Showing posts with label Pope Jesus of Nazareth III. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope Jesus of Nazareth III. Show all posts

Saturday 5 January 2013

Pope 'astronomy'. The Babe of the Magi - Starwatch: Jupiter resplendent.


Sunday, 06 January 2013  

The Epiphany of the Lord - Solemnity

MASSYS_Quentin_Adoration_of_the_Magi
  
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 2:1-12.
...  And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. 


  
Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict xvi
Chapter IV The Wise Men from the East ... pp. 98-102

... various stages of human life finds its true meaning and its inner unity in companionship with Jesus.
The key point is this: the wise men from the east are a new beginning. They represent the journeying of humanity toward Christ. They initiate a procession that continues throughout history. Not only do they represent the people who have found the way to Christ: they represent the inner aspiration of the human spirit, the dynamism of religions and human reason toward him.

The horizon at midnight. 'Jupiter resplendent.' on view from Crib window. 

    
THE STAR
Now we must come back to the star which showed the wise men their path, as we read in Saint Matthew's account. What kind of star was it? Was there a star at all?
Distinguished exegetes like Rudolf Pesch take the view that this is not a sensible question to ask. \Ne are dealing with a theological narrative that should not be confused with astronomy. A similar position was put forward in the early Church by Saint John Chrysostom: "That this star was not of the common sort. or rather not a star at all, as it seems at least to me, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is in the first place evident from its very course. For there is ... nor any star that moves by this way" (In Matthaeum Homiliae, VI, 2: PG 57, 64). Much of the Church's tradition has underlined the miraculous nature of the star, as in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch (c. 100 A.D.), who saw the sun and the moon dancing around the star, and likewise in the ancient Epiphany hymn from the Roman Breviary, which states that the star outshone the sun in beauty and brilliance.

Nevertheless, the question whether or not this was an astronomically identifiable and classifiable celestial apparition was not going to go away. It would be wrong to dismiss it a priori on account of the theological character of the story. With the emergence of modern astronomy, developed by believing Christians, the question of this star has been revisited.
The Babe of the Magi
Johannes Kepler (+ 1630) proposed a solution that in its key elements has been put forward again by astronomers today. Kepler calculated that in the year 7-6b.c., which as we have seen is now thought likely to have been when Jesus was born, there was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. He himself had experienced a similar conjunction in the year 1604. with the further addition of a supernova. This is a weak or very distant star in which a colossal explosion takes place, so that for weeks and months an intensive radiance streams from it. Kepler regarded the supernova as a new star. He took the view that the planetary conjunction at the time of Jesus' birth must also have been accompanied by a supernova, and this was how he attempted.     
Nevertheless, the question whether or not this was an astronomically identifiable and classifiable celestial apparition was not going to go away. It would be wrong to dismiss it a priori on account of the theological character of the story. With the emergence of modern astronomy, developed by believing Christians, the question of this star has been revisited.
Johannes Kepler (+ 1630) proposed a solution that in its key elements has been put forward again by astronomers today. Kepler calculated that in the year 7-6 b.c., which as we have seen is now thought likely to have been when Jesus was born, there was a conjunction of the planets Jupi­ter, Saturn and Mars. He himself had experienced a similar conjunction in the year 1604. with the further addition of a supernova. This is a weak or very distant star in which a colossal explosion takes place, so that for weeks and months an intensive radiance streams from it. Kepler regarded the supernova as a new star. He took the view that the planetary conjunction at the time of Jesus' birth must to explain the phenomenon of the bright star of Bethlehem in astronomical terms. It is interesting, moreover, that the Gottingen scholar Friedrich Wieseler seems to have discovered a reference in Chinese chronological tables to the fact that in 4 B.e. "a bright star appeared and was visible for quite a long time" (Gnilka, Das Matthausevangelium1, p: 44).

The aforementioned astronomer Ferrari d'Occhieppo has dismissed the theory of the supernova. For him a sufficient explanation of the star of Bethlehem is provided by the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pisces, which he believed he could determine with chronological precision. It is important here to note that the planet Jupiter stood for the principal Babylonian god Marduk. Ferrari d'Occhieppo concludes as follows: "Jupiter, the star of the highest Babylonian deity, entered its brightest phase when it rose in the evening alongside Saturn, the cosmic representa­tive of the Jewish people" (Der Stem von Bethlehem, p. 52). We need not go into the details. From this planetary encounter, according to Ferrari d'Occhieppo, Babylonian astronomers were able to conclude that there had been a universally significant event: the birth in the land of the Jews of a ruler who would bring salvation.

