Sunday Scripture Readings Discussion 1/1/06

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Gospel
Lk 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the 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.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
 
Also here is another good page:
ewtn.com/Devotionals/inspiration.htm

The day is Mary Mother of God,
In the Gospel reading (and once more later in the chapter it) it says:
" And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart."

I find this passage very interesting in that She recognized these things as extraordinary “we’re not in Kansas anymore” events. I also believe it highlights the special relationship that She has with Her Son, displayed powerfully during the Rosary.
 
Catholic Dude:
The day is Mary Mother of God,
In the Gospel reading (and once more later in the chapter it) it says:
" And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart."

I find this passage very interesting in that She recognized these things as extraordinary “we’re not in Kansas anymore” events. I also believe it highlights the special relationship that She has with Her Son, displayed powerfully during the Rosary.
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For a good article about why we celebrate the fact that Mary is called The Mother of God, go here:

catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0152.html
 
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Fidelis:
For a good article about why we celebrate the fact that Mary is called The Mother of God, go here:

catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0152.html
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Fantastic Article - this needs to be sent to everyone who questions our belief in the Theotokos:
The word Theotokos also helps us to understand this teaching a little better. The word literally means “God bearer,” not “God generator.” To “generate” God would imply that one is His origin, but this cannot be true because God exists from all eternity. To “bear” God means to hold him in one’s womb. Historic Christianity (i.e., the Catholic and Orthodox churches) believes that Mary actually bore God (in the person of Jesus Christ) in her womb. Jesus didn’t “become God” when He left her womb.
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To deny Mary’s divine maternity is to cast doubt on the reality of Jesus’ divinity. Mary’s divine maternity is, then, essentially a “Christological” dogma in that it affirms the divine Personhood of Jesus. To emphasize the profound importance of this teaching, the Church has restored the ancient feast of Mary, Mother of God on January 1.
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Thank again, Fidelis!

Notworthy
 
The DRV Haydock Commentary on this passage:
Ver. 17. They saw this with the eyes of their body, but with their internal eyes they discovered other wonders, viz. that he, who lay there in such great poverty, was their Messias, their great King, and the Son of God. (Barradius)
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Ver. 19. Mary kept all these things, and compared what was accomplished in her, concerning the Lord, with what had been written of him by the prophets. (Ven. Bede) — She considered in her heart the arguments of faith. (St. Ambrose)
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Ver. 21. Should be circumcised; which might be done not only in the temple, or in a synagogue, but in any house. (Witham) — Many reasons may be alleged why our Saviour submitted to the painful and humbling knife of circumcision: 1. to manifest to the whole world the reality of his human nature, and the difference between his divinity and humanity; 2. to shew he approved of circumcision, which he had instituted; 3. to prove that he was of the seed of Abraham; 4. to teach us humility and obedience, by observing the law to which he was not bound; 5. that by receiving the burthen of the law, he might free those that were under the law, (Galatians iii.); and lastly, that the Jews might have no excuse for rejecting him, because he was uncircumcised. (St. Epiphanius and Nicholas of Lyra)
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The Navarre Bible Commentary on this passage:
15-18. The birth of the Savior Messiah is the key event in the history
of mankind, but God wanted it to take place so quietly that the world
went about its business as if nothing had happened. The only people he
tells about it are a few shepherds. It was also to a shepherd, Abraham,
that God gave his promise to save mankind.
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The shepherds make their way to Bethlehem propelled by the sign they
have received. And when they verify it they tell what they heard from
the angel and about seeing the heavenly host. They are the first
witnesses of the birth of the Messiah. “The shepherds were not content
with believing in the happy event which the angel proclaimed to them
and which, full of wonder, they saw for a fact; they manifested their
joy not only to Mary and Joseph but to everyone and, what is more, they
tried to engrave it on their memory. ‘And all who heard it wondered at
what the shepherds told them.’ And why would they not have wondered,
seeing on earth him who is in heaven, and earth and heaven reconciled;
seeing that ineffable Child who joined what was heavenly–divinity–and
what was earthly–humanity–creating a wonderful covenant through this
union. Not only were they in awe at the mystery of the Incarnation, but
also at the great testimony born by the shepherds, who could not have
invented something they had not heard and who publish the truth with a
simple eloquence” (Photius, “Ad Amphilochium”, 155).
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  1. The shepherds hasten because they are full of joy and eager to see
    the Savior. St Ambrose comments: “No one seeks Christ halfheartedly”
    (“Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam., in loc.”). Earlier on, the
    evangelist observed that our Lady, after the Annunciation, “went in
    haste” to see St Elizabeth (Lk 1:39). A soul who has given God entry
    rejoices that God has visited him and his life acquires new energy.
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  1. In very few words this verse tells us a great deal about our Lady.
    We see the serenity with which she contemplates the wonderful things
    that are coming true with the birth of her divine Son. She studies
    them, ponders them and stores them in the silence of her heart. She is
    a true teacher of prayer. If we imitate her, if we guard and ponder in
    our hearts what Jesus says to us and what he does in us, we are well on
    the way to Christian holiness and we shall never lack his doctrine and
    his grace. Also, by meditating in this way on the teaching Jesus has
    given us, we shall obtain a deeper understanding of the mystery of
    Christ, which is how “the Tradition that comes from the Apostles makes
    progress in the Church, with the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a
    growth in insight into the realities and words that are being passed
    on. This comes about in various ways. It comes through the
    contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their
    hearts. It comes from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which
    they experience. And it comes from the preaching of those who have
    received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the
    sure charism of truth” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 8).
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  1. On the meaning and rite of circumcision, see the note on Lk 1:59.
    “Jesus” means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation”, that is, Savior.
    This name was given the Child not as the result of any human decision
    but in keeping with the commandment of God which the angel
    communicated to the Blessed Virgin and to St Joseph (cf. Lk 1:31; Mk
    1:21).
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The Son of God became incarnate in order to redeem and save all men; so
it is very fitting that he be called Jesus, Savior. We confess this in
the Creed: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven.”
“There were indeed many who were called by this name …]. But how
much more appropriate it is to call by this name our Savior, who
brought light, liberty and salvation, not to one people only, but to
all men, of all ages–to men oppressed, not by famine, or Egyptian or
Babylonian bondage, but sitting in the shadow of death and fettered by
the galling chains of sin and of the devil” (“St Pius V Catechism”, I,
36).
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It’s still my pet idea that, unlike the comment in the Navarre bible, the event of Jesus’ birth was quite a historic moment, at least as it is recorded in the gospels.

It is historic and noteworthy, in that the gospel depicts people returning to the place of their births. Which would mean that the Saviour would have arrived at a time when the ancient tribes were momentarily summoned back to their ancestral land, to a considerable extent. The ancestral land was the Promised Land, and there is the Messiah in their midst, in itself a picture of heaven.
 
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