and spoke of Him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel."
The ceremony of Purification and Presentation ended, Mary and Joseph were not tempted, by this extraordinary occurrence in the temple, to remain in Jerusalem, and expose their Treasure to new perils by attracting to Him the attention even of the devout among the citizens. They hastened back to Galilee, and buried themselves with ail their hopes and fears beneath the roof which had sheltered Joachim and Anna. "And the Child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in Him."
Of the life which the Holy Family led in their lowly home at Nazareth, from the Presentation of Christ up to His twelfth year, no other account is given in the Gospel, save only that " His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the solemn day of the Pasch.' The privilege they had of possessing Him who was above the Law, from whom indeed the Law had come, never prevented them from fulfilling in letter and in spirit its injunctions. They were content to bide God's own appointed time for Christ's manifestation in Israel.
But the sword of which Simeon had prophesied daily probed the bosom of the anxious Mother. She knew that His blood was to redeem the world. The time and manner alone remained a secret hidden from her motherly heart. She naturally feared every year's appointed festivals calling them to Jerusalem, lest His visit there should verify Simeon's prediction. This throws a light on the next event recorded in the blended lives of Mother and Son.
"And when He was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and His parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the Temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. And seeing Him, they wondered. And His Mother said to Him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And He said to them: How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business? And they understood not the word that He spoke unto them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth; and was subject to them. And His Mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men."
In this most simple and beautiful narrative stand out conspicuously, the absorbing love of Mary and Joseph for the Boy-Saviour; their solicitude for His safety, their keen sorrow at not finding Him "among their kinsfolk and acquaintance; " the affectionate freedom with which they remonstrate with Him for having left their company. This accords with what we have already written: that the interests of Jesus are those of Joseph and Mary. The Mother on missing her Divine Son, feels the sword already piercing her soul. Joseph's fatherly heart experiences a different, though scarcely less poignant sorrow, at the thought of his charge being possibly in the clutches of Herod's successor. We are also plainly taught that the Wisdom Incarnate, who astonished the doctors and their audience by His questions and His answers, had already been instructing Mary and Joseph about the supernatural purpose for which He was come down among men. " Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" The liberty which they allowed their Emmanuel to be about this "business, " whenever the Spirit prompted Him, was one cause of His being separated from their company. He wished to show that, being the Messiah, He could at any time He thought fit enter upon His public mission, and shed abroad among men the light of His doctrine. Having thus, in the presence of all, and within the temple of which He was the Divinity, asserted His fulness of knowledge. His divine Sonship, and His independence. He at once goes with His parents, and resumes His former position of dutiful obedience in the household of Nazareth.
Another suggestion is made in the text. The Holy Family, on their way to and from Jerusalem, have for companions their "kinsfolk and acquaintance. ' ' Neither Mary nor Joseph, though of the house of David, are without dear and near relatives in Nazareth and the neighboring cities of Galilee. It was the time for the Evangelist to make mention of other children in the home of the carpenter. They only speak of "kinsfolk " or "brethren," as the Jewish custom denominated all blood relations.
And so, one brief and pregnant sentence describes the remaining years of the Master, till, in His thirtieth. He quitted His home Nazareth to preach the " good tidings " to His countrymen. " He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And His Mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men."
Thenceforward, till His thirtieth year, Christ continued to abide at Nazareth, passing, in the eyes of the people of the place, for the son of Joseph. The veil which covered His origin and dignity was never raised by either parent. ..." We are apt to look upon this portion of His earthly life as lost, and disposed to blame either the influence exercised on Him by His Mother, or the poverty of Joseph; or, again, to criticize the divine economy for permitting these precious, teeming years of His boyhood and youth to be spent in a little country town. . . . We forget that these long years of obscurity, obedience, progress in wisdom, in every virtue which can grace manhood, and in patient, uncomplaining toil beneath the carpenter's roof, were destined by the Eternal Wisdom to serve as the most eloquent and effective lesson for the immense majority of men in every age and country.
The over-burdened children of toil, to-day as in the days of Christ, as every day till time shall be no more, need the teaching and example of Joseph the son of royal David, and of Jesus the Incarnate Word, to enable them to find obscurity sweet, and obedience easy, and the persevering toil of years tolerable.
" There is more than that: we are, not unfrequently, tempted to think and say that the life of His Mother, the Second Eve, the model of her sex wherever Christianity prevails, is one of comparative nullity. ... Is she then less admirable, because her life at Nazareth is merged in that of her Son T Let every woman who reads these pages, and takes time to ponder what is here intended, lay this truth to heart, that the future of the world, the greatness and happiness of every country, depend on the growth of true manhood within the obscurity and hallowed quiet of the Christian home. Every natural and supernatural virtue that goes to make up the true man in the home of the laborer and mechanic, as well as in that of the rich, the learned, the noble, and the great, is a fruit of the mother's sowing and ripening. We, in our day and generation, are impatient of home-restraints, of slow and progressive culture: one such son as David or Samuel is glory enough for any mother. When Christ left His loved retreat at Nazareth, and filled Judaea with His name, it was said of Him: ' He hath done all things well.' What mother could desire sweeter praise for her life-labors, or a more complete eulogy on her dearest one? And since Christ's
