Luke 1: 39-45

1. Luke's skill as a storyteller comes through in the details of the story in a way with which many people can identify: the loss of a child, the frantic search, the seemingly offhand speech of the teenager. Let the drama of the story speak to you. Where do you find good news in it?

2. The distress of Mary and Joseph brings to mind the distress of many parents separated from their children in today's world by social unrest, forced migration and other factors. How does the plight of these families speak to you?

3. In Luke's Gospel this story serves to give a glimpse of the future greatness of Jesus, the teacher of his people. Sometimes we can look back over our own life, or the lives of others, and with hindsight can see in childhood or teenage years a glimpse of gifts and talents that were later to blossom. Where have you seen this?

4. ‘Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?' This seemingly insensitive reply by Jesus to Mary serves to highlight that in his life the mission given him by God would take precedence over family ties, painful though this would be. Perhaps you have known situations in your own life where there was pain for family members as you followed your own destiny? Where in the midst of the pain was the good news?