All is Calm, All is Bright - But Not For Long

Years ago a friend of mine was with his nephew in the card department of a store at Christmas time.  The nephew (around 12 at the time) was shocked to hear a boy about his age ask his Dad, “Who is this baby on all the cards?”  My friend’s nephew went to Catholic School and had been taken to Sunday Mass by his parents since he was an infant.  He could not understand how someone could live in Canada and not know that the baby on Christmas cards was Jesus.

Today it is more common to find Christmas cards with Santa, Christmas trees and poinsettas than a picture of a baby on them.  We who have grown up in families that attend church services are so used to seeing pictures of the baby Jesus and hearing carols about singing angels, shepherds and wise men, Mary, Joseph and Jesus that they seem commonplace. Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm, all is bright - it is a picture that comes to our minds all through Christmas season.  But it didn’t take long for things to take an ugly turn.  You might say all hell broke loose.

St. Matthew is the only Gospel writer who tells us the story of the men from the east who came to Jerusalem to find a baby born to be king of the Jews.  They are called ‘wise men’ by St. Matthew -some think they were astrologers possibly because they had followed a star. Traditionally there are three because they brought three gifts to the baby - gold, frankincense and myrrh - but there could have been more or or even less than three.  It is said they were ‘wise men from the East’, but no one knows where they came from.

In Jerusalem, the travellers visited Herod the Great who strived to stay on the right side of the Roman rulers and was doing quite well at it, thank you.  Herod had built a palace at Caesarea Maritima (in honour of Caesar Augustus) and though he maintained he was a Jew, did everything he could to stay in Caesar’s good graces.  Caesar Augustus claimed the title ‘Son of god’ for himself as his stepfather, Julius Caesar was worshipped by the Romans as god.  When, years later, Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was, St. Peter answered, “You are the Son of the living God.’ that is, not the son of a dead god, Julius Caesar.

Herod the Great was a ruthless man who murdered anyone who got in his way, including his own wife and sons.  When Herod heard from the visitors that there had been a baby born who was to be King of the Jews, he felt his place as ‘king’ was seriously threatened.  He found out that Bethlehem was the insignificant town that the prophet Micah, who had prophesied 700 years earlier, would be the birthplace of ‘...a ruler who will govern my people Israel.’ (Micah 5:2).  And so that is where Herod advised the men to go and cunningly told them to bring him news about the baby so that he could go and worship him, too.  The wise men did not suspect Herod’s intentions, so perhaps they were not all that wise after all.

The men did find the baby with his mother Mary and Joseph now in a house in Bethlehem and presented him with the three gifts, gold (because he was a King), frankincense (because he was a priest) and myrrh (because he would die).  Fortunately, God warned them not to return to Herod, and they went back to their country by a different route.

Joseph also had a dream that was that he should flee to Egypt with the child and his mother because Herod was planning to find the child and destroy him.

Herod was not happy about being tricked by the wise men and sent his soldiers to kill all the boys under two years old and under in Bethlehem.  Does this mean that the story of the wise men’s visit could have been up to two years after Jesus’ birth?  As Bethlehem was a small town, there may not have been that many boys killed, but their mothers surely wept for them.  “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled because they were no more.”  They are remembered as the Holy Innocents and the first martyrs.

The Holy Family stayed in Egypt until they heard that Herod the Great had died.

Jesus continued to be in danger throughout his life.  Like Herod, the Devil (or Satan or whatever you like to call the embodiment of all evil) does not like to lose his role as ‘ruler of the world’.  Herod’s son, also King Herod, had St. John the Baptist the forerunner of the Messiah, killed.  Several times people tried to kill Jesus, and finally, they did succeed.  The charge was blasphemy - he claimed to be God.  The joke is he is God, and it was God’s plan for him to die in order to save us all along!  Jesus conquered death by his death and resurrection.

Today, those who believe Jesus is God are often denounced, laughed at, made fun of and sometimes, also killed.  Yes, one could say, “all hell broke loose” and still is. But, in the end, the devil will have no greater success than Herod did.

Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity

The history of Bethlehem goes back to the time of Jacob and Rachel. The town is important to Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Bethlehem is situated eight kilometers (five miles) south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills and is 2361 feet above sea level. Today it is a Palestinian territory with both Muslims and Christians seeing themselves as Palestinians.
Bethlehem means ‘house of bread,’ in Hebrew and ‘house of meat,’ in Arabic. ‘House of Bread’ is meaningful to Christians who believe that Jesus is the Bread of Life. For Catholics and Orthodox Christians, the Eucharist (the bread shared in Communion) after consecration is the real body of Jesus.
'I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh' John 6:51

Not far away is Rachel’s Tomb, revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians. Rachel was Jacob’s most beloved wife and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
“So Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, at Bethlehem.” Gen 35:19

Ruth, the Moabite Woman
We also read of Bethlehem in Scripture in the Book of Ruth, a story that takes place during the time of the Judges. Ruth, a Moabite woman, was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Naomi and her husband had fled Bethlehem in the land of Judah during a famine. After her husband and sons died, Naomi returned to Bethlehem and Ruth went with her, accepting her mother-in-law’s country and God as her own. Ruth married again, this time to an important landowner of Bethlehem, Boaz, and they became the ancestors of King David and eventually, Jesus.
“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife ... and she bore a son ... and they named him Obed. This was the father of David’s father, Jesse.” Ruth 4:13 ff

The City of David
Bethlehem was King David’s birthplace and is called ‘The city of David’. David was the second King of Israel in c.1000 BC.
“David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah whose name was Jesse.” I Sam 17:12

Years later, the prophet Micah, who lived in the 8th century BC, prophesied that a ruler would be born in the small, and by then, unimportant town of Bethlehem.
“But you Bethlehem, Ephrath, the least of all the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel.” Micah 5:2

