Finding St Anthony Among the Lost Items

Mass this weekend focuses on the Holy Family. Although we annually celebrate this feast at this time, it is particularly significant this year because of recent events in the news. The death of eleven year old Sarah Foxwell in Maryland and the announcement that a five year old who was missing had been found in Phoenix mirrors the pain and anguish that Mary and Joseph felt when they discovered their son, Jesus, was missing. In Luke’s Gospel, we learn that “Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” This great anxiety that Mary describes is a heart wrenching feeling that consumes your mind and fills it with the most horrific thoughts imaginable. Joseph had to feel particular pain as he was asked by God to serve as Jesus’ earthly father, a task that undoubtedly made Joseph feel inadequate on a daily basis. As a father, I can certainly empathize with Joseph but again want to emphasize that Joseph’s typically difficult task was made monumental by the fact that he was being asked to care for the Savior of the world. Mary’s anguish is palpable and even if she knew of Jesus’ purpose and mission, she was his mother and could not deny her deep love and maternal instincts. I can only imagine how the Foxwell family is feeling at this moment. To have your child taken from you in such a brutal way is unfathomable and something none of us should have to experience. It goes to one of the questions I asked people in the seven question survey. Why do bad thing happen to good people? It is a difficult question to answer. We will have to console ourselves with the fact that Sarah’s death came at the hands of a sick and depraved individual who surely is not allowing God to lead his life. I am praying for the Foxwell family and all other families that have lost a child to evil this year. I urge you to do the same. Jesus’ answer to Mary’s question from the Gospel of Luke was simple and direct, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Being in God’s house at this time is a good thing. But we must extend His house to the entire world and maybe we can bring an end to any other innocent children dying at the hands of evil and destructive people.