We often ask, and insistently, about the years Jesus spent before beginning his public mission of salvation.
We care about this, and it is only natural to want to know how Jesus spent those years in his home and in his religious, social, civic and working surroundings.
But here is what is truly amazing: how was Mary able to keep the secret of her Son, which she received at the Annunciation, hidden for thirty years?
A young mother, probably no older than fourteen, at one moment in history (a moment she herself made) was entrusted by God, through his archangel Gabriel, with “his secret”.
How much credibility, trust and security there is when people among us say: he entrusted him with his secret!
God entrusts the young Mary with “his secret”… And I believe it was not only Jesus who grew in wisdom and stature and grace, but above all Mary, the good and faithful young woman, who grew day by day, in silence and grace, with this “secret” and within it, pondering it.
You are wonderful, Mary… Through you I see those who were once so close to us, our mothers; from them too we learned silence… and to go only toward the beautiful things in life.
Our Lady of “Silence”, teach us how to speak.
Fr. Joseph Abi Aoun
