Day 75: Jesus' Infancy and Hidden Life

During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labor. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, a life in the community. From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was "obedient" to his parents and that he "increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man." CCC 531

In today's reading, the Catechism focuses on the infancy and "hidden years" of Jesus. We see that He was circumcised in accordance with the Law of Moses (Lk 2:21), the Magi visit in the Epiphany (Matt 2:1), the Presentation in the Temple (Lk 2:22-39), flight of the Holy Family to Egypt (Matt 2:13-15), their return from Egypt to Nazareth (Matt 2:19-23), and except for what must have a scary time for Sts. Mary & Joseph in the Finding in the Temple (Lk 2:41-52), all we get about most of the rest of His life until His baptism is silence. These are the "hidden years" which we would love the details about, but are not as consequential as what has been revealed to us. I do like how the Catechism describes in the quote above. It shows that He really was like us in everything, except sin (Heb 4:15). The Catechism Companion, Vol I does a pretty good job on this as well and ties it to our own lives:

Jesus was not "off mission" when he lived thirty year in a "hidden life" - that is, before he began his public ministry. He was totally consecrated to the mission that flowed from his divine sonship. God has a mission for our lives, too, and we are called to be consecrated to it. Our mission flows from our relationship with God and identity as his sons and daughters through Baptism. (p. 154)

Christ Among the Doctors, c. 1560, by Paolo Veronese

We know very little about Jesus' early years. It is for this reason that sometimes we speak of his "hidden life". Here we see Jesus in the Temple among the teachers. Even from the young age of twelve, Jesus exhibited profound wisdom and understanding (see CCC 534). (p. 155)

Day 74: The Christmas Mystery

The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming. CCC 522

In today's reading, the Catechism delves into the mystery of Christmas: the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As can be seen in the quote above, God prepared for this momentous event over a period of time. Through "the mouths of prophets" and stirrings "in the hearts of the pagans" the coming of His Son slowly was building up until that glorious day. The story of the visit of the Magi should really come as no surprise in light of this (Matt 2:1-12). In the Church, we prepare for the Christmas season with Advent. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

During the season of Advent, we celebrate Jesus' original coming at the first Christmas, prepare for his second coming at the end of time, and live out his moment-to-moment coming into our lives now - in prayer and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. (p. 152)

In immediate preparation for the first time was the ministry of St. John the Baptist, that "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Matt 3). As the Catechism notes, he "bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom" (CCC 523). We too can prepare for the coming of Christ, at least the second coming, by echoing him in saying "He must increase; I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30).

We ask the Lord to reign and be glorified in our lives. "Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us" (CCC 526). When Jesus is formed in us, we become more deeply and fully conformed to the mystery of his divinity within us. Becoming a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. (p. 152)

As far as the Christmas story itself from Scripture, the Catechism only briefly mentions that He "was born in a humble stable, into a poor family" and that shepherds were the first witnesses to this. I do like the line that "In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest" (CCC 525). A good book I just finished reading called Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes has some good insights on this I recommend reading (see pp. 25-37). Basically, there is good reason to believe that the manger he was born in was actually a guest room in a poor house. Jimmy Akin has something similar but slightly different on this.

Nativity of Christ icon

St. José Luis Sánchez del Rio: Young Martyr for the Faith!

The story of this young saint's martyrdom breaks my heart, but is encouraging nonetheless. I can see why the Cristeros nicknamed him Tarcisius, another young martyr for the faith. May we all learn from and follow his example in never being afraid to proclaim, even unto death:

¡Viva Cristo Rey! ¡Viva María Santísima de Guadalupe!

St. José Luis Sánchez del Rio, pray for us.

Day 73: Christ's Life Is Mystery

Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Because our Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest "God's love. . . among us". CCC 516

In today's reading, the Catechism reflects on the mystery of Christ's life. We'd love to know more about the details of Christ's life which the Gospels unfortunately are silent on. Jesus is fully God and fully man. It is the latter on which most curiosity falls. Even seeming ordinary things like did he ever stub His toe or sprain an ankle? Did He play outside with the boys of Nazareth in whatever sport or activity was popular during His time on earth? Were His lips ever chapped and His skin burned from the harshness of too much sun? When adolescence came, did He have acne, go through a period where His voice would "break" when speaking, or even have the common cold? It is reasonable to assume He experienced most of these, but we just don't know. The Catechism Companion, Vol I speaks of this period:

The Bible - apart from discussing his birth and his dialogue in the Temple with the teachers of the law at age twelve (see Luke 2:41-52) - is largely silent about Jesus' life before his public ministry. So there are many things we would love to know! The Catechism, though, refers to the details of Jesus' childhood and young adulthood as things merely "of interest to human curiosity" (CCC 514). This period of Jesus' life, which constitutes most of his time on earth, is known as his "hidden life." Of course, we know that he lived in Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, that he was a part of the life of his community, and that he loved as an observant Jewish man, obedient to God's law. (p. 151)

The details we do have about Jesus' life on earth is what is the most important part of Him: "Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption" (CCC 517). It is the purpose of the Incarnation, His ministry, the Crucifixion and Resurrection. All of those point to what is at the heart of the Gospel message: Christ is Lord and He calls us to believe in Him and be redeemed (Jn 3:16). How many billions of humans have lived their lives and died in obscurity? We know nothing about what they thought, believed, loved, how they lived their day-to-day lives, or even in most cases that they existed at all. The life of Jesus is mysterious in some aspects, but the message He had for all of us isn't. He is the ultimate role model for us, living His life in loving, obedient service to the Father. Redemption is why He came, but also to "share in the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). As the Catechism Companion notes:

