When He was a child

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Oh! Jesus was young, a baby, a child, and so on.

Did He play with toys? Think of what his earthly father could make for Him! Joseph WAS a carpenter.

Did he have pets? Think of his pet dog?

What kind of childhood did Jesus have?

This subject makes me feel so good. He had to be a regular kid… having fun, playing, yes?

Or no?

What are YOUR thoughts?
 
There’s a picture of a pious legend that I love. It shows the Blessed Mother hanging all of the Baby’s white linens on a clothes line, while He is playing naked in the sunlight. The legend is (I think) that every Saturday, the sun will shine at least for a time in memory of the Baby God being clothed by His Mother in clean white linen.

And here is a link to a picture of a statue of the Child Jesus with the Lady and His dog. Scroll to the bottom:

spirituallifeinstitute.org/Holy%20Hill.html
 
Well, according to the Gospel of Thomas…

Just kidding.

I wonder if he played with a dreidel…
 
Starfish said:
Oh! Jesus was young, a baby, a child, and so on.

Did He play with toys? Think of what his earthly father could make for Him! Joseph WAS a carpenter.

Did he have pets? Think of his pet dog?

What kind of childhood did Jesus have?

This subject makes me feel so good. He had to be a regular kid… having fun, playing, yes?

Or no?

What are YOUR thoughts?
Click to expand...
He probably had toys of some sort. He did have fun. I don’t know if it was come to have pets the way we think of them today.
 
Starfish said:
Oh! Jesus was young, a baby, a child, and so on.

Did He play with toys? Think of what his earthly father could make for Him! Joseph WAS a carpenter.

Did he have pets? Think of his pet dog?

What kind of childhood did Jesus have?

This subject makes me feel so good. He had to be a regular kid… having fun, playing, yes?

Or no?

What are YOUR thoughts?
Click to expand...
He probably had toys of some sort. He did have fun. I don’t know if it was common to have pets the way we think of them today.
 
Has anyone seen Millais’ “Christ in the House of His Parents”? That, for me, is Jesus as a child, and what it was like for Mary raising him. It’s an amazing pre-figuring of the Crucifixion, and with real-looking people. Jesus isn’t pretty, he’s a rough, gangly boy (about seven or eight) who’s been helping his father in the shop and hurt himself. Mary is old before her time from suffering from wondering what God has in store for her son and from the hard work a woman would do in a poor village like Nazareth. They seem like any mother and child, but they both know something about that moment where his hand has been pierced by a nail and she’s bandaging it - there’ll come a time where she can’t fix it anymore.
It’s wonderful. Caused quite a stir when it came out because in religious paintings Jesus and Mary were usually so “pretty”. Those paintings say something and have their own goods to them, but this is the kind of good a lot of painters had forgotten about.
 
we did our first VBS on this theme, “Jesus was a Child Like Me”, with help from a very good book that describes food, housing, clothing, work, play, toys, music etc. in the Galilee of Jesus’ day. Meditation on the childhood of Jesus is an ancient devotion, as the chosen religious names of many saints attest, Ste Therese of the Child Jesus for one.
 
Starfish said:
Oh! Jesus was young, a baby, a child, and so on.

Did He play with toys? Think of what his earthly father could make for Him! Joseph WAS a carpenter.

Did he have pets? Think of his pet dog?

What kind of childhood did Jesus have?

This subject makes me feel so good. He had to be a regular kid… having fun, playing, yes?

Or no?

What are YOUR thoughts?
Click to expand...
i think he will have had a lovely childhood with st joseph and the virgin mary as parents…i think they would have been loving but at the same time firm if needed…st joseph probably would have made toys for jesus, as they were poor and if he could make them then it would save buying them…he probably had little playmates…maybe john the baptist was one of his playmates (mary’s cousin, elizabeths son)…
he probably did all the regular things that regular kids of that time period did…the only thing he wouldn’t have done is sin…
it is because a big chunk of his life (between his birth and when he was grown and preaching) has been left out and not written that we don’t know these things…
but one thing for sure i don’t think he was born one day…then the next day he was fully grown:D …

ANGELIC PEACE
 
If you happen upon some of the older children’s religion books, Kindergarten through Second or Third Grade (anything pre1965- before all the art in kids’ religion books went abstract until the early 80s), you will find original art as well as copies of masterpieces portraying the infant and child Jesus at home with Mary and Joseph. You can see what kind of house they possibly had, how Jesus was dressed, how he helped His parents, even see Him with other boys playing grames. Older Catholic textbook readers also have art to show Jesus as a child. Most people like the Ginn Faith and Freedom Readers by Catholic University of America from WWII (the Big One) and the early to mid 1950s. I also like the F&F Readers from the 60s (I have a complete set except This Is Our Parish), and the Cathedral Readers, which were published by Scott Foresman. There are ones still older, such as the Cardinal Readers. eBay used to be full of them.
 