What are we to make of all this? The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Pisces in 7-6 b.c. seems to be an established fact. It could well have pointed astronomers from the Babylonian-Persian region toward the land of the Jews, toward a "king of the Jews." Exactly how those men came to the conviction that prompted them to set off and led them eventually to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, must remain an open question. The constellation could have set them thinking, it could have been the first signal for their outward and inward departure. But it would not have been able to speak to them, had they not already been moved in some other way, inwardly moved by the hope of the star that was to rise over Jacob (cf Num 24:J7).

If these wise men, led by the star to search for the king of the Jews, represent the movement of the Gentiles toward Christ, this implies that the cosmos speaks of Christ, even though its language is not yet fully intelligible to man in his present state. The language of creation provides a great many pointers. It gives man an intuition of the Creator. Moreover, it arouses the expectation, indeed the hope, that this God will one day reveal himself. And at the same time it elicits an awareness that man can and should approach him. But the knowledge that emerges from creation, and acquires concrete form in the religions, can also become disoriented, so that it no longer prompts man to transcend himself, but induces him to lock himself into systems with which he believes he can, in some way, oppose the hidden powers of the world.

In our story both elements can be seen: in the first instance, the star leads the wise men as far as Judea. It is quite natural that their search for the newborn king of the Jews should take them to Israel's royal city and to the king's palace. That, surely, is where the future king must have been born. Then they need the direction provided by Israel's sacred Scriptures–the words of the living God-–n order to find the way once and for all to David's true heir.

The Fathers have emphasized a further aspect. Gregory Nazianzen says that at the very moment when the Magi adored Jesus, astrology came to an end, as the stars from then on traced the orbit determined by Christ Ccf. Poem. Dog11l. V 55-64: PG 37, 428-429). In the ancient world, the heavenly bodies were regarded as divine powers, determining men's fate. The planets bear the names of deities. According to the concept prevailing at the time, they somehow ruled over the world, and man had to try to appease these powers. Biblical monotheism soon brought about a clear dernythologization: with marvelous sobriety, the creation account describes the sun and the moon-the great divinities of the pagan world-as lights that God placed in the sky alongside the entire firmament of stars (cf Gen 1.16f.).

On entering the Gentile world, the Christian faith had to grapple once again with the question of the astral divinities. Hence in the letters he wrote from prison to the Ephesians and the Colossians, Paul emphasizes that the risen Christ has conquered all the powers and forces in the heavens, and that he reigns over the entire universe. The story of the wise men's star makes Cl similar point: it is not the star that determines the child's destiny, it is the child that directs the star.

If we wish, we may speak here of a kind of anthropological revolution: human nature assumes by God—as revealed in God’s only-begotten Son—a greater than all the powers of the material world, greater than the entire universe.
.........

The horizon at midnight tonight 

http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/astro/esm/hz24  

Wednesday 2 January 2013

January 3, Most Holy Name of Jesus


http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/seasons/christmas/christmas_days10.cfm
 
January 3, Most Holy Name of Jesus
The name of Jesus is a name of gladness, a name of hope and a name of love. A name of gladness, because if the remembrance of past transgressions afflicts us, this name comforts us, reminding us that the Son of God became man for this purpose, to make himself our Savior.
A name of hope, because he that prays to the Eternal Father in the name of Jesus may hope for every grace he asks for: If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you.
A name of love. For the name of Jesus brings to our remembrance all the sufferings which Jesus has endured for us in his life and at his death. — Excerpted from St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Incarnation Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ
Day Ten activity (Holy Name Activities)
____________________________________________________