Jesus lived his life for us. He is our example. By his grace, he enables us to imitate him. "We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model" (CCC 521). Salvation is not just God redeeming us and giving us access to the Father, but also making us capable of living as Christ, to participate in the mysteries that Jesus won for us. (p. 150)  

Christ washes the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper in a model for us all of humility, service, and love (Jn 13:1-17)

Day 72: Mary's Motherhood

The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men. Mary's virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the Incarnation. CCC 502-503

In today's reading, the Catechism focuses on the virginity and motherhood of Blessed Mary. Christ "is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures" (CCC 503). In her virginity, no human man could boast of helping to conceive Jesus, for He assumed flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit. She was highly privileged by God to be "full of grace" (Lk 1:28) and give birth to His true Son. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

Whatever we believe about Mary are things we believe about Jesus. What we teach about Mary, illumines what we believe and teach about Jesus. Jesus is the new Adam, and "from 'his fullness' as the head of redeemed humanity 'we have all received, grace upon grace'" (CCC 504). (p. 148)

The Virgin Mary "is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church," the very model of motherhood for all of us, and by her virginity "keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse" (CCC 507).

Madonna and Child painting by Pompeo Batoni, c. 1742, Galleria Borghese, Rome

Here we see Mary with the Christ child. Because Jesus is the God, Mary is the Mother of God (see CCC 509). As Jesus is the new Adam, so Mary is the new Eve, joining herself in an unparalleled way to the saving mission of her Son. (p. 149)

Day 71: Mary's Virginity

Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord". In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). CCC 495

In today's reading, the Catechism speaks about the virginal birth of Christ and the perpetual virginity of Blessed Mary.  The conception of Jesus in the Virgin Mary and His birth were supernatural acts of God. They are beliefs which brought ridicule upon the nascent Church by pagans, and scoffing by heretics who held to a more carnal view of how He was conceived inside the Virgin Mary. Yet the Gospels attest to this belief (e.g. Luke 1:26-38)  and the early Church strongly upheld it. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

This conception "surpasses all human understanding and possibility" (CCC 497). There has often been a misunderstanding of - and even opposition to - the miraculous conception of Jesus. Yet it was recounted by the apostles because it was true (see CCC 498). The three greatest events in the history of humanity were "worthy of proclamation" but "accomplished in God's silence": Mary's virginal conception of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, and Jesus' suffering and death on the cross. (p. 146)

The second part of this is Mary as Aeiparthenos or "Ever-virgin" (CCC 499). The perpetual virginity of the Theotokos is a belief strongly held since the early Church, confessed by the Church Fathers and is found in the Eucharistic liturgy both East and West. The Catechism notes:

Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary". They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression. CCC 500

In the East, some hold to these others as being half-siblings, that is children of St. Joseph from an earlier, previous marriage which seems to come from the early 2nd century apocryphal work the Protoevanglium of James.  Whichever is historically correct, belief in the perpetual virginity of the Theotokos is an early and strong belief in the Church. 

Finally, the Catechism speaks of Jesus entrusting Mary to all of us as our spiritual mother. As noted in CCC 501:

Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love."

The Visitation of the Theotokos & St. Elizabeth Icon (see Luke 1:39-56). 

This is one of my favorite icons (click image) not only for the holy personages it portrays, but it strikes me as having a very pro-life message: St. John the Baptist in St. Elizabeth's womb "leaped for joy" when the Theotokos with Christ inside her came to visit. Even in the womb unborn children were leaping for the coming of Christ. I highly recommend this one!

Day 70: The Immaculate Conception

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace. CCC 490

In today's reading, the Catechism briefly covers the Immaculate Conception of Mary. She has been believed to be "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature" (CCC 493). I accept this dogma, one which makes perfect sense to me reading Scripture and within Catholic theology. She is the Theotokos/Mater Dei, the one who carried and gave birth to the Son of God. Christ is the New Adam and by God's grace, Mary is the New Eve, the Ark of the New Covenant.  As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

The Church Fathers proclaimed that "the knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience" and that we have "death through Eve, life through Mary" (CCC 494). (p. 144)

Some Orthodox accept this dogma, but many don't I believe mainly because of their  objections to Catholic teaching on the papacy. Most Protestants reject it, some referring to passages from Scripture like Romans 3:23. The Catechism Companion explains:

Mary "was redeemed from the moment of her conception". In contemplating how Mary could have been sinless, we must remember that she needed a Savior, too. Due to the sin of Adam and Eve, every human being other than Mary is conceived with original sin. Without the grace that comes from being baptized into Jesus, the life of saving grace would remain closed to us. Whereas original sin is washed away from our souls in Baptism, Mary was preserved from original sin by the merits that Jesus would soon win on the cross... [She] remained free from any personal sin, to be a perfect dwelling place for the Son of God. (p. 145) 

Having said all of this, I do have to wonder at the wisdom of dogmatizing it as Blessed Pope Pius IX did in 1854. There clearly was a belief in this dogma, which became more understood as time went on, but the Church survived for over a millennium with it being held by many and in the liturgy. It just seems to me that dogmatizing it, a stumbling block for some, was unnecessary. Nevertheless, it was, as I said makes perfect sense to me, and is part of the Catholic faith.

The Immaculate Conception (1767–1769)

by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo