"Certainlyt, perpetual virginity has never been a Jewish virtue! With regards to entrusting Mary to John...I don't how much we can really read into it considering Jesus' explosive ideas about family. Loyalty to family is one of the ideas he roundly attacks in the Gospels" I think virginity is a virtue for the unmarried and even Peter says it is ok in marriage if the couple agrees. But I agree with you that one reading of this passage is that Jesus radically deconstructs the family with this action. It is secondary and easily dismissed by the Church. gms+