The Second Luminous Mystery and Mary’s Empty Nest

As a newly empty-nester mom, Colleen Mallette finds strength in Mary’s example at the Wedding at Cana.

While I meditated recently on the Second Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, the Wedding at Cana, it dawned on me that Mary was incredibly strong and the whole reason Jesus performed this first public miracle. Prior to this celebration, Jesus was fairly quiet about who He was and the power He had. He had been living with Mary for around thirty years, and they undoubtedly were very close. Whether or not she knew exactly what He was capable of, she certainly knew that this moment would thrust Jesus into the spotlight by exposing His power.   

Mary knew that what she said to Jesus and the servants would require some supernatural intervention that would launch Jesus' future by making His divinity known. Jesus even seemed hesitant to reveal His power this early, but Mary was strong enough to encourage Him anyway. 

Mary’s Fiat is Inspiring  

Mary’s “yes” in this important moment of Jesus’ upbringing showed incredible inner strength, willpower, and trust in God. Rather than clinging to Jesus and keeping Him to herself, she boldly pushed Him to perform a miracle, which really was a push to start His ministry. She might not have known how that would affect their relationship, but she encouraged Him nevertheless to become the Saving Son of God He was born to be.   

Now that my three children in their twenties have all graduated college, I am in a similar position of wanting to still cling to them and know everything going on in their lives yet knowing I need to push them along to begin their adult lives. Some days are easier than others; sometimes I long to have them living at home again, while other days I’m so proud of them when they accomplish a major grown-up thing.    

 My friends tell me they are impressed at my self-control in allowing our children to make decisions on their own, to only offer advice when asked (most of the time), and to not let my sad feelings of missing them come through in our conversations or visits. I find myself frequently saying, “That’s what we are supposed to do; we raised them to be productive, faithful adults, and now we just need to let them fly on their own.”    

We wouldn’t want our grown children cowering in our basements, unable to face the real world of employment, relationships, and trials. We ought to be proud when they don’t come to us with all of their petty problems, expecting us to fix them like we did when they were toddlers. And as difficult as it can be, we need to bite our tongues when we see they are about to make a poor choice — and let them figure their own way forward.  

That’s what Mary did at Cana. She saw a problem, she knew her grown Son could do something to fix it, and she let Him figure out His own way to handle it. She didn’t boss Him around or command He take a specific action she thought was right. She trusted His judgment and ability to do what was right to help the situation.  

Imitate Mary’s Strength  

The cycle of life is a beautiful thing, until you face a new phase you might not be ready for. Graduating from college and having to find a real job, losing a parent, or saying good-bye to a child who moves across the country to pursue their dream job or follow a potential spouse: these are difficult and emotional transitions in our life journey. We can copy Mary’s example and face these with courage, faith, strength and an optimistic hopefulness. This helps not only our own stability, but our children’s as they see us coping well through them.  

Mary often gave her fiat as the mother of God’s Son. She did it with blind faith in God’s Providence because she didn’t have any idea what would come of each “yes.” We need this same trust in our Loving Father when we encourage our children toward their next phase of independent life.  

My baby girl just got married this summer, which makes this Mystery of the Rosary even more meaningful for me. I like to meditate on this wedding in Cana to keep reminding me of Mary’s strong push of her Son out of the family home.   

Like Mary, I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I trust that God is in control and always good.   

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Copyright 2025 Colleen Mallette
Images: Canva