34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:34-35
I was reflecting on this passage from today’s Gospel at Mass. While also thinking about her reaction when finding Jesus in the Temple when he was 12, “And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.”
This aspect made me think of how aware Mary was of her son’s future. Simeon didn’t proclaim that this was a “spoiler alert” first. People would oppose and contradict her son, and this was a future that would “pierce her heart.” Mary knew her son was more than another prophet, along with the fate of prophets in sacred texts. These are not comforting thoughts.
Specifically, this brought in mind to me the wedding feast at Cana when Mary tells Jesus, “They have no wine.” (John 2:3) I think she was well aware of the stakes when she requested this of him. Aware that this might be the “hour” that sets Jesus on the road that would physically pierce him and subsequently piercing her own heart. What she reflected on in her heart had come to fruition. The decisive point where his public mission would begin. Her son’s seeming rebuke of her request is a tacit acceptance that his hour had come.
She tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Her years of contemplation results in the perfect encapsulation for the role of the disciple. She did not understand the saying Jesus gave her and Joseph at the Jerusalem Temple on the Feast of the Passover, but her life shows us that asking questions about God’s plans and not fully understanding them is also part of being a disciple.