Feast of
the Holy Name of Jesus



 
This Feast is associated with the Feast of the Circumcision, for it is when a child was circumcized that he received a name and was accepted as a son of Abraham and a full member of his family (the Feast of the Holy Family will come soon, after the Feast of the Epiphany on the 6th). So honored is His Holy Name that devout Catholics bow their heads (men removing their hats) at the sound of "Jesus" (or "Iesus" in Latin), both inside and outside of the liturgy. To protect the sacredness and honor due the Holy Name, when hearing the Name of the Lord taken in vain, it is right to pray "Sit nomen Dómini benedíctum!" ( "Blessed be the Name of the Lord"), to which the reply, if overheard, is "Ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum!" ("from this time forth for evermore!"). .
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2012/01/the-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus.html 
And here are the thoughts of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (who wrote the hymn "Iesu Dulcis Memoria" which is sung today) on the most holy Name of Jesus:
The sweet Name of Jesus produces in us holy thoughts, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, begets good works, and nourishes pure affections. All spiritual food leaves the soul dry, if it contain not that penetrating oil, the Name Jesus. When you take your pen, write the Name Jesus: if you write books, let the Name of Jesus be contained in them, else they will possess no charm or attraction for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the Name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without charm. Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all diseases of the soul. Are you troubled? think but of Jesus, speak but the Name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? so that you fear death? invoke the Name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy Name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name. Are you surrounded by sorrow and danger? invoke the Name of Jesus, and your fears will vanish.

Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing, who invoked this help-giving Name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was given us for the cure of all our ills; to soften the impetuosity of anger, to quench the fire of concupiscence, to conquer pride, to mitigate the pain of our wounds, to overcome the thirst of avarice, to quiet sensual passions, and the desires of low pleasures. If we call to our minds the Name of Jesus, it brings before us His most meek and humble heart, and gives us a new knowledge of His most loving and tender compassion. The Name of Jesus is the purest, and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of names, the Name of all blessings and of all virtues; it is the Name of the God-Man, of sanctity itself. To think of Jesus is to think of the great, infinite God Who, having given us His life as an example, has also bestowed the necessary understanding, energy and assistance to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts, inclinations, words and actions. If the Name of Jesus reaches the depths of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue there. We say, therefore, with our great master, St. Paul the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.
Read more about devotion to the Holy Name here.
 
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2012/01/the-feast-of-the-most-holy-name-of-jesus.htm
Before I was a Catholic, I didn’t put much stock in the name of Jesus.  Sure, I knew that Mary had been told to name her son this by the angel Gabriel. I kind of knew that Isaiah had mentioned a name, and that it was Immanuel which, according to the Matthew, meant “God with us.”
Remarks of St. Bernard on the Sweet Name of Jesus
The holy name of Jesus produces holy thoughts in us, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, lets good works bloom, and nourishes pure affections. All nourishment leaves our soul dry, if it contains not that penetrating oil, the name Jesus. When you take up your pen, write the name Jesus: you may make books, but if the name of Jesus is not in them, you are without strength and flavor for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without charm.
Yes, it must be owned: Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all the ills of the soul. Art thou troubled? Think but of Jesus, speak but the name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Hast thou fallen into sin? and doest thou fear the net of death? Invoke the name of Jesus, and soon wilt thou feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness, resists this holy name; no heart is so closed that it is not moved, and opens not in tears, to the name of Christ Jesus.
Art thou surrounded by sorrow and danger? Invoke the name of Jesus, and thy fears will vanish. Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing, who invoked this helpgiving name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was given us for the cure of all our ills; it softens the impetuosity of anger, the tire of concupiscence, the movements of pride, the smart of our wounds, the thirst of avarice, the sensual passions, and the desires of low pleasures.
If we call it to our minds, the very name of Jesus brings before us the most meek and humble heart of Jesus, and gives us a new knowledge of the most loving and tender compassion that ever yet was seen. The name of Jesus Christ, the purest and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of men, of the God-Man, of sanctity itself, the name of all blessings and of all virtues! To think of Jesus is to think of the infinite great God, who, while He has given His life as an example to ours, has also given us the needful understanding and energy, and the assistance necessary to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts and inclinations, and in our words and actions.
If the name of Jesus reaches the depths of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue there. We say, therefore, with our great master, St. Paul, the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, (i. Cor. xvi. 22.)

Benedict XVI - Infancy Narratives - The Great Sign! (Isaiah 7:14)

In Isaiah 7, the prophet goes out to meet Ahaz


COMMENT: 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William W ...
To: Donald ....
Sent: Wednesday, 2 January 2013, 16:28
Subject: Re: Benedict XVI - Infancy Narratives - The Great Sign!

Dear Father Donald,
 
I am taken by you back to a passage where I lost connection with Bendict's train of thought [I had used the word 'deviation'!], and so you have given me the motivation to try to follow the reasoning behind this excursive section, the historical - or indeed otherwise! - circumstances of the origin of the prophecy of the great sign (Isaiah 7:14):
 
Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 
 
I believe that Benedict outlines the historical background in his wish to establish that the famous quotation from Isaiah was drawn from within the context of faith, relating to a decision that ultimately rested upon faith, thus of a kind that is fully justified as prophecy. Before he considers whether it could indeed be applied to the birth of the Messiah, he quietly denounces Ahaz's refusal of a sign ("the prophet is not deterred"); a refusal, for Ahaz had already made up his mind to take the political gamble of an Assyrian alliance. Thus when Benedict raises the legitimacy of the quotation as a reference to the Messiah, he has neatly contrasted Ahaz's obstinacy before God with Joseph's acceptance of the prophecy!
 
I can now see why Benedict made the excursion, for it lays the foundation for his examination of the NT rendering of the passage. On page 48 last paragraph, having described how "the entire Christian tradition" understands the passage, he asks "But is that how Isaiah understood the prophetic sign?" Here Benedict can now draw on the historicity of the prophecy he has outlined, and lead us into an examination of all attempts to provide an historical context for the passage, finding that none of the interpretations are convincing, removing the obvious argument that such prophecies were only relevant to their time! And then he asks (page 50)..."So what are we to say? The passage about the virgin who gives birth to Emmanuel, like the great Suffering Servant song in Isaiah 53, is a word in waiting. There is nothing in its own historical context to correspond to it. So it remains an open question: it is addressed not merely to Ahaz. Nor is it addressed merely to Israel. It is addressed to humanity. The sign that God himself announces is given not for a specific situation, but it concerns the whole history of humanity."
 
His final conclusion is now all the clearer to me: "Indeed", he writes, "I believe that in our own day, we can share anew this sense of astonishment at the fact that a saying from the year 733 B.C., incomprehensible for so long, came true at the moment of the conception of Jesus Christ - that God did indeed give us a great sign intended for the whole world."
  
It is truly the vital piece of the jigsaw that fits exactly and completes the picture of the infancy narratives!
 
Thank you - what a fascinating excursion!
 
With my love in Our Lord,
William

From: Donald ...
To: William J ....
Sent: Wednesday, 2 January 2013, 13:26
Subject: Fw: Benedict XVI - Infancy Narratives - AGAIN and Ahaz
  • Grappling with Benedict, Matthew and Ahaz page 45-47 and on.

    Dear William,
    I read and re-read these pages.
    I will need to study Pagina Sacra, or with more time or other illumination.
    Day Nine of Christmas - fare and music and siesta.
    Deo Gratias
    Donald .   

    Jesus of Nazareth, Benedict xvi
    THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF JESUS ACCORDING TO MATTHEW p. 46

