BL3: THE BEAUTY OF JESUS’ HUMANITY (MYSTERY FAMILY LIFE)´

THE CHRISTMAS STORY

• They went to Bethlehem for a Roman Census, to register their household

• She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

• Shepherds

• I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

• And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying

LESSONS FROM THE NATIVITY SCENE

1. Cave

2. Manger

3. Swaddling clothes

4. Ass and ox

5. Nursing milk

6. 3 shepherds

Cave

Inhabited by livestock

Manger

Feeder for livestock

Swaddling clothes

Clothing staple for infants born in poor families

Ass and ox

Substitute for fireplace

Nursing milk

Little but sufficient

3 shepherds

The infant Jesus’ VIPs

WHAT DO THE LESSONS FROM THE NATIVITY SCENE MEAN?

• Poverty and humility

  • That through poverty, emphasize humility more

  • Mystics to whom the blessed mother appeared (like Sts. Bernard and Peter Damian) often said that the lord chose a lowly and humble life to teach and demonstrate the radical message of the kingdom of god

  • The shepherd recognized the savior’s majesty in poverty

  • His birth exalts the humble while the arrogant ones are put to shame

LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY OF NAZARETH

1. The Holy Family is composed of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

2. The Holy Family takes after the Holy Trinity's "communion of love." 

The Holy Family is composed of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

• God has chosen a "family" to be the training ground for his physical, mental, & spiritual maturity.

• The poverty of the Holy Family highlighted all the more God's mercy & justice

• Jesus sanctified the family and made it a school of deeper humanity

The Holy Family takes after the Holy Trinity's "communion of love."

• God is at the center of the loving relationship, literally & figuratively

• Although Mary and Joseph's faith is in the process of journeying (they at times do not understand the words of the child Jesus), they provided an environment for the child Jesus to prepare for his public ministry

HOLY FAMILY AS A BUILDER OF COMMUNION (LESSONS FROM THE HOLY FAMILY DYNAMICS)

1. The pride & disobedience of Adam and Eve destroyed all forms of communion.

2. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph reveals and realizes communion through humility and obedience

3. The recorded acts of Jesus' childhood & youth are acts of obedience. The special duty of children is to honor their parents.

4. The human "I" is not made for the "I, alone" but for God's service. Jesus spent 30 years preparing for his public ministry in obedience to his parents.

5. As "God's vice-regents" is to mold the child into obedience.

6. By this, he counters the pride & disobedience of Adam and Eve to God, our Father

God

Honoring your parents is the same as honoring who? 

HOLY FAMILY AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR VOCATION AND MISSION (LESSONS FROM ST. JOSEPH DURING INFANCY AND EARLY LIFE OF JESUS)

• St. Joseph has a humble status. He is righteous, silent worker, protector, and chaste

• An astute follower of God and His Law. He was about to divorce Mary) until the angel commanded not to do it.

• Brought his pregnant wife on a journey to Bethlehem to have the unborn child registered under his name. 

• He had Jesus circumcised on the 8th day of his birth. Jesus becomes part of the Jewish community.

• Listened to the angel's command to stay in Egypt temporarily to escape the massacre of the infants at Judea. 

• Jesus was brought to the Temple as the first-born son to be consecrated. The Holy Family went to the Temple 3x in a year.

• He taught Jesus how to do carpentry for 12 years.

• before the public ministry of Jesus

• wether after Jesus was 12 years old or before Jesus turned 30

Joseph died?

HOLY FAMILY AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR VOCATION AND MISSION (LESSONS FROM MARY DURING INFANCY AND EARLY LIFE OF JESUS)

• obedient and humble

• She said her unwavering yes to divine motherhood.

• Although exalted by her cousin, Elizabeth, Mary sang praises to God instead: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

• Thanks to her preparedness, the infant Jesus was covered in swaddling clothes. She held him to her bosom and nursed him even if she had little milk

• Went to Egypt following the Angel's command to Joseph

• Even if she didn't need to be purified, she chose to obey the Mosaic Law.

• When Jesus was 12, he was presented to the Temple as a sign that he was handed over to God

• "Do whatever he tells you." She was instrumental in the first nature miracle of Jesus. She knew that there's no turning back in Jesus' public ministry once the miracle is performed.

• Bore her sorrows patiently until the end of Jesus' public ministry.

1. for consecration

2. purification

Mary went to the temple even is she didn’t need to because?

two pigeons

Mary offered what in the temple?

HOLY FAMILY AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR VOCATION AND MISSION (THE CHILD JESUS AS OUR MODEL TO HOLINESS, VOCATION, AND MISSION)

• There was but one, the Son of God who wished to be the Son of Man, that he might be a humble servant, and obey a man and woman as their servant. He was subject to them. - St. Peter of Chrysologus

• He grew in wisdom and in stature (Luke 2:52) through obedience. 

APPLICATION HOLY FAMILY AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR VOCATION AND MISSION (THE CHILD JESUS AS OUR MODEL TO HOLINESS, VOCATION, AND MISSION)

1. Obedience to the Law of Nature

2. Obedience to Parents

3. Obedience to Parents

Obedience to the Law of Nature

• Harnessed the human and experimental knowledge

• Went through the phases of physical & cognitive development

• Used familiar & cultural objects/references to illustrate the Kingdom of God.

Obedience to Parents

• Mental maturity

• Taught that humility makes one the greatest in the Kingdom of God.

• Dignified or gave value to work.

Obedience to the Will of the Father

• Spiritual maturity

• Obedient to the redemptive work his Father made him do until death