Last summer I was out with my family downtown at the farmer’s market when I looked across the way and saw a panicked look on my wife’s face. I’ve been married just long enough to know that face from my wife meant, ‘Do something now!’ Now to figure out what something I needed to do didn’t take long as she yelled over to me, “I can’t find Fulton.”
I quickly ducked down to the height of a 4-year-old and started to sprint through the crowd looking for a panicked toddler. The problem was he wasn’t panicked at all. He had no idea that he was lost. He was just waiting patiently for a free sample of BBQ sauce (it’s at this moment I knew for sure he was my son.)
After that experience, I read today’s reading about Mary and Joseph losing track of Jesus 
with way more exclamation points. Let me re-write it the way I read it now:
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him,
“SON WHY HAVE YOU DON’T THIS TO US!? YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU WITH GREAT ANXIETY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
And Jesus is way to chill with his response:
“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
While Jesus’ response may be a little bit more holy than my own son’s response of “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be at my Father’s favorite BBQ spot?” I can only assume that it elicited a similar response in Mary and Joseph.
I don’t know about you but there’s been times in my life that I’ve felt like I’ve lost Jesus. And to be honest for much longer than 3 days. But my problem is I don’t always search for him with the same vigor as I do when I lose my own son. And yet he promises he’ll be in the same place he was when Mary and Joseph was looking for him. Present, waiting, for us, in his Father’s house in the Eucharist.
Cory Heimann is the creative director at Likable Art. He studied Theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University of Steubenville. A desire to stir up beauty drives his love for collaborating and creating. His favorite creations are his 4 boys in collaboration with his wife.
Absolutely beautiful. I needed that today. Thank you