This article is part of the Marian Mondays Series, a weekly reflection on the mysteries of the rosary by Jonathan Conrad, owner and founder of The Catholic Woodworker. Subscribe to have these reflections and more sent straight to your inbox every week.
In the fifth Joyful Mystery, we meditate on Luke 2:41-52 where Mary and Joseph can’t find Jesus on their way home from the celebration of the Passover feast in Jerusalem.
As a parent, this passage feels downright terrifying to read — especially considering how Mary and Joseph couldn’t simply call Jesus on His cellphone or track Him with a GPS watch like people do today.
From their perspective he was just gone. Lost. A needle in a haystack.
In this video reflection, I walk through a meditation on this mystery and explore how Mary and Joseph’s search for Jesus can teach us to seek Him more faithfully, even in times when He feels distant.
Click below to watch now.
Prefer to read the reflection instead? See the transcription below.
Today I want to walk through a reflection on the fifth Joyful Mystery, which is the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.
Let’s start with a prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and this time together as we reflect on this beautiful mystery, the fifth Joyful Mystery. Send the Holy Spirit to guide us through this meditation process as we reflect on Scripture and allow You to speak through the Holy Spirit, that we may feel inspired and grow closer to You through this mystery. We thank You and praise You through Jesus’ name. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
So we find this mystery in Luke 2:41, the boy Jesus in the temple:
“Each year his 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.”
When I think about this mystery the first thing that comes to mind is the three days that Mary and Joseph sought Jesus. It reminds me of desolation.
Through really no fault of their own, they found themselves without Jesus. And when I think about desolation that’s what I’m reminded of: a period of time where God and Jesus feel absent or distant, oftentimes through no fault of our own.
So then I think, “Okay, what can I learn from this? How can I reflect on this mystery so that it might inspire me?”
And I think what I find inspiring here is that they sought Jesus. Yes, for the obvious reason that they’re His parents but also in the more abstract sense. They couldn’t find Jesus so they sought Him out and they continued to seek Him out until they found him again.
I wonder what our spiritual lives would look like if we pursued Jesus in this way:
What would happen if we pursued Jesus with almost reckless abandon when we experience desolation in our own lives instead of numbing and distracting ourselves into complacency?
What if we trusted in His mercy, knowing that we will find Him again?
Just the thought of those questions excites me and inspires me to want and desire to be like Mary and Joseph: to always want to be with Jesus, to notice when He’s absent, and to pursue Him for as long as it takes to find Him in my own life.
And, for us, the best place for do this is in Adoration, Holy Mass and, in praying the rosary.
Thanks and God bless.
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