Feast of the Holy Family, 2021

Luke 2:41 - 52

When my sisters and I would get into trouble, my mother would rant that it was impossible for her to imitate the Blessed Mother; after all, she only had one kid and he was God. I have a feeling we were not the only kids who heard something like this from the mouths of our mothers. And indeed when we think of the Holy Family, who we celebrate today, I’m sure you have your favorite idyllic scene; mine is a Joseph showing the boy Jesus how to do something with wood, with Mary looking on approvingly.. We really don’t know much about Joseph, who disappears from the story after the scene we just heard described. We assume Joseph died sometime before Jesus’ death on the cross, because otherwise he wouldn’t have to worry about who would take care of Mary.

We know a little more about Mary. And from what we can learn from the scriptures, her life was not as portrayed in our paintings. Much has been made of her pregnancy occurring before her marriage and the scandal that might have caused -- or maybe there was no scandal. We talk about the hardship of being an exile from your country when the family emigrated to Egypt. But maybe that wasn’t so bad -- they might have traveled with a bunch of people and settled in a community of Jews who welcomed them with open arms. We hear about the prophecy of Simeon when Jesus was brought to the temple as an infant -- Mary might remember that in the distant future, but at the time it probably only raised her curiosity.

But there is another thread that some people see in what we read about Mary.

First, Gabriel, then Elizabeth, then the shepherds all lead Mary to believe that the future for her son is bright -- he’ll be the Messiah, he’ll inherit the throne of David, he’ll reign forever. But then they settle down in Nazareth, Nazareth where Joseph and Mary’s relatives live, where Jesus is probably related to half the town, at least. And then the next thing we hear is that when Mary and Joseph wander the streets of Jerusalem frantically looking for their lost son, he gives them lip when they find him. And this won’t be the first time.

Early in his ministry Jesus returns to Nazareth to preach to the hometown crowd. When he quotes Isaiah about himself, the whole congregation reacts with shock and anger -- “is this not Joseph’s son?” they exclaim? After driving Jesus out of town for what is obviously blasphemy, we never hear of Jesus going back. Where was his mother? Probably in the congregation, perhaps embarrassed, perhaps shocked by his words herself. And if you read any of the four gospels, we never hear that Jesus returns to Nazareth.

Then we see Jesus in Caparnaum, where Mary and Jesus’ relatives come to see him. Mark tells us that they think he’s gone mad and want to bring him home, but Luke doesn’t mention the reason. We do know that when Jesus is informed of their presence, he replies “My mother and brothers and sisters are they who hear the word of God and do it.” That had to sting a little.

We don’t hear about Mary traveling with Jesus -- Luke never mentions that. She disappears from the picture. Maybe its a good thing. She might have heard Jesus replying to the woman who blesses “the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you” -- Blessed, instead, he says, are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” or “Whoever does not hate his father and mother… cannot be my disciple.” or “I did not come to bring peace, rather, a sword so that father will be set against son, mother against daughter.” And except for that moment at the foot of the cross when Jesus gives her over to the beloved disciple -- he didn’t ask her opinion, of course -- we don’t meet Mary again during Jesus' time on earth, even after the Resurrection. You would think that Luke would have told us about that.

The point is that for Luke, who wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, it’s almost like Jesus rejects his mother and all the Nazareth relatives. What special privilege did Mary have after God used her to give birth to his son and raise him to adulthood? My mother suffered when I left home and I’m sure she suffered when I moved to the eastern side of the US, leaving her out west. I know Joan suffers a little when her kids leave after a visit. When you follow Mary through the eyes of Luke, I suspect she had a lot of grief.

But there is a happy ending. We read in the first part of the Acts of the Apostles that Mary is there with the apostles and the 120 or so followers when the Holy Spirit again shows up. She, like you, like me, like all of us, finally meets her son in the community that makes up his mystical body, and in the Eucharist that is his body and blood.

So Mom, Mary didn’t have it as easy as you thought. But I think you know that now.