joseph.
For today’s reflection, I chose the reading about when Joseph and Mary lost Jesus and found him in the temple. The temple was a core location for Jesus’s Jewish upbringing and a central place for his mission. Several of the gospels this past week are located at the temple in Jerusalem. Last Friday, the reading was about Jesus visiting the temple with his brothers and being questioned. (John 7) On Saturday we learned of a guard who when questioned by a religious leader at the temple said, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” (John 7:46) In yesterday’s reading, Jesus was at the temple when a crowd approached him and he stopped them from stoning a woman. (John 8)
The temple was a central spot for Jesus’s ministry and life. In today’s gospel, Jesus is a12 years old child lost by his parents. Ad a family, they had visited the temple for festivities. Mary and Joseph leave the temple thing that Jesus is in their group. Once they realize he is missing, they go back to the temple and find Jesus interacting with elders. Jesus tells them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)
While we don’t know a lot about Joseph from the gospels, he was a pivotal person in Jesus’s life. When Jesus was at the temple as an adult, he carried memories of Joseph with him. I imagine that every time Jesus went to the temple, he remembered the experience of his parents taking him there and them being reunited after being separated. They were his loved ones, his family, the ones who taught him about the faith, and the ones who gave him traditions and memories like spending together at the temple.
The temple was a cherished space to him. It was a place he returned to that held memories from earlier times with people he loved and experiences they shared. It is like when we return to the same place year after year for holidays and family traditions.
What are some of these places for you? What types of memories do these places call back for you? Who are the people that made those places special for you? There may not be much said about Joseph in scripture, but does there need to be? No religious solemnity can amount to the slight bittersweet smile that Jesus had when thinking about his dad as he walked around the temple and recalled memories of him. That’s what Joseph is to me; a loved one you carry with you that transcends the need for others to recognize. No story can ever fully capture the love that is shared and the memories that remain from that love.
