The Blended Rosary 5th Mystery: Seek and Ye Shall Find

This is the final part in our five-part series on the Blended Rosary. You can read part one here, part two here, part three here, and part four here.

The Fifth Mystery

The Finding of Jesus in the Temple; The Institution of the Eucharist; The Crucifixion; The Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth

The Fifth Joyful Mystery at first seems more distressing than joyful—Jesus is missing. Mary and Joseph have gone on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, “as was their custom,” signaling their obedience to the Mosaic covenant. And when the caravan departs the city, Jesus at twelve years old makes a decision to stay behind in the temple. Although a young boy not yet thirteen or “of age,” He does not consult or inform His parents.

Mary and Joseph are not at first alarmed; they assume He is with others they know. They travel for a whole day unaware that He is missing. When they finally realize His absence they seek Him frantically, for three days—but they cannot find Him. At last they discover Him in the temple courts, where He is listening to the teachers and in turn asking questions. The teachers in turn are amazed and astonished at His wisdom. Surely there is a prophetic act here—first, a foreshadowing of His future role as teacher, and more important, a time when He will go missing, also for three days.

But Mary turns to Him, and asks one of only two questions we hear her voice in the Gospels: “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.”

Jesus must know His mother well at this point; He observes and discerns how she “keeps” and “ponders all these things in her heart.” He does not explain at length. Rather, He replies, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” We don’t know when or how fully she came to understand. Yet surely she distilled from this a critical truth: even when we can’t see or find Him, Jesus is always about His Father’s business.

After this, just as unaccountably, Jesus returns to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, and we are told, “was obedient to them.” Once again He is in a sense hidden—His life with Mary and Joseph in Nazareth is shrouded in silence and mystery. The Scriptures make no further mention of Him until decades later when His public ministry begins with John at the Jordan River.

The Fifth Luminous Mystery gives us the Eucharist. In His Last Supper with His closest followers, Jesus warns them of what is to come—that He is going where they cannot follow. But He also commissions them to “remain with me”—and gives them a way to do just that: the Holy Eucharist, His Body and Blood which will be given for the world—and to the world.

Thus the Almighty Infinite God allows Himself to become once again small and “unseen” and subject to human authority. When the priest, standing in persona Christi honoring His command to “do this in memory of me,” speaks the words of consecration—Jesus honors His promise and is made present. Even when the hands that consecrate or that receive are unworthy; even when He is left alone or forgotten in the tabernacle; even when eyes without faith fail to see Him; He can be found in His fullness, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity under the humble appearance of bread and wine.

Inseparable from this is the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery, the Crucifixion. Jesus, whose obedience is “unto death,” surrenders His life once, and for all time, into the hands of the Father.

As Mary holds the body of Jesus beneath the shadow of Jesus’ Cross, does she recall that loss in the Temple? Surely this truth consoles her, as His body once hidden in her womb is now hidden in the tomb. Jesus can no longer be seen or found and Mary alone keeps the faith of the Church as she alone trusts that even then, He is about His Father’s business. Treasured and now even more dear are the words of the Angel Gabriel at His conception, “Nothing shall be impossible with God.”

In the Fifth Glorious Mystery, the faith and obedience of the lowly “handmaid of the Lord” is richly rewarded—as she is elevated above all creation, crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.

And we witness another astonishing “finding” of what had gone “missing”—the Ark of the Covenant. Centuries before Christ the gold Ark of the Covenant carried within it the Law (the commandments); Aarons’ rod (symbolizing the priesthood) and a jar of manna. In the book of Revelation the Ark is seen in the heavens:

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Rev 11:19-12:1)

Mary who carried within Her Jesus—the High Priest, the Giver of the Law, and the new Bread of Life—is revealed to be the true Ark of the Covenant. She who in fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy shared with Christ His Passion, is now raised with Christ in splendor.

Today as we carry our own crosses, as we look upon the mystery of a small white host, as we wonder at times where God is and what He is doing, we can be sure that He is always doing the work of the Father and is always waiting to be found and recognized by us.

Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth, we ask you for the grace to remain always faithful and to perfect trust in the work and presence of God. And may we know that we will one day find Him and enjoy the beatific vision forever, no more to worry or weep over His supposed absence.

Featured Image Created on Canva. Individual Photo credits:

Finding of Jesus in the Temple: Carl Bloch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons