Joseph and Mary are relaxing with their baby when suddenly there is a knock on the door and three exotic strangers enter bearing gold and frankincense and myrrh and announce that they have been following their baby’s star from the east and have come to worship him, the King of the Jews.
Forty days have passed since Mary, still but a teenager, gave birth to her first-born, a son, in a stable with shepherds coming in from the fields with a tale of a choir of angels singing about the newborn Messiah. She has come to the temple with Joseph and her baby to complete her purification by the poor’s ritual sacrifice of two turtledoves.
Full of grace! What kind of girl was Mary? Biblical scholars say she was quite young, maybe 14 or 15. She was promised in marriage to an older man, Joseph. According to St. Luke, her family was related to the priesthood in Jerusalem. So she is a devout Jew, keeping Torah the way it was meant to be kept. The Kingdom of God must have been already uniquely present in her. She was the perfect vessel for the Messiah
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. First Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians 5:16
“I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.”