    ... leads quite spontaneously to obedience. Even if hitherto he had puzzled over his various options, now he knows what the right course of action is. Being a just man he follows God's commands, as Psalm 1 says. 
    At this point, we must examine the proof from Scripture that Matthew presents, which has become the object (how could it be otherwise?) of extensive exegetical debate. The verse is as follows: "All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a sonand his name shall be called Emmanuel,' which means, God with us" (Mt 1:22£; c£ Is 7:14)This prophetic saying, which Matthew makes into one of the key Christological statements, we will first attempt to understand in its original historical context, and then we will try to see how the mystery of Jesus Christ is reflected in it.
    Exceptionally, we are able to date this verse from Isaiah quite precisely. It comes from the year'733 B.CThe Assyrian King Tiglat-Pileser In had quashed the beginnings of an uprising by the Syro-Palestinian states by means of a surprise campaign. King Rezin of Damascus/Syria and King Pekah of Israel then formed a coalition against the great Assyrian power. Since they could not persuade King  Ahaz of Judah to enter their alliance, they decided to take to the field against the Jerusalem king, in order to force his country into their coalition.
    46
    Understandably,   Ahaz and his people were fearful in the face of the enemy alliance; the heart of the king and his people trembled "as the trees of the forest shake before the wind" (Is 7:2). Nevertheless   Ahaz, who was evidently a clever and coldly calculating politician, maintained his pre­vious line: he did not want to enter an anti-As Syrian alliance, which he evidently thought had no chance of success in view of the vast superiority of the superpower. Instead, he concluded a protection treaty with Assyria, which on the one hand guaranteed him security and saved his country from destruction, but on the other hand demanded, as a price, the worship of the protecting power's national gods.
    After   Ahaz had concluded the treaty with Assyria, despite Isaiah's warningsan altar was indeed built on the As­syrian model in the Temple at Jerusalem (c£ 2 Kings 16:lIff.; cfKaiserIsaiah 1-12, P: 149n.). At the time of the episode related in the Isaiah passage that Matthew quotes, this had yet to happen. But it was clear that if   Ahaz was going to conclude this treaty with the great king of Assyria, it meant that as a politician he trusted more in the power of theking than in the power of God, which evidently did not strike him as sufficiently realSo what was at stake here was ultimately not a political problem, but a question of faith.
    Isaiah tells the king that he need not fear the two "smouldering stumps of firebrands," Syria and Israel (Ephraim), and that there is therefore no reason for the protection treaty with Assyria: he should rely on faith, not on political calcu-
    47 



Monday 31 December 2012

COMMENT: Feast of Holy Family, Joseph of David


In the Christmas Octave, Joseph of David has attracted special prayer at our Manger.
Feast of the Holy Family. "Joseph love Jesus". He is the Joseph of the Family,
Vespers Antiphons highlight the Joseph of David, (Jacob was the father of Joseph).
And meanwhile the Pope highlights a focus on Joseph, "THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF JESUS ACCORDING TO MATTHEW.

"In contrast to Luke, Matthew relates it exclusively from the perspective of Saint Joseph, who as a descendant of David represents the link between the figure of Jesus and the Davidic promise. "


Jesusof Nazareth
The Infancy Narratives
Joseph Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI
Translated by Philip J. Whitmore Chapter III p.38

