The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
When I was in college, I was given the amazing opportunity to study abroad in the Holy Land. I chose to travel to the place where Jesus was when He lived on earth so that I could be close to Jesus: breathe the same air He did, step in the same water He swam in, and see the places He lived—and died. It was a beautiful experience, and I gained a deep new understanding of Christ walking in His footsteps for a month.
In today’s Gospel, we see the Jews questioning Jesus, saying to Him, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know His father and mother? Then how can He say ‘I have come down from Heaven’?” Jesus responds to them by saying the Father has sent Him. We know that Jesus was both human and divine; He was both God and man. He lived ordinary life so well that others tended to forget or question that He was anything different. Living in the Holy Land for those few weeks helped me to really see the ordinary; the life Jesus lived before His ministry, when He was the son of a carpenter and a humble woman.
One of my favorite sites to see during my travels was a set of steps: Ordinary, yet powerful and transformative. The steps, our tour guide told us, were the steps of the house it was believed the Holy Family lived. As I sat near those steps, I reflected. I saw Jesus as a little boy, running around and playing. I saw Mary, smiling with joy as she watched her son and prepared dinner for her family. I saw Joseph, working with his hands crafting wood and affectionately tussling Jesus’s hair. I saw this beautiful, perfect, faith-filled family living daily life and finding joy, love and God in the ordinary.
Today, reflect on your ordinary life. How can you invite Christ into it? How can you live more fully and joyously, and bring your faith into the everyday moments? Think about how you can be more like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as they go about a normal routine, but trusting God with each part of it, and living the faith boldly and devotedly.
Holy Family, thank you for being our example. Please guide us as we strive to live devoted lives of faith and find God in the ordinary. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Emily Shimota is a middle school Theology and language arts teacher. She obtained her Master’s degree from the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity and loves living out her faith. Emily enjoys country music, traveling, her pets, and spending time with family and friends.