Hormones Happen

Remembering the wisdom of our youth

 Luke 2: 46-50

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

             Who are the wisest people in the world?  Are they doctors, whom we trust with issues about life and death?  Are they Ph.D. professors teaching the best and the brightest in our universities?    Are they priests?  Well, not judging from the number of people already sleeping during this homily!  I would submit to you the wisest people on earth are 12 year olds.  Remember that T.V. show called “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”  It took a Nobel Prize winner in physics, named George Smoot, to win the million dollar prize in that show.  In other words, most people are NOT smarter than a 5th grader.  But I believe a 12 year old is wise for another reason.  What happens at 13 years of age?  Hormones happen.  And I am convinced that is not only a physiological phenomenon but a deeply spiritual one.  At the age of 12 you will see God, others and yourself the most clearly, and after 12 you will suffer from an inherent confusion about God, others and yourself.  The wisest you’ll ever be is at the age of 12.

             In the gospel today we see Jesus also displaying great acumen and smarts at the age of 12.  He remains in the Temple in Jerusalem and confounds the scribes and Pharisees with his questions and answers.  You could say they all learned that day THEY were not smarter than a 5th grader.  But notice how surprised Jesus is that his parents worried about him.  He asks, “Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  In other words, it’s obvious to me who God is, and who others are, and who I am.  You see, that was obvious to Jesus not only because he was God, but also because he was 12 years old.

For a moment, try to think back to the days you were a 12 year old.  What did you think about?  What did you want to do with your life?  Maybe you wanted to become a priest or nun?  Who were your best friends?  Did you like to go to church and to Mass and did you enjoy praying?  In her classic book, “Death Comes for the Archbishop,” Willa Cather describes the aged archbishop losing his memory.  But at the same time, he begins to remember vividly events and episodes from his early childhood.  He returns to being as smart as a 5th grader.  In old age, we begin to see again who God really is, who others really are, and who we were supposed to have been because that’s when hormones don’t happen.  Maybe that’s why grandparents enjoy spending so much time with their grandchildren, especially the little ones: they both think very much alike.

            The 6th beatitude is “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.”  The wisest people in the world are 12 year olds.

            Praised be Jesus Ch

rist!