Reading, watching, emulating.

He learned, in part, as we all do - from our parents.

Jesus learned from Mary and Joseph.

And today, according to the church calendar, is when we remember their flight to Egypt.

Their escape of the Holy Family from the relentless hunt of Herod.

And now, watching and participating in everything that goes into raising a newborn, I see a bit more clearly.

I know the mess, the exhaustion.

I see the dependence and innocence.

And I see the sacrifice, moment by moment, from mother to child.

And I think I can begin to imagine where Jesus learned some of His core values.

Mary says to Jesus, in the birth, in breastfeeding, in her tender care through the pain and exhaustion :

“This is my body, given for you.”

Jesus is bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh -

Giving herself for the sake of new life.

The new life she is raising will bring New Life to the world.

She lays down her life, as all mothers do, for the sake of their children.

I see this story with clear eyes.

And I see the mothers who follow Mary - who constantly teach, with their whole lives ;

This is my body, given for you.

And then I contemplate how Jesus says those words.

His Last Supper.

“This is my body, broken for you.”

The courage and bravery - the relentless and sacrificial love.

The proud joy of remembering where He learned, in part, the path to life :

Through the sacrificial giving of our bodies.

And for what ?

The Joy that New Life yet comes.