Mary and Joseph’s parenting can benefit ours

by Libby DuPont

In Lent, we meditate on the life and death of Jesus, and the great sacrifices he made to save us. But do we ever think about the decades he spent with Mary and Joseph? His time in Nazareth was his human preparation for Holy Week and has much to teach parents and grandparents.

Affirmation. The physical pain of Jesus’ passion could not have compared to the betrayal and heartache. How could he stand hearing the crowd shout for his death, or the brutal mockery of the soldiers, or the abandonment by his friends?

I think Jesus could endure because at his core, he knew who he was. Mary and Joseph would have flooded him with affirmation as he was growing up.

I don’t mean superficial flattery, but that they would have always reflected back to him the fact that he was God’s (and their) beloved Son who had a great mission. Do my children or grandchildren know how beloved they are — to God and me?

Prayer. Because Jesus is God, we can take it for granted that he knows how to pray, and certainly his union with the other two persons of the Trinity is crucial. But it was Mary and Joseph who helped him memorize the psalm he recites from the cross.

When he asks for the Father’s will to be done in the Garden of Gethsemane, could he not help thinking of the thousands of times he watched his mother do the same? Do my children and grandchildren see me pray? Do I teach them to pray?

Sacrifice and generosity. God the Father did not give his only Son an easy life, and this experience of poverty influenced his compassion for the suffering people he encountered in his ministry. He would have grown up watching Mary and Joseph go without meals to offer hospitality to others, offer to care for a sick neighbor or travel long distances to assist family.

Certainly, the example of his earthly parents, and the opportunities he had growing up to push himself in service of others, was part of how his heavenly Father prepared him for his salvific mission. Am I too quick to clear away problems for my children or grandchildren? Do I give a good example of the works of mercy?

Mary and Joseph, teach us how to prepare our children and grandchildren for the great mission God has for them!