The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
No fixed feast day in the calendar
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Twelve-year-old Jesus stays behind in the Temple; after three days, Mary and Joseph find him
What is this event?
This is the only story in the Gospels about Jesus as a boy growing up. It shows us that he is both the good son of Mary and Saint Joseph and the Son of God, always turned toward the Father.
The story
Every year, the Holy Family went up to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. The year Jesus was twelve, when the feast was over, his parents set off home without knowing that he had stayed behind. They thought he was with the group of travelers; after a day’s journey they looked for him among their relatives, then went back to Jerusalem (cf. Lk 2:41-45).
After three days, they found him in the Temple, “sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” (Lk 2:46). Mary told him that his father and she had been searching for him with great anxiety. Jesus answered that he had to be in his Father’s house. They did not fully understand what he said (cf. Lk 2:48-50).
After that, he went back to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents. Mary kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom, in age and in favor before God and people (cf. Lk 2:51-52).
What does Jesus want to teach you?
Jesus shows that what matters most is doing the will of the Father. But right afterward, he went home and obeyed his parents, because obeying your parents is also doing God’s will. The story also teaches that when we lose the Lord, we should patiently look for him, and we will find him in God’s house and in God’s Word.
A lesson for you
- Study your catechism carefully, ask questions and listen to your catechists.
- Whenever you go somewhere, tell your parents so they will not worry.
- Grow every day like Jesus: wiser, stronger and more pleasing to God.
Identifying marks
- The boy Jesus sitting on a stone step, an open scroll on his knees: the Gospel tells that he sat among the teachers, listening and asking questions; the scroll on his knees comes from the artist’s imagination; he loves his Father’s house.
- Mary kneeling, reaching out her hands toward her Son: a gesture imagined by the artist; a mother’s worry over three days has now turned into the joy of finding him again.
- Saint Joseph standing behind, his hand on Mary’s shoulder: a gesture imagined by the artist; the gentle father who quietly searched for the boy with his wife and protects the whole family.
- White-haired, bearded teachers in the background, amazed: “all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.” (Lk 2:47).
- The stone columns of the Temple: the house of God, where Jesus said he had to be.
The text on this page is the card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
Compiled by i-Catholic · About