The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem
.... 
THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF JESUS ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
After considering Luke's annunciation narrative, we must now turn our attention to the tradition handed down in Matthew's Gospel regarding the same event. In contrast to Luke, Matthew relates it exclusively from the perspective of Saint Joseph, who as a descendant of David represents the link between the figure of Jesus and the Davidic promise.
Matthew begins by telling us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. According to the prevailing Jewish law, betrothal already established a juridical bond between the two parties, so that Mary could be called Joseph's wife, even though he had not yet taken her into his home-the step which estab­lished the married state. While betrothed, "the woman still lived in her parents' home and remained under the patria potestas. After a year, her husband would take her into his home, thereby sealing the marriage" (Gnilka, Das Matthiiusevangelium) p .. I7). Now Joseph had to come to terms with the fact that Mary "was with child of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:18)'
With regard to the child's origin, Matthew is anticipating something here that J oseph does not yet know. J oseph has to assume that Mary has broken their engagement, and according to the law he must dismiss her. He has a choice be­tween a public juridical act and a private form. He can bring Mary before the court or he can issue her with a private writ of divorce. Joseph decides on the latter option, in order not "to put her to shame" (1:19). Matthew sees in this choice an indication that [oseph was "a just man."
The designation of Jose ph as a just man (zaddik) extends far beyond the decision he takes at this moment: it gives an overall picture of Saint Joseph and at the same time it aligns him with the great figures of the Old Covenant-beginning with Abraham, the just. If we may say that the form of piety found in the New Testament can be summed up in the expression Ha believer," then the Old Testament idea of a whole life lived according to sacred Scripture is summed up in the idea of Ha just man."
Psalm 1 presents the classic image of the "just" man. We might well think of it as a portrait of the spiritual figure of Saint Joseph. A just man, it tells us, is one who maintains living contact with the word of God, who H delights in the law of the Lord" (v. 2). He is like a tree, planted beside the flowing waters, constantly bringing forth fruit. The flowing waters, from which he draws nourishment, naturally refer to the living word of God, into which he sinks the roots of his being. God's will is not a law imposed on him from without, it is "joy." For him the law is simply Gospel, good news, because he reads it with a personal, loving openness to God and in this way learns to understand and live it from deep within.
If Psalm 1 sees it as the mark of the just man, the "happy man," that he lives by the Torah, the word of God, the parallel passage in Jer 17:7 calls "blessed" the one "who puts his trust in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord." This text brings out more strongly than the psalm the personal character of righteousness-the trust in God that gives man hope. Although neither passage speaks explicitly of the "just" but rather of the "happy" or the "blessed," we may still regard them, with Hans-Joachim Kraus, as providing the authentic Old Testament image of the just man, and so we can learn from them what Matthew means when he describes Saint Joseph as "just." .
This image of the man with roots in the living waters of God's word, whose life is spent in dialogue with God and who therefore brings forth constant fruit-this image becomes concrete in the event recounted here, as well as in everything we are subsequently told about Joseph of Nazareth. After the discovery that Joseph made, his task was to interpret' and apply the law correctly. He does so with love: he does not want to give Mary up to public shame. He wishes her well, even in the hour of his great disappointment. He does not embody the form of externalized legalism that Jesus denounces in Mt 23 and that Paul opposes so
40
strenuously. He lives the law as Gospel. He seeks the path that brings law and love into a unity. And so he is inwardly prepared for the new, unexpected and humanly speaking incredible news that comes to him from God.
Whereas the angel "came" to Mary (Lk 1:28), he merely appears to Joseph in a dream-admittedly a dream that is real and reveals what is real. Once again this shows us an essential quality of the figure of Saint Joseph: his capacity to perceive the divine and his ability to discern. Only a man who is inwardly watchful for the divine, only someone with a real sensitivity for God and his ways, can receive God's message in this way. And an ability to discern was necessary in order to know whether it was simply a dream or whether God's messenger had truly appeared to him and addressed him.
The message conveyed to [oseph is overwhelming, and it demands extraordinarily courageous faith. Can it be that God has really spoken, that what Joseph was told in the dream was the truth-a truth so far surpassing anything he could have foreseen? Can it be that God has acted in this way toward a human creature? Can it be that God has now launched a new history with men? Matthew has already said that Joseph "inwardly considered" (enthymethintos) the right way to respond to Mary's pregnancy. So we can well imagine his inner struggle now to make sense of this breathtaking
41
dream-message: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20).
 Joseph is explicitly addressed as son of David, which also serves to indicate the task assigned to him in this event: as heir to the Davidic promise, he is to bear witness to God's faithfulness. "Do not be afraid" to take on this task, one that might well arouse fear. "Do not be afraid"-the very words that the angel of the annunciation had spoken to Mary. By means of this same exhortation from the angel, Joseph is now drawn into the mystery of God's incarnation.
After the message about the child's conception through the power of the Holy Spirit, Joseph is entrusted with a further task: "Mary will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). Together with the instruction to take Mary as his wife, Joseph is asked to give a name to the child and thus legally to adopt it as his. It is the same name that the angel indicated to Mary as the name of the child: Jesus. The name Jesus (Jeshua) means "YHWH is salvation." The divine messenger who spoke to Joseph in the dream explains the nature of this salvation: "He will save his people from their sins."