Birthplace of Jesus
The Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke, report that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth in Galilee, in the north. The Romans had called for a census and everyone was to travel to his ancestral city to be registered.
“So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and traveled up to Judea, to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.” Luke 2:3
Two Church Fathers attest to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Justin Martyr (c. 100- 165 AD) and Origen (185-c.254).
“Joseph took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth Christ and placed Him in a manger and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him.” Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho. chapter LXXVIII)
“In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where He was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the rumor is in those places, and among foreigners of the Faith, that indeed Jesus was born in this cave who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians.” (Origen Contra Celsum. book I, chapter LI)

The Church of the Holy Nativity
St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, travelled to the Holy Land to find places which had been significant in the life of Jesus. She had the grotto, where people said Jesus had been born, made into a chapel and in AD 333 construction was completed on the basilica. This structure was destroyed by fire in AD529 during the Samaritan Revolt and the present Basilica was built in AD565. The entrance to the Basilica is a very low doorway known as the Door of Humility. Some say that the real purpose of the low door was to prevent enemies riding their horses into the sacred place,
The actual place that is believed to be the site of Jesus' birth is marked by a 14-point silver star set in marble on which are written the words Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus est (Here the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ). The Church is now administered by Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic (Franciscans) and Armenian Apostolic authorities and is visited by thousands of pilgrims each year from all over the world.

Bethlehem Today
Today the town of Bethlehem is under the control of The Palestinian Authority and has been since 1995. Both Christians and Muslims count themselves as Palestinian but the majority are Arab Muslims. Many of the Christian Arabs have left in the past few years depleting the population of Christians. The total population of Bethlehem is 27,000.
Citizens of Bethlehem, including Muslims, depend on tourism and Christian pilgrimages for their livelihood.

Sources
The New Jerusalem Bible New York: Doubleday & company, Inc. 1970.
The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version.
Website of BBC News Church with a Turbulent History. 4 April 2002. Accessed December 14, 2010.
Website of New Advent – Catholic Encyclopedia. article on Bethlehem accessed December 15, 2010.
Website of Wikipedia – article on Bethlehem. accessed December 15, 2010.
Terra Sancta, Documentary (2009) by the Franciscan Media Centre aired on Salt and Light Television, December 17, 2013.
Photo by L. Shelstad

The Immaculate Conception: what does it mean?

Meeting at the Golden Gate, Giotto.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8, is often confused with the Virgin Birth. 
Some think that the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus’ conception by the Holy Spirit. Jesus being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary without a human father is known as the Virgin Birth, not the Immaculate Conception.
Neither does the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception mean that Mary was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit or that her own birth was a ‘virgin birth’. In the 4th century there was a popular belief that Mary’s birth was a virgin birth and in the 16th century the belief that she was born of the Holy Spirit circulated. The Church condemned both of these beliefs as error in 1677.
The famous painting, “The Meeting at the Golden Gate”, by Giotto, depicts Joachim kissing his wife, Anna as they celebrate the knowledge that they will be parents. Some interpreted the kiss as the moment of conception. The actual Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception does not say anything about the generative act of Mary’s mother and father. Most theologians, today, believe that Mary was conceived in the usual manner.

In the proclamation, Ineffabilis Deus of December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX defined the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception as follows: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was from the first moment of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted of almighty God, and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

Some object to the doctrine because it seems to contradict St. Paul who says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Did Paul mean that everyone actually commits sins - even infants? Or could he have meant that everyone is subject to original sin, which then does not contradict the fact of Mary’s being preserved from original sin.
Examining the doctrine of the Catholic Church more closely, we see that like all descendants of Adam, Mary by her humanity, was subject to original sin. Because she was to be the mother of the Christ, God intervened in a special way and preserved her soul from the stain of that sin and its consequences. This intervention was ‘in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race”. Mary was then, saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus, as are all believers, but in ‘anticipation’ of those events. She said, ‘yes’ to God and accepted His will for her life. Because she was redeemed by Christ, she could declare in her Magnificat, “My spirit rejoices in Christ, my Saviour” (Luke 1:47).

The angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary, "Hail, Mary, full of grace", (Luke 1:26) is said to point to her sinlessness ie fullness of grace.

Others point out that this is a doctrine that sprang up out of nowhere when it was declared in 1854 and was not believed by the early church. An examination of the writings of the Church Fathers in the very early years of the Church will show:
- that the Church Fathers spoke of the Virgin Mary’s “exemption from defilement” (Hippolytus, “Ontt. in illud, Dominus pascit me”) Hippolytus ?-AD236
-that she was “worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate” (Origen, “Homily i, in diversa”) Origen AD185-254
-that she was “immune through grace from every stain of sin (Ambrose, “Sermon xxii in Psalm cxviii). Ambrose c. AD337-397.
The theologian, Duns Scotus, developed the idea: "Decuit, potuit, ergo fecit, it was becoming that the Mother of the Redeemer should have been free from the power of sin and from the first moment of her existence; God could give her this privilege, therefore He gave it to her".
We see from this small sample of early theologians, that the doctrine of Mary’s preservation from sin was believed very early in the Church.
Early writers also referred to Mary as the ‘Second Eve’. Eve was created without original sin but sinned when she disobeyed God. Like Eve, Mary was without original sin, but unlike Eve, Mary agreed to do God’s will. She is the fulfillment of the proto-evangelium in Genesis 3:15 -16 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head while you strike at his heel.”


In the Catholic Church, Dogmas are defined when there is a controversy over them or when emphasis of a belief already in existence will help the faithful. In other words the belief is not new but is ‘defined’. In the case of the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, there was no controversy at the time it was defined, but Pius IX felt it would help the faithful by inspiring devotion to the Virgin.

Wisemen still seek Him.