Day 75: Jesus’ Infancy and Hidden Life (527-534)

• It’s Day 75!!

• Yesterday we talked about the preparations for Jesus’ infancy

• John the Baptist prepared

• The Liturgy of Advent prepares for Christ

• And of course, Christmas

• Today we look at TWO MYSTERIES

• One is the THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ INFANCY

• The second is THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ HIDDEN LIFE

• The infancy mysteries are things like His circumcision

• THE EPIPHANY is the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah to the world

• So we have the Magi

• Later on, we have His manifestation through His Baptism by John in the Jordan River

• As well as the Wedding Feast at Cana where He performed His first miracle and so revealed His glory

• Those are three kind-of EPIPHANIES

• Today is the INFANCY EPIPHANY which is the VISIT OF THE WISE MEN and what that represents

• We will also look at the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and this encounter with Simeon and Anna and what they both say about Jesus 

• Lastly we have the infