Today's story of Jesus in the Temple
uses a literary device common to Greek
hero biographies.
It presents a story from the hero's youth
to show what
the hero will achieve as an adult.
Fr. Raymond Brown cites just a few of the
parallel legends
that show a clear pattern of boyhood stories
of famous
figures at about age 12:
the Buddha in India, Osiris in Egypt,
Cyrus the
Great in Persia, Alexander the Great in Greece,
Augustus in Rome, and in
Israel, Josephus,
Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Moses, and Samuel.
Fr. Brown says
that the underlying principle
is that the child must already have
been
what the man would become known to be,
that is, a child of God
speaking and acting with divine power.
The episode is, scholars tell
us,
without foundation in historical memory.
As Marcus Borg would put
it,
it's one of those stories that is true
but never actually
happened.
Still, it sets forth a series of insights about God and
humanity
as understood by the post-resurrection Christian
community.
___________________________________________
The message for us
today lies in those insights,
and it boils down to the truth
that we are
all children of God.
When we understand and act on that insight,
we grow,
like Jesus, in wisdom and age and grace.
People see it in us
because they
see how we love one another.
The first letter of John, written around the
same time
as these infancy narratives were added to Luke's gospel,
says it
clearly: we are all God’s own children!
We will grow to be like God,
and
remain in God, and God in us,
because we follow God's law:
that we love
one another.
____________________________________________
I don't live in
a nuclear family—
my parents have passed,
my brothers married and moved
out of state.
As a result, people worry about me around the holidays.
Do I
have somewhere to go, they ask.
And I do.
I have wonderful cousins here in
Toledo
who surround me with the love of their family circle.
And even
more, I am surrounded
by countless brothers and sisters
who reveal Christ
to me.
On Christmas Eve morning
I breakfasted with many of them at Claver
House,
a roomful of people who accept me as I am
and whose friendship I
cherish.
After breakfast one of them invited me to his home,
where I met
his son
and enjoyed the beautiful decorations
that he and his wife had put
up
for their 61st Christmas together.
And I was sent home with a bottle of
his favorite 40-proof eggnog.
Then there was the Vigil Mass with you, more
children of God,
celebrating the birthday of our brother Jesus
in
communion with one another.
And a supper gathering with family in town for
the holidays.
On Christmas Day I breakfasted at Claver again,
then the
morning Mass with you,
and visits between NBA games in the
afternoon,
topping it off with supper with friends and neighbors.
It never
has to be lonely being single!
I'm surrounded with a huge family
who I
call friends and neighbors and cousins,
librarians and
grocers,
seed-swappers and chicken-keepers,
tree-planters and
teachers…
brothers and sisters in every nook and cranny of my life!
Each
of them—each of you—is a gift from God,
all of us part of one family.
And
what a holy family we are!
I thank God for you!
--
Holy Spirit
Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925
West Central Avenue (Washington
Church)
www.holyspirittoledo.org
Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle,
Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006
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