Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
It seems to me that Jesus, Mary and Joseph spoke between themselves - and quite a lot probably - but what about? In my opinion their conversations must have centered on the only topic that really interested devout Jews of their time like themselves: the Salvation of Israel!
Moreover, as the years went by, they certainly spoke about the Messianic mission of Jesus, about the work of Salvation in which they each had a predestined role.
As the years went by, Jesus must have unveiled to them the real dimension of His identity more and more. Does this seem so surprising?
At home with the Holy Family
Just because the Gospel doesn't allude to any conversations between Jesus and his parents, do you think that they kept silent at home, while working or sharing meals together, in the evening hours, during leisure time?
Do you think that they recited the prayers of Israel like their neighbors, asking, like them, for a Messiah to come, while at the same time having Him in their very midst?
Or perhaps you think they complained about hard work and futilities?
Let's imagine what Antoine and Paul might have discussed when they met together. Or the three friends Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa and Basil, Augustine and Monica, Benedictus and Scolastica, Francis and Clare, or Francis of Sales and Jane of Chantal, etc.?
Just take a look at the whole gamut of God's men and women who have had interpersonal relationships. Don't you think that the three holiest persons on earth, the true reflection of the Holy Trinity, would have had regular and intimate conversations about the Kingdom of God?
Of course they did! We can safely assume that the Virgin Mary knew about her Son's projects well before he began His public life.
This supposition helps us understand Mary's request at the Wedding at Cana. It may seem strange to you, but Mary was really asking for a miracle, just think of that!
And through this conjecture we can also begin to understand something of St. Joseph's preoccupations, entering in the game of the hiding God, to be answerable for his child Jesus.
For it was not a mince feat to be able to discuss Jesus or the popular expectation of the universal Messiah, without people suspecting anything.
Joseph, a man of difficult tasks
A man of difficult tasks in many ways, and especially for keeping a secret - for over thirty years - about the most enormous reality ever to be concealed!
Do we need to eliminate the possibility of the "origins of Jesus" as a conversation topic at home in Nazareth? This seems absurd to me.
Let's try to picture the Divine Child being asked questions by his playmates about life and love. What would He have said?
Jesus knows who He is and where He comes from. But how, for this very reason, could he want to conceal such a beautiful reality from His parents who, of course, he has already heard discussing the subject together?
What if this all leads up to conversing about virginity and celibacy which they live in common? What's so shocking about that?
We are perhaps too falsely prudish if we play blind or ignorant. [Let's face the facts of life...]
(From "Discovering a Discreet Prince: Saint Joseph")