INFANCY NARRATIVE: JOYFUL MYSTERIES

• BIRTH OF JESUS: Symbolize giving and sharing

• HYPOSTATIC PLAN: Helps us know who Jesus is

• Fulfillment of the divine plan

• The people are eager to know Jesus since kings and leaders from other countries continuously visit Him

• The primary purpose is not to give historical accounts of Jesus’ origin but to bring out the religious significance of the coming of Jesus.

CHRISTMAS SEASON: The season of giving and sharing

GIFTS: Used to testify to the identity and mission of Jesus, Jesus is truly the King of the universe, the son of God who will undergo death to save His people.

• GOLD: Symbol of God

• FRANKINCENSE: Offering to God

• MYRRH: Symbol of Burial

MATTHEW:

• The genealogy of Jesus comes from the line of King David (showing Jesus' royalty is a symbol of His humanity) and Abraham (Jesus is the Messiah and must be an Israelite, a son of Abraham, Jesus is the man who trusts the Father totally and so Abraham our father in faith is His Ancestor) 14 Generations gap, 7 is a symbolic number of fulfillment for the Jews.

• Matthew’s readers were Jewish Christians and the birth of Jesus meant that God had fulfilled His promise to His chosen people.

• Magi and the star (Melchor, Baltazar, Gaspar) Magi are astrologers from Persia, Babylon, or the Arabian desert, Gentiles (embraced Jesus as the Messiah) or Non-Jews (did not recognize Him as the Messiah).

• Family’s flight to Egypt (Similar to how Moses- the liberator and teacher of the Jews of the Sinal Covenant frees the Israelites from the Egyptians, But in the New Testament Jesus is the new liberator and savior) to save Jesus from the slaughter of King Herod of the firstborn sons.

• Egypt is a symbol of the land of slavery for the Chosen people

• Moses and Jesus were both God-chosen people to carry out God’s saving plan

• Announcement of the birth of Jesus was first given to Joseph

  1. Genealogy of Jesus

  2. Birth of Jesus

  3. Visit of the Magi

  4. Flight to Egypt

  5. Massacre of the Infants

  6. Return from Egypt

LUKE:

• LUKE 3:23-38 Luke writes for a Gentile-Christian audience and presents Jesus as the savior of all people

• Anna and Simeon (prophets that were first to herald the significance of Jesus’ birth at the temple which is the very center of Jewish worship and power, their prayers marked the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the era of the New Covenant)

• Shepherds and the angel (Shepherds before did not observe Jewish religious laws and were considered unclean and outcasts of the Jewish Society, Luke wanted to show Jesus’ compassion to the poor, outcasts, and sinners)

• Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth

• Canticle of Mary or Magnificant which refers to the “yes” of Mary

• The genealogy of Jesus Begins with Adam, the first man God created

• The announcement of the birth of Jesus was first given to Mary

  1. Announcement of the birth of John

  2. Announcement of the birth of Jesus

  3. Mary visits Elizabeth- Visitation describes Mary’s quality of faith, a sign of complete surrender and trust in the Word of God, a witness of outgoing service to the needy

  4. Canticle of Mary

  5. Birth of John

  6. Canticle of Zechariah

  7. Birth of Jesus

  8. Visit of the shepherds

  9. Circumcision and Naming of Jesus- Jesus in Hebrew means “God saves”

  10. Presentation in the temple

  11. Boy Jesus in the temple

LUKE AND MATTHEW:

• Jesus is both truly divine and fully human

• Jesus was born from a virgin showing Jesus’ unique birth and His divine nature

• Incarnation derives from the Latin words “en carne” meaning “in flesh” and teaches the truth that the eternal son of God became human and “dwelt among us”, the mystery of incarnation, like resurrection, is unparalleled in human history.