On the one hand, then, a lofty theological task is assigned to the child, for only God can forgive sins. So this child is immediately associated with God, directly linked with
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God's holy and saving power. On the other hand, though, this definition of the Messiah's mission could also appear disappointing. The prevailing expectations of salvation were primarily focused upon Israel's concrete sufferings on the reestablishment of the Davidic kingdom, on Israel's freedom and independence, and naturally that included material prosperity for this largely impoverished people. The promise of forgiveness of sins seems both too little and too much: too much, because it trespasses upon God's exclusive sphere; too little, because there seems to be no thought of Israel’s concrete suffering or its true need for salvation.
So this passage already anticipates the whole debate over Jesus' Messiahship: has he now redeemed Israel, or is everything still as it was before? Is the mission, as lived by Jesus, the answer to the promise, or is it not? Certainly it does not match the immediate expectations of Messianic salva­tion nurtured by men who felt oppressed not so much by their sins as by their sufferings, their lack of freedom, the wretched conditions of their existence.
Jesus himself poignantly raised the question as to where the priority lies in man's need for redemption on the occasion when the four men, who could not carry the paralytic through the door because of the crowd, let him down from the roof and laid him at Jesus' feet. The sick man's very existence was a plea, an urgent appeal for salvation, to which Jesus responded in a way that was quite contrary to the ex-
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pectation of the bearers and of the sick man himself, saying: "My son, your sins are forgiven" (Mk 2:5). This was the last thing anyone was expecting. This was the last thing they were concerned about. The paralytic needed to be able' to walk, not to be delivered from his sins. The scribes criticized the theological presumption of Jesus' words: the sick man and those around him were disappointed, because Jesus had apparently overlooked the man's real need.
I consider this whole scene to be of key significance for the question of Jesus' mission, in the terms with which it was first described in the angel's message to Joseph. In the passage concerned, both the criticism of the scribes and the silent expectation of the onlookers is acknowledged. Jesus then demonstrates his ability to forgive sins by ordering the sick man to take up his pallet and walk away healed. At the same time, the priority of forgiveness for sins as the founda­tion of all true healing is clearly maintained.
Man is a relational being. And if his first, fundamental relationship is disturbed-his relationship with God-then nothing else can be truly in order. This is where the priority lies in Jesus' message and ministry: before all else, he wants to point man toward the essence of his malady, and to show him-if you are not healed there, then however many good things you may find, you are not truly healed.
In this sense, the explanation of Jesus' name that was offered to Joseph in his dream already contains a fundamental
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clarification of how man's salvation has to be understood and hence what the Saviour's essential task must be.
After the angel's annunciation to Joseph of the virginal con­ception and birth of Jesus, Matthew adds two further statements that complete his narrative.
First he shows that these happenings had been foretold by the Scriptures. This is a characteristic feature of his Gospel: for all essential events, to adduce a "proof from Scripture"-to make it clear that the words of Scripture anticipate these events and inwardly prepare the way for them. Matthew demonstrates that the ancient words come true in the story of Jesus. But at the same time he shows that the story of Jesus is true: that is to say, it proceeds from the word of God, by which it is sustained and brought about.
After the Scriptural quotation, Matthew brings the story to a close. He recounts that Joseph awoke from sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had instructed him. He took Mary home as his wife, but did not "know" her until she had given birth to the Son. This underlines once more that the Son is begotten not from him but from the Holy Spirit. Finally the evangelist adds: "He called his name Jesus" (Mt 1:25).
Once again Joseph is presented to us, in quite practi­cal terms, as a "just" man: his inner watchfulness for God, which enables him to receive and understand the message,
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leads quite spontaneously to obedience. Even if hitherto he had puzzled over his various options, now he knows what the right course of action is. Being a just man he follows God's commands, as Psalm 1 says.
At this point, we must examine the proof from Scripture that Matthew presents, which has become the object (how could it be otherwise?) of extensive exegetical debate. The verse is as follows: "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel,' which means, God with us" (Mt 1:22£; c£ Is 7:14). This prophetic saying, which Matthew makes into one of the key Christo­logical statements, we will first attempt to understand in its original historical context, and then we will try to see how the mystery of Jesus Christ is reflected in it.
....... 
Come to the manger every day for lessons


16 Dec 2012
HE AND i, Gabrielle B. Christmas grace. 1947 December 25 - "You mustn't be afraid of aiming at perfection, since I am with you and I have lived it, and since it gives Me great joy to look after you. You see you are not alone; ...


At Bethlehem do you think that Joseph could forget this two treasures for a single instant? His whole heart was centred on them.
 Be like him.  (...)

Sink down deep into the thought of My humility as a little child.
 I became humble for your sake.

Would you like to come to the manger every day for lessons?
Every day right up to the Purification?
I give you a rendezvous there.
 Call it a rendezvous of love.

My love wants to bestow on you My adorning jewels.
 These are My virtues and they are so powerful that even the worldly admire them.
 But you must let yourself be adorned.
 You must turn your will to your highest good."