Gospel Reflection for The 20th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mark 3:20-21
20 And they come to a house, and the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21 And when his friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him. For they said: He is become mad.
We must wonder that Even Jesus’ relatives thought He was mad. This, very short passage, gives us reason to wonder. The Bible is almost entirely silent about the life of Jesus between his childhood and when He began His earthly Ministry. This is so much the case that the early Church Fathers were left to speculate about Jesus’ age. Although most Christians now generally believe that Jesus was 30 when He revealed Himself publicly and began to preach, Saint Irenaeus wrote very logically that given Scriptural evidence, he believed Jesus to be closer to the age of 40 when He was Baptized by Saint John. By the time of Saint Irenaeus, the Apostles and those who know Jesus personally had passed away fairly recently. So, even in the earliest years of the Church, much was unknown that was not recorded in the pages of the Bible.
Regardless, this speculation points to a deeper truth. Jesus did not reveal Himself between the time He was found in the Temple at, likely, about the age of twelve and the day He began His ministry. I like to meditate on this period, because our Lord must have lived a very ordinary life. Father Spirago says that during this period, He sanctified ordinary life. As a child, He was apparently obedient and quiet, He worked as a humble carpenter. He had no formal education and was, apparently, not known to be a scholar or an intellect. No wonder His family was surprised when this quiet young man, perhaps one who was barely noticed before, became the most notable and outspoken man (as they perceived it) of His time. No wonder that they could not recognize Him as God. After all, He was just the quiet kid they had grown up with.
I was a very quiet and shy child. I was bullied a lot. I found my confidence after high school. Then, it was a struggle to find my place in the adult world, to use my talents and not be resented. I certainly experienced far more failure than success. At the age of 46, I am still single and really still trying to find my place in this world. The most natural thing in the world is to focus on the failures, the disappointments and everything I don’t have that seems to come so easily and naturally for others. When I think of this quiet, hidden time in the life of our Lord, it seems that He and I would have had much in common… humanly, at least. He was seemingly quiet, unmarried, not wealthy and not very appreciated by those around Him. Of course, He revealed Himself as God and changed the world. I am just a man who writes books that not enough people read. But then, I don’t really want to be famous… that would be a nightmare, really, and not having a family means I don’t have to concern myself much with money. Sure, my life is lonely. But, very likely, so was His. Jesus sanctified the humble life. If I can be like our Lord in any way, that is a blessing, even… perhaps especially, if it is a cross to bear.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.