(This article is reprinted with permission from Canticle Magazine, the Voice of Today's Catholic Woman.)

It took hunger, poverty, and distance (well, I was only across town) to make me realize what I’d overlooked in her seemingly simple job as homemaker.

Similarly, our familiarity with the Gospels and the ordinariness of daily chores make it easy to overlook some valuable lessons about Jesus Christ. Mundane topics, such as food preparation, may not seem lofty enough to be helpful in the search to know Jesus better. It’s easy to forget that while Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, His human mother was a carpenter’s wife. Carpentry in an area with few trees spells poverty, so Jesus’ daily life was not one of elaborate multi-course meals every evening with expensive dishes and gorgeous decorations. Perhaps, therefore, we should be judging our dinner tables less by Martha Stewart’s, than by Mary’s.

Every pregnant mother can learn something about Jesus Christ by considering the pregnant girl, Mary of Nazareth. In pro-life volunteering, I’ve heard more than once that pregnant teens will often try to conceal their pregnancies by eating less, typically by eating junk foods with the nutritional content of cardboard. I find it hard to imagine that Mary would even consider such a thing, although it would have delayed the detection of her pregnancy. No, I’m sure she ate the healthy foods she could afford.

It is wise to gauge our lives by considering the actions of one conceived without Original Sin. First, remember that it’s easier to say no to something you don’t really need if you’ve never let your desire for it run wild. Personally, I can turn down alcohol fairly easily, while others may find it difficult. Offer me dessert, and that’s another story. The point is simply that it’s better to learn self-discipline the right way — by limiting yourself to what you truly need than the wrong way — by denying yourself because you’ve learned the dangers of overindulgence.

In the past, painters often portrayed the Virgin Mary nursing her Infant Son, showing the humanity of both subjects. Breastfeeding a baby is always, regardless of the joy it can bring, a personal sacrifice. When you become a baby’s sole source of food and primary source of comfort, you become his servant. Regardless of sleeping arrangements, temperaments, and household comforts, this can be a burden, although a happy one. Mary was surely woken from a sound sleep by a crying baby at least once. Lord, teach me to be as patient and loving as she was in the dark of night.

Jesus performed His first miracle at the wedding in Cana in response to Mary’s request. At first glance, this seems a frivolous miracle. But perhaps it is no more frivolous to keep a wedding celebration from ending quickly than it is to feed several thousand people who were probably perfectly capable of walking back to town for dinner. Perhaps the deeper lesson — which Mary knew — is that God gave us stomachs that we might both feast and fast, each at the proper time. Mary’s trusting request was not a challenge to show His divinity, but a sign of faith in God’s providence, that He would provide our “daily bread” or whatever we need at that moment, if only we humble ourselves and ask.

Even Jesus’ parables teach us about Mary’s womanly chores. When He talks about a woman kneading dough to mix in the leaven, which woman would He have seen doing this more than any other? Whose wineskins, mustard seeds, and bushel baskets was He thinking of as He taught? Who taught Him table manners, social customs, and the proper observance of Jewish feasts and Sabbaths? When we realize that Jesus’ life in Nazareth was not play-acting but real life, the Gospels will come alive for us. By drawing the details of the Gospels into our hearts and imaginations, we can draw His message into our hearts as well.

And how do I know so much about a woman who died centuries ago without leaving a diary, will, or other personal documents? To be honest, I learned almost everything I know about Mary by saying the rosary. It’s amazing what a Mother can teach us when we humble ourselves to ask and listen.