What Every Mother Wants

The Hidden Life of Our Lord as told to Gianna Sullivan and as reprinted by the Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

Some of my reflection on the above:

Every mother wants her child to be loved and respected in the minimum. If they could, moms would absorb every ache and pain. There'd be no illness or accidents in the world that moms design for their babies. Little Johnny or Susie would be well and happy every day of their lives. Their friends would always be good influences, their neighbors would form a welcoming community. To a mom, they'd want teachers to give only good example, dads to be good parents and the world in general to be kind to their precious newborn infant.

Mary was just like every one of those moms. God asked her to be the mother of the world's Savior, so of course she wanted to be the best mom God's baby could have. Everything was fine until that trip to Jerusalem when he was 12. She'd never forget his exact words when they finally found him. "Didn't you know I had to be about my Father's business?" That sentence was like a shock to her system. "This is the beginning," she thought and she recalled Simeon's prophetic words.

When he told her at age 30 that he was leaving the family house she

hadn't been so surprised. After 30 years of living together she sensed his time was coming. She could only be grateful for all the years they did spend together. Jesus had lived physically in her body for 9 months and in her home for 30 years. No one else in the recorded history of the world would be able to say that.

But then, of course, came his arrest, torture, death and burial. Like other moms she had wanted to take his place. She knew he'd be the Savior since she was 14 years old but did it have to be like this?

"In her humility she bowed her head in silence." (ibid) Mary didn't make this about her but silently and painfully held in her own feelings. In "The Passion of the Christ" movie we see Mary wiping up Jesus' blood from the floor where his scourging took place. Her reverent action was a symbol of her respect for her precious Son and for his body. It was the body she had carried within her. At the foot of the Cross she held him one last time. The first time was in Bethlehem's manger. The last time on Calvery's hill.

"In her humility she bowed her head in silence."