The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Luke’s Gospel today briefly touches on the “hidden life” of Jesus when it notes, “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.” In the Christmas season, we hear Luke’s infancy narrative in all its detail, but Luke has comparatively little to say about Jesus’ childhood and young adult years. Other than the story of the finding of Jesus in the temple, Luke passes over just about everything in these years. And yet this passage is a reminder that much happened during this time: Jesus, being fully man as well as fully God, went through all experiences that a human being does in these formative years. He felt joy, pain, excitement, confusion, surprise, and loneliness; he tried new foods, met new people, and traveled new places; he ran through the streets to get home before dark, got splinters while handling wood, and sat by the water to watch the fish jump. Although the Gospels do not record these details, Jesus lived a human life in every way except sin.
St. Ignatius is keenly aware of this fact, and so he proposes that we pray with these moments of Christ’s “hidden life.” Imagine, he says, Christ learning how to walk, or eating soup that’s too spicy, or playing hide-and-seek with friends. And imagine that you are there with Christ, growing with him, learning with him, experiencing everything that is human with him. What do you learn from Christ? What do you learn about Christ? For Ignatius, contemplating these hidden years can teach us so much about Christ’s love for us, a love that moves him to enter into every human experience. Today, consider taking a moment to contemplate Christ’s hidden life, which reveals the beauty of his humanity to us.