Catholicism 101
(The outline of this series is taken from Father Vernon Staley’s book The Catholic
Religion.)
Church of the Holy Cross
August 17, 2008
Part 22
Christian Duty: Christian Belief: The Three Great Creeds: Concerning God: Jesus
Christ: The Incarnation: The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Advent of the Christ: “he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”
- To sum up on Mary, let’s quote Bishop Hall, who said:
o “But how gladly do we second the angel in the praise of her, which was
more ours than his! How justly do we bless her, whom the angel pronounced blessed. How worthily s she honoured of men, whom the angel proclaimed beloved of God! O blessed Mary, he cannot bless thee, he cannot honour thee too much, that deifies thee not! That which the angel said of thee, thou hast prophesied of thyself: we believe the angel and thee; ‘All generations shall call thee blessed,” by the fruit of whose womb all generations are blessed.”
- Mary is honored because she bore the Savior. The Athanasian Creed says
that Jesus, “although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ. One,
not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into
God."
o It is “taking that manhood [i.e. human nature / humanity] into God”
that saves us. It is that event in which we are “reconciled to God”. God’s plan
for us since the Garden of Eden (which we botched, and which we continue to
botch through sin), that we should be together with him in mutual delight, joy
and peace, in the communion of love that is the divine economy – in short, the
reconciliation of God and man takes place in Mary’s womb, when “the Word was made flesh”.
o The Annunciation (Luke 1) is this event. We celebrate it in the Church
on March 25 (“Lady Day”), and every day at Evening Prayer, when we join Mary in her canticle, Magnificat (Luke 1.46ff, and BCP Evening Prayer), when we “magnify the Lord” with her in our mutual joy at the coming of Jesus.
o The Incarnation is likewise celebrated at Christmas, the feast of the “Nativity” (the birth) of the Lord.
o In Hebrews 1.6 we see that the Angelic Spirits have a doxological and
liturgical share in the Incarntion:
§ “when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, ‘Let all God's angels worship him.’”
§ And we see this jubilation in the Spiritual realm breaking forth into the phenomenal in Luke 2:
· And an angel of the Lord appeared to them [the shepherds], and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"
· And the Church herself joins this angelic jubilation at each Sunday mass when she sings the Gloria.
o Not withstanding the jubilation of the angels, and now of the Church,
at the time, the birth of Jesus was rather obscure. He was not born in a great cosmopolitan center of the world, not Rome, or Athens, or Alexandria; not even Jerusalem. He was born in Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah had foretold: “But you, O Bethlehem Eph'rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5.2). And his birth was only known to a band of Persian astrologers and a group of Shepherds.
o To fulfill the requirements of the Torah:
§ Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. The Church commemorates the feast of the Circumcision (and the Naming of Jesus) on January 1, eight days after Christmas. Cf. Luke 2.21.
§ Likewise Mary went to the temple 40 days after giving birth to the Lord to be ritually purified (this ritual survives in the Prayer Book as “the churching of women” where a new mother and child are blessed; in our Prayer Book it is called “Thanksgiving for the birth or adoption of a Child”), when at the same time Jesus was “presented” in the temple. This feast (The Purification of our Lady / The Presentation of our Lord) is commemorated 40 days after Christmas, on February 2. Cf. Luke 2.22.
· At the Purification / Presentation, Simeon sings the Nunc Dimittis, which the Church sings likewise each day at Evening Prayer (or Compline) (Luke 2.29ff). And Simeon blesses them, and prophecies to Mary: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2.34f), referring to the Cross and to Mary’s co-agony on Calvary.
§ The Persian Astrologers who came to honor the Lord stopped by to share the good news with Herod, the corrupt Jewish king (a petty stooge of the Romans). Herod, thinking that a rival had been born, ordered the massacre of the children under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and the environs. The Church has always seen the deaths of these children as martyrdoms for the sake of Jesus, and has commemorated the event on the feast of the Holy Innocents, on December 28 each year. (Cf. Matthew 2.16ff.)
· Jesus was protected because an angel warned St. Joseph in a dream to flee. And so they journeyed into Egypt, and came back when the threat had passed, when Herod had died.
§ The Holy Family returned from Egypt to live at Nazareth, the home of Mary. So the prophecy was fulfilled:
· From Hosea “Out of Egypt have a called my son” (Matt. 2.15).
· And that Jesus was derisively called “a Nazarene” (along with the early Christians) – fulfilling the prophecies about the Messiah being derided and ridiculed.
o Scripture is silent about the events of the Lord’s life after this
point, until he is about 12 years old.
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