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The Third Joyful Mystery The Nativity
While
they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth
to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them at the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night
watch over their flock. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the
Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to
them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, 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 heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to
those upon whom his favor
rests." When the angels went
away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let
us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing
that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went in haste and
found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in a manger. When they saw this,
they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard
it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary
kept all these
things, reflecting on them in her heart. Luke 2: 6-19 
437
To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah
promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." From the beginning he was "the
one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world", conceived
as "holy" in Mary's virginal womb. God called Joseph to "take
Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit", so that Jesus, "who is called Christ", should
be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David.
525
Jesus
was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple
shepherds were
the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The
Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:
"The
Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal And the earth offers a
cave to
the Inaccessible. The angels and the shepherds praise him And the magi advance
with the
star, For you are born for us, Little Child, God eternal!"
526 To
become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom.
For
this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to
become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or
"born of God." Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery
of
Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous
exchange":
"O marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We
have been made sharers of the divinity of Christ who humbled himself
to share our
humanity."
Catechism of the Catholic Church 437, 525, 526
The Fourth Joyful Mystery The Presentation
in the Temple
When
the days were completed for their purification according to
the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as
it is written in the law of the Lord, "every male that opens the womb shall
be consecrated to the Lord." and to offer the sacrifice of "a pair of
turtledoves or two young pigeons," in accordance with the dictate of the
law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This
man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and
the holy
Spirit
was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see
death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the
temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the
law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now,
Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in the sight of all the
peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and a glory for your people Israel." The
child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and
Simeon
blessed them and said to Mary his mother "Behold, this child is
destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will
be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of
many hearts may be revealed." There was also a prophetess, Anna, the
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a
widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshipped night and
day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave
thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the
redemption of Jerusalem.When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law
of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew
and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was
upon him.
Luke 2: 22-40
527
Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, is the sign
of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the
covenant. It is the sign of his submission to the Law and his deputation
to Israel's worship, in which he will participate throughout his life.
This sign prefigures that "circumcision of Christ" which is
Baptism.
529
The
presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be
the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. With Simeon and Anna, all
Israel awaits
its encounter with the Savior-the name given to this event in
the
Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the "light
unto the nations" and the "glory of Israel," but also "a
sign
that is spoken against." The sword of sorrow predicted for Mary
announces
Christ's perfect oblation on the cross that will impart the salvation
God
"had prepared in the presence of all peoples."
Catechism of the Catholic Church 527, 529
The Fifth Joyful Mystery The Finding
in the Temple
Each year his parents went to
Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve
years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its
days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but
his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for
a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not
finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found
him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking
them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his
answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him,
"Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you
with great anxiety." And he said to them, "Why were you looking
for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?" But
they did
not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them;
and his mother
kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age
and favor before
God and man. Luke 2: 41-52
531
During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the
vast majority
of
human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of
manual labor.
His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, a life
in the
community.From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was
"obedient" to his parents and that he increased in wisdom
and stature, and
in favor with God and man." 532
Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfills the fourth commandment
perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his
Father in heaven.
The everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both
announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not my will..."
The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already
inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed. The
hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with
Jesus by the
most ordinary events of daily life: 533 "The
home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life
of
Jesus--the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence.
May esteem for silence,
that admirable and indispensible condition of mind, revive in us...A
lesson on family
life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of
love, its
austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and
inviolable character...A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the "Carpenter's
Son," in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law
of human work...To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding
up to them their great pattern, their brother who is God."
Pope Paul VI 534
The finding
of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence
of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus.
Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration
to a
mission that flows from his divine sonship: "Did you not know that
I must be
about my Father's work?" Mary and Joseph did not understand these
words,
but they accepted them in faith. Mary "kept all these things in her
heart"
during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary
life.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 531, 532, 533, 534
Hail Holy Queen
Hail, Holy Queen.
Mother of Mercy,
Our life, our sweetness,
And our hope.
To you do we cry,
Poor banished children of Eve.
To you do we send up our sighs,
Mourning and weeping
In this valley of tears.
Turn, then, Most Gracious Advocate,
Your eyes of mercy towards us,
And after this, our exile,
Show unto us
The blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, o loving, o sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of
The promises of Christ.
Amen
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