When Jesus was twelve years old, in the eyes of the Law considered a man, he attended the Temple with His parents. His parents thought He was with them in the caravan, visiting friends or relatives. Women were placed in the center of the caravan; men and boys in the front of the back to protect the women. It was not until the end of the day that Mary and Joseph sought Jesus among their relatives and could not find him. Since they could not find him, they returned to Jerusalem in an agony of heart to search for their beloved Son.

On the third day with growing anxiety, they came to God’s Temple to tell Him their sorrow and to plead for His mercy. Hardly had they returned to the Temple when they heard His voice, and God revealed to them the Child they had so diligently searched for all these worried days. Loving Mother that she is, Mary knew that her Son had good reason for his actions, but she was overcome with the pain of her emotions. Mary asked: “Son, why hast thou done so to us?” These words were forced from her by pain at the absence of her Son, Whom she loved above all things, and not by indignation, for He was blameless.

Christ was not unsympathetic to His parent’s grief. He knew what they had suffered for three days, yet he had remained in Jerusalem because of His love of prayer and communion with His Heavenly Father. He also showed them, even then, some rays of His divinity, by which to make known that He had come for the glory of His Father, and to procure our salvation. The glory of God and the salvation of our souls should be our chief object in life. So, He reminded his parents kindly that He must be about His Father’s business, and they returned to their home, and He was subject to them.

"He was subject to them" by St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

Who was subject to whom? A God to men. God, I repeat, to Whom the angels are subject: Whom principalities and powers obey: was subject to Mary; and not alone to Mary, but to Joseph also, because of Mary. Admire and revere both the one and the other, and choose which you admire the more: the most sweet condescension of the Son, or the sublime dignity of the Mother. For either am I at a loss for words: for both are wondrous. For that God should obey a woman is humility without compare; and that a woman should have rule over God dignity without equal. In praise of virgins is it joyfully proclaimed, that they "follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth" (Apocalypse 14:4). Of what praise shall you esteem her worthy who also goeth before Him?

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