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(1Sm.1:1:20-22,24-28;\xa0\xa0 Ps.84:2-3,5-6,9-10;\xa0\xa0 1Jn.3:1-2,21-24;\xa0\xa0 Lk.2:41-52)\xa0 \u201cDid you not know that I must be in my Father\u2019s house?\u201d\xa0 If Hannah says of Samuel, \u201cAs long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord\u201d even as she leaves her son with Eli in the temple, should not Jesus be equally dedicated to God, being His true Son?\xa0 If as John rightfully says of all those who live in God\u2019s love and follow His commandments, \u201cWe are God\u2019s children now,\u201d how much greater a child of God is He who serves to make us children?\xa0 And so, where should He be but the temple of the Lord? But Jesus\u2019 parents do not look for Him there, indeed are \u201castonished\u201d to find Him there \u2013 and thus perplexed at His answer to them \u2013 because they have no word that He will be like Samuel, that they are to leave Him in \u201cthe midst of the teachers.\u201d\xa0 Surely Mary knows of her own kinship with Hannah, for this is indicated clearly in her Magnificat, which mirrors so closely Hannah\u2019s own canticle of praise upon conceiving her son.\xa0 But that Jesus should be separated from them at this time, that He should in essence begin His ministry, begin plying the leaders of the people with revelatory questions so that \u201call who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers,\u201d now, at twelve years of age, is not known to them.\xa0 Thirty is the customary age for the start of one\u2019s ministry, is it not?\xa0 And their Son has not even reached His bar mitzvah yet! It must be noted that Jesus gives place to the customs of the race.\xa0 We are told \u201cHe went down with [Joseph and Mary] and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.\u201d\xa0 Though certainly the Son of God is prepared to teach even as He begins to talk, yet He does not remain in the temple at this time.\xa0 He is obedient.\xa0 And obedient particularly to Mary, who shall indeed indicate to Him the start of His ministry, at Cana.\xa0 And He shall be obedient there to her, too, even though He says then that it is not His time. The Son must be in the Father\u2019s house, for more than any of God\u2019s children His \u201csoul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.\xa0 [His] flesh and [His] heart cry out for the living God.\u201d\xa0 His heart is ever \u201cset upon the pilgrimage,\u201d for in the temple is His home.\xa0 But the truly Beloved Child of God remains among us in our mundane lives, taking the cross of earthly existence upon Himself, enduring all for the sake of God\u2019s children.\xa0 And through His Mother\u2019s intercession even \u201cJesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.\u201d\xa0 So may we all.\xa0 So may we all be so obedient, so prepared for the Father\u2019s House. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Heaven" from Listening to the Lamp, ninth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* \xa0O LORD, remain in us and let us remain in you.\xa0 YHWH, your Spirit you give us to make us your children, to make us even your very temples.\xa0 Let us remain in your House always! One with the Holy Family let us become, blessed as Joseph and Mary, and your Son Jesus, blessed to be called your own \u2013 blessed to be one with all your chosen ones in the heavenly kingdom.\xa0 O LORD, remain in us! If we must leave our earthly family behind, so be it, LORD.\xa0 If we must leave the caravan of our relatives and friends to enter your Temple, to remain with you, let us freely answer such a blessed call and dedicate ourselves to you alone.\xa0 And if we must return to the house of our mother and father, let us be obedient to them in your Name.\xa0 But wherever we are and whatever we do, let our lives be a holy offering to you.\xa0 Our souls yearn for your courts, O LORD; our heart and our flesh cry out for you.\xa0 O let us dwell in your House!\xa0 Let our prayer come to your ears that we might be your beloved children, pleasing you in all things and growing unto your kingdom.