For the past several months I’ve been meditating a lot on the Fifth Joyful Mystery, more than I used to. For one thing, I had been wondering why this mystery is called JOYFUL.
Whenever I read or hear the Gospel story, the foremost emotion I could relate to was Mary’s worry at having lost her Son. We parents have all been there: that moment at the mall or the park or some public, crowded place when we momentarily lost sight of a recalcitrant child. Ah, the panic, the fear, the frustration, maybe even anger. And then the relief, the gratitude, when the child is found.
But in the Finding at the Temple, it wasn’t just that Jesus the Boy was found alive and well. There was a reprimand, a chastening of His Mother that in today’s culture might either sound cringey, or appropriate, depending on your world view.
‘Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s work?’
Ouch.
How could all that translate to JOYFUL?
Though Mary was born sinless, I appreciate the fact that even she had to learn a few things as the Mother of God.
It finally made sense to me when my two boys, not really boys anymore, took major steps in their faith journey, both answering God’s call, but going in two different directions.
Our 24-year-old entered seminary on August 20th. This response to God’s call had been several years in the making. I will not share the many many details — the questions, heartaches, discernment, spiritual direction, prayers, and all the experiences that came with this response, because it’s not my story to tell. I will tell you this: the first time he called me from the House of Discernment back in 2018, I was not mentally, emotionally, or spiritually prepared for it.
All I could think about when he told me that God might be calling him to be a priest were the things that in my mind he would miss out on, the goods of marriage: a spouse, children, his own home, etc.
Fast forward a few years, he came home from his nth retreat, and told me he was going to take the steps he needed to to enter seminary, and at that moment we were both so joyful and at peace with it.
He had grown so much the last several years not only in age but in maturity, dare I say in holiness, in purpose, in focus, in knowledge, in determination, in fortitude. We are praying that he perseveres. Please pray with us.
Our 27-year old on the other hand, proposed to his girlfriend on June 11, the Feast of St. Barnabas. They just had their betrothal ceremony Sunday, October 1st, St Therese’s feast day. They’re getting married December 31st, the Feast of the Holy Family. Please pray with us.
Though our 27 year old is saying yes to a different calling, he too went through numerous hills and valleys to get to where he is in his vocation today. Shortly after he got back from Denver, where he did his MBA with the St John Institute, he came over for dinner one evening and I commented that he sounded angry and frustrated with God, and he admitted that he was. It was heartbreaking to hear that, though he did assure me that it didn’t mean he was leaving the Church or that he’d stop praying. And of course I knew that being angry with God is quite normal, I just didn’t want him to stay angry.
Fast forward a few months later and he met the girl of his dreams. He’s still happy where he is working for the archdiocese in young adult evangelization, but he is quite eager to begin his own family.
What was joyful, then, about that finding in the temple, with its worries and anxieties? It’s that Mary found her Son, obeying the will of the Father. As a mother, I get that now.
There is no greater joy than knowing that a child has heard God’s voice, has LISTENED, and has chosen TO OBEY.
There is still that mystery of how exactly that happens, the opening of the heart, the conversation between creature and Creator, the invitation, the assent, the ascent. But now I totally understand why it is JOYFUL.
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