Grace of God at work in Teenagers

Teenage sons and daughters are blessings in our families. As we watch them mature, grow, and learn, we see evidence of the grace of God at work. Young people need a great deal of patience for themselves and from others. They need to be forgiven, often. Without warning they can demonstrate tremendous generosity, or selfishness. Their attitude is hard to predict. In the end teenagers are very vulnerable and they use many different tools in an attempt to protect themselves. In the best of conditions that self-protection is difficult. They need good parents, faithful friends, and loyal and wise teachers to assist them. Finally, they emerge from adolescence to adulthood. Most often, there is evidence of a few scars and some injuries, both physical and psychological. But, the majority of these young adults are ready to make their contribution to society and specifically to their faith community.

The baptism of Jesus by John marks a new period in Jesus’ life. He is fully adult and has arrived at a shift from a quiet life to a more public life. He has grown confident in his thoughts and beliefs and we witness his confidence in his statements, actions, and interactions with others.

Where was Jesus before this? What had he been doing and with whom? What kinds of experiences had he been having? These questions lead me to wonder about that period of Jesus’ life when he was about 12 years old until his baptism by John. Remember that he stayed in Jerusalem after his parents departed in order to talk with the religious leaders at the Temple. After that we know very little.

We can speculate. Jesus was about to begin his teenage years after the Temple event at the age of twelve. We know that Jewish boys pass from their childhood to that phase in which he is recognized as nearly an adult and therefore responsible for his actions. Being responsible meant that Jesus would need to pay attention to the law and the commandments. With his family and the larger community, he would be responsible for “loving God, neighbor and self” in responsible ways. He could show that love by keeping the Sabbath, participating in the synagogue rituals, and fasting and praying as a faithful Jew.

The teenage years of Jesus life were important to his adult and public ministry. Repeatedly, he shows us that he had developed strong and deeply rooted habits of prayer and he knew the Scriptures. We do well to acknowledge and affirm the importance of teenage and young adult experiences in the development of wise and faithful believers today. Let us encourage and affirm our families as they raise today’s teenagers!

Peace, Fr. Andy