Thanks for all your replies!

I often contemplate Jesus as a child. Can you imagine having Jesus as a playmate? 🙂

Now when Jesus was growing up, did he cry when he’d scrape his knee, or have a baby tooth come out? Did he ever catch a cold, or have the measles? I know, these are crazy questions, but Jesus WAS a little fellow for years…

Have a wonderful night! 🙂
 
I bet all the kids hung out at his house!

One day I was thinking how lucky Mary was to have only had one very very good little boy. It must have been easier to pray!! Then, I “realized” that all the neighborhood kids would have been hanging around Jesus and Mary. Plus, I bet all the moms sent their kids over anyway.

You know, “go play at Jesus’s house. His mom only has one kid (maybe some older stepkids). And, that Jesus–what a good boy! He’s a good influence on you.”

I bet it was hard for Mary to “steal time for herself.”

Maybe I tend to think a little more about what life was like for Mary than for Jesus because I identify with her vocation more.
 
puzzleannie said:
we did our first VBS on this theme, “Jesus was a Child Like Me”, with help from a very good book that describes food, housing, clothing, work, play, toys, music etc. in the Galilee of Jesus’ day. Meditation on the childhood of Jesus is an ancient devotion, as the chosen religious names of many saints attest, Ste Therese of the Child Jesus for one.
Click to expand...
What a great idea! Maybe we could do this for our homeschool co-op next semester. I would love that! I better write this down so I don’t forget it.
 
That’s a great idea, leonie! That sure did give me a big smile! “Yes, go over and play at Jesus’ house!” 🙂
 
There was a poem I helped my granddaughter memorize for school, that brings out the fact that Jesus was indeed a child, and Mary’s son. It’s called “Lovely Lady Dress in Blue”.
catholictradition.org/Mary/lady.htm
I also helped her make Mary holy cards using copyright clear clipart, the poem and an Avery template.
 
There is a book by Maria von Trapp (of
“Sound of Music” fame) called “When the King was a Carpenter.” I don’t know if it’s still in print, but it tells a lot about the daily life of the Holy Family.

In Luke 7, verses 31-33 Jesus says, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? And what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place, calling to one another and saying,
‘We have piped to you, and you have not danced;
we have sung dirges, and you have not wept.’”
Our Lord here is making reference to games children played in His time–they played wedding (we have piped to you) and funeral (we have sung dirges…) Little Jesus and the neighborhood kids must have played these games, too.
 
I sometimes, well, a lot of times, try to look at my boys as the Christ Child and try to treat them as if they were Jesus. That may seem strange, but having boys, that helps me get through my days sometimes. And yes, I often think about Jesus’ childhood and what he was like…
 
I had a sort of mystical experience once. I was walking around the house thinking about St. Faustina. In particular, I was thinking about the episode in which she was at Mass. The Blessed Mother appeared and handed her the infant Jesus.

I mentally thought, “Oh Jesus, how I’d love to hold you as a baby.”

Then, interiorly I “heard,” “you are holding me.”

I looked down and realized that I was carrying my infant son around with me as a walked. I generally carry my babies all the time so I hadn’t really noticed.

It was a very beautiful prayer experience that taught me the value of mothering my children.
 
leonie said:
I had a sort of mystical experience once. I was walking around the house thinking about St. Faustina. In particular, I was thinking about the episode in which she was at Mass. The Blessed Mother appeared and handed her the infant Jesus.

I mentally thought, “Oh Jesus, how I’d love to hold you as a baby.”

Then, interiorly I “heard,” “you are holding me.”

I looked down and realized that I was carrying my infant son around with me as a walked. I generally carry my babies all the time so I hadn’t really noticed.

It was a very beautiful prayer experience that taught me the value of mothering my children.
Click to expand...
WOW! That must’ve been something! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
 
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