Mary…did you know?

Christmas has come and gone, and over the next couple of weeks in our assigned readings, Jesus becomes a man of thirty years old! We know little of Jesus’ childhood, but there are a few events that we know something about.

There’s the story of Joseph and Mary and the child fleeing to Egypt to escape King Herod’s threat to kill Jesus. There’s the story of the Three Wise Men who bring gifts to the Holy Child. And there’s the story of Jesus at age twelve getting lost in a caravan of people and being found among the learned men in the Temple. But after that, we know nothing of Jesus until he is baptized by John the Baptist at the age of thirty.

Thinking about what we don’t know, makes me think of Mary. I’m a mother and I can’t even begin to fathom what must have been going through her mind during those first thirty years. What would her son’s future be?

Being the mother of Jesus was no easy task, but she trusted God and he gave her strength and wisdom to do what he required of her. Jesus is our ultimate example of how to live, but let’s not short-change Mary’s example. She too can show us the meaning of total trust, especially when we don’t understand what’s happening around us. I think she’s a pretty good role model. Besides, she had to be…after all…she did raise the Son of God!