• John and Jesus were born during the rule of King Herod (Scholars say that Jesu is born before 4 BCE, Luke added that the time of Jesus’ birth coincided with the great census decreed by Ceasar Augustus, when Quirinius was governor of Syria)

• Angels brought the good news which symbolizes the holiness of the location and action and symbolizes the birth of the child as God’s action, they point to the divine hand in the birth of the child being announced

• Jesus is circumcised: part of the covenant in the Old Testament, and serves as an offering

• Jesus is presented in the temple and shows his independence as a boy and his specialty and uniqueness

HIDDEN YEARS: 18 Years were unaccounted for and cloaked in mystery, preparation of Jesus for His ministry

• Finding Jesus at the temple

• Jesus was brought up as a practicing Jew and went to the temple regularly

• Refers to Jesus’ “teenage years” and his independence (Jesus at 12 years old)

• Shows Jesus’ awareness of His relationship with God

• Shows the hypostatic union which refers to his divinity and humanity

MESSAGES OF THE HIDDEN YEARS:

• Silence- Helps us know who we are therefore we must give time to be silent

• Family life- We must give importance and invest time with family

• Work- There are things we need to put effort into and learn new values from just like how carpentry helped prepare Jesus for His ministry

• The Gospels are not biographical, but faith documents and are concerned more with Jesus’ public ministry than with His youth

GALATIANS 4:46 “Abba Father”

ARTICLE 3 The Apostles creed (Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, common in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke)

LITURGICAL YEAR Signifies the cycle of Jesus’ life

LITURGICAL SEASON Emphasizes the life of Jesus

FR. RAMON BAUTISTA, S.J:

• God becomes human in Jesus

• Greatest proof

• God refuses to give up on us

ST PAUL VI: Describes the home of Nazareth as the school in which we begin to understand the life of Jesus narrated in the Gospels

PASSION NARRATIVE: SORROWFUL MYSTERY

MESSIAH: This means an anointed or anointed king in Greek, doesn’t necessarily have to die to be considered a Messiah

PERSECUTED: This does not mean someone is automatically a prophet, it may also mean that they have done wrong against others.

GOD’S SAVING WORK: Forgiveness and love.

JESUS: His deeds were “a sign of contradiction” and was thus called a false prophet, in league with Satan, a blasphemer, a glutton, and a drunkard, also explained that the son of man must suffer and die and that God’s plan for Him is to be the Suffering-Servant Messiah in the prophecy of Isaiah

THOMAS: also called Didymus

PREDICTIONS: How Jesus knows his special mission from the Father

1. Suffer, die, and rise after 3 days

2. Betrayal “to be handed over to men”

3. Suffering, mocking, and scourging

PASSOVER: The meal Jesus had with his apostles is also called “The Last Supper” Its symbolism is the slain Paschal lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and cup of wine but in the Last Supper Jesus took the Traditional Jewish Passover meal and created the New Passover with His own body and blood with Jesus as the new Paschal lamb the sacrifice of the New covenant the fullest realization of the process of God’s saving work.

FAREWELL DISCOURSE:

1. Washing of the disciples’ feet (shows Jesus’ whole life of loving service with humility that reaches its climax during His death)

2. Institution of the Holy Eucharist (the term institute is used to describe how Jesus established, originated, and inaugurated the central sacrament, the eucharistic sacrament of His body and blood [Sacrosanctum Concilium 47] )

4 DISCOURSES:

1. Remain in me as I also remain in you

2. Do not let your heart be troubled

3. Love one another as I have loved you

4. I will give my body for you and for many do this in memory of me

4 IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST:

1. Took- Presentation of the gifts

2. Blessed- Eucharistic prayer

3. Broke- Sign of peace

4. Give- Communion

ZACCHAEUS: Shared a table with Jesus

JESUS’ SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS: Jesus offered Himself on the first Good Friday, and is Presented in the mass through the symbol of the consecrated bread and wine

2 IMPORTANT IN HOLY MASS:

1. Liturgy of the word

2. Liturgy of the Eucharist

Mark ends his last supper narrative with the words “Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the mount of olives” (Mk 14:26)- In the mount of olives, in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus’ passion began.

EVENTS:

• Agony in the garden

  • The humanity of Jesus- Jesus suffered and went through the pain

  • Jesus accepting His fate

  • What does death mean to Jesus

  • Jesus as the cop of the new covenant, willingly obeys the will of the Father (that shows his divine nature) because it is part of the salvific plan

  • Give service by being humble, humility is a requirement to give service, if not you will be arrogant.

