A father and a mother who raised their son

Mary's motherhood was not limited to the biological process of giving birth, but as it happens with every other mother, she also made an essential contribution to her Son’s growth and development…

One might assume that since Jesus had in himself the fullness of the divinity, he did not need educators. But the Mystery of the Incarnation reveals to us that the Son of God came into the world in a human condition similar to our own, except sin (cf Heb 4:15). As with every human being, the growth of Jesus from childhood to adulthood (see Lk 2:40) required the educational action of his parents.

The Gospel of Luke relates that at Nazareth Jesus was subject to Joseph and Mary (Lk 2:51). This dependence shows us Jesus open, willing to receive the educational work of his mother and Joseph, who exercised their duty also by virtue of the docility which Jesus showed constantly.

It was Mary, with Joseph, who introduced Jesus to the rites and prescriptions of Moses, to the prayer to the God of the Covenant through the use of the Psalms, and to the history of the people of Israel centered on the exodus from Egypt.

Saint John Paul II,

Audience of December 4, 1996