• Scourging at the pillar

  • Symbolize trials and challenges in our life

• Betrayal of Judas and Arrest of Jesus

  • Judas pointed out Jesus and Kissed him

  • Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver

  • Peter cut the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest, Jesus healed Malchus’ ear

  • Teaches us to have self-restraint and heroic courage of Jesus

  • Jesus knows He is the fulfillment, He was able to accept Judas’ Betrayal

  • The betrayal is the fulfillment of the prophecy and the envisioned Old Testament

  • John’s Gospel shows Jesus’ relationship with God and the divinity of Christ

  • Symbolizes the trials in our life

• Crowning of thorns

  • Symbol of forces of Satan living among us

• Trial of Jesus

  • The trial was only an act to legitimize the condemnation of Jesus

  • The final verdict as a blasphemer with the punishment of crucifixion the harshest

  • punishment in the Roman Empire

    5 TRIALS:

  • ANNAS- High priest from the tribe of Levi, a relative of Caiaphas

  • Caiaphas- Chief of the Sanhedrin (court of the Jews). continuously says that Jesus is a blasphemer and people start to believe Caiaphas because He didn’t follow the Mosaic Law and that He is the Son of God

  • Pilate- A righteous man who is ignorant of Jesus’ death and truly thinks that Jesus is innocent but is afraid of the higher authorities, and follows what the people want

  • Herod- Witnessed Jesus’ whole life, at first he was hesitant to shoulder the final verdict and passed it back to Pilate

  • Pilate- presented Jesus to the people and freed Barbaras (parola- his sentence went down depending on his reputation inside the jail) and passed the final verdict of blasphemy

• Carrying the cross

  • Symbolizes different burdens in life

• Death or Crucifixion

  • Jesus was crucified at the hill of Golgotha which in Aramaic means the place of the skull or calvary (Mount Calvary)

  • Via Dolorosa- Way of sorrows or for Christians it means “long and endless as the road of human sinfulness”

  • Simon of Cyrene- a visiting pilgrim who helped Jesus carry his cross

  • Pilate ordered that on the top of Jesus’ cross, there be inscribed “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews” in Latin, greek, and Hebrew

  • Joseph of Arimathea- asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and Buried it in a tomb and the chief priest and Pharisees secured the tomb with a stone and guards

  • Symbolizes our coping mechanism as a person

  • Sacrificed Himself for our sins

  • It is by His cross that we have been redeemed

  • Jesus taught love to us as self-less love

  • Holy week- last 7 words of Jesus Christ, preparation of Jesus death

  • 3’oclock prayer- Jesus died at 3 pm

LOVE: Sacrificial love

• the most important way to sacrifice for other people

• ends the satanic forces that we created

RESURRECTION NARRATIVE:

PAINTING HOPE:

Cesar Cuyanong “Nakatayo Na, Nakabangon Na” , “wala na itong shop, wala na bahay ko, narito buhay ko…”

Dante Enage: His paintings speak of recovery, hope, and resilience

• Means new life or rising meaning new life of forgiveness and missioning

• Shows the core message of the resurrection

• Helps us know the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection (one is not complete without the other, death is meaningless without resurrection)

HOW OTHERS UNDERSTOOD JESUS’ DEATH:

• Roman Soldiers- routine of execution

• Jewish Leaders- end of fears

• Jesus’ followers- faith devastation

• Jesus Himself- mission accomplishment

• Us- for our sinfulness, to overcome our sins (we have a full understanding of our sinfulness), conquer evil, and bring new life

Original sin: Adam and Eve only

Consequences of the original sin (such as weakness to temptation): Us

TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION:

1. The Risen Lord and Jesus of Nazareth are the same person, which shows the hypostatic identity of Jesus

2. Transformed Jess of Nazareth is the Risen Lord, His body is now glorified

3. Christ did not return to earthly life but has a new, transformed, and glorified life showing death has no power over Jesus

Glorious Mystery:

Ascension: Simply affirms that after His earthly mission, Jesus took His rightful place of honor at “God’s right hand” His ascension is an integral part of Christ’s Paschal Mystery

Assumption and coronation: Mary

VISIT OF THE WOMAN AT THE TOMB (Found in Mt 28:1-10, Mk 16:1-8, Lk24:1-12)

• The women went to anoint Jesus’ body on Easter Sunday

• They found the stone had been rolled away

• Jesus’ body was gone

• a message was given that Jesus had risen

JESUS’ RESURRECTION IS BOTH HISTORICAL AND TRANSHISTORICAL:

1. Historical- Based on the witnesses and testimonies of the Risen Christ in the empty tomb (Mary Magdalene- the first witness of the empty tomb, and Aposles- saw the scars on the hands of Jesus from the crucifixion) The historical witness to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection changed their lives completely, grounded the beginnings of the church, inspired the writing and formation of the new testament and instituted the observance of Sunday as the Lord’s day

2. Transhistorical- leaving the historical conditions of time and space

   No one can explain what “risen glorified existence” is essentially, that is the mystery of Christ

From terrified and fearful followers who deserted Jesus at His arrest became bold witnesses of the risen Lord even to the extent of their martyrdom.

BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH:

• Church was founded on the faith that Jesus is the Risen Lord and is the core of the Christian faith

• We are not bound by blood or cultural ties but by faith in Christ as risen which is a manifestation of a faith empowered by Christ’s Holy Spirit.

• The proclamation of Christ; resurrection is contained in the early sermons founding the acts of the apostles, letters of St. Paul, and in the gospels

• without the resurrection, there would be no gospels, because all four gospels are completely dependent on the unique event of the lord’s resurrection and the presence of the risen Christ.

OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY AS THE LORD’S DAY:

• Early Chuch was predominantly Jewish and believed in the resurrection, which occurred on a Sunday and was the sole reason for transferring the tradition of the Sabbath as the Lord’s Day to Sunday.

• Barnabas, an early priest of the church wrote “We keep the Lord’s day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose from the dead”

SALVIFIC IMPORTANCE AND MEANING OF RESURRECTION (catechism for Filipino Catholics)

• It confirmed everything Christ has done and taught

• It fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies by promising a Savior for all the world through Christ

• It confirmed Jesus’ divinity

• It brought us a share in the new life.

• It is the principle and source of our future resurrection.

PASCHAL PATTERN/MYSTERY:

• Signifies passing over from and through death to new life

2 IMPORTANT THINSG FROM THE PASCHAL PATTERN:

1. Dying- suffering and committing sin

2. Rising- all special decisions in life

In faith, we believe that Jesus has forever changed us and given us a different way of living,

We must become hopeful to overcome temptations in life and overcome our sinfulness as a person.

With the risen lord He consoles us and listens to our prayers of concerns, frustrations joys, etc. because he was once human and he understands how we feel.

Christ’s Resurrection redeemed us from sin, in baptism we are made children of God who are sharers in His divine life. When receiving holy communion, we believe that he is united with us both in body and spirit.

By allowing us to partake in His new and eternal life, we can also look forward to a glorious life at the end of our earthly life where there will be no more pain and suffering.

PASCHAL MYSTERY:

Paschal signifies “passing over from and through death to new life”

consist of Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection, and ascension

HOW DO WE ENTER INTO THE PASCHAL PATTERN OF LIFE FOR OURSELF & OTHERS:

1. Live each day with gratitude and appreciation in our hearts. We are special because we are loved by God who gave up his son to die for the love of each one of us.

2. Be a person of hope. Christianity is a religion of hope, we ought not to despair amid problems, but we look up to Christ who suffered as well in hopes we overcome them like He did.

3. Learn to celebrate life itself by being united. We can grieve on sad events, but celebrate by sharing memories and deep relationships, and draw strength from one another. Every Sunday we are united to the eucharistic celebration where we encounter Jesus sacramentally, and we give thanks to the Lord.

These suggestions may be hard to do, but we experience the reward of a meaningful and happy life as we hope for a glorious life with Jesus at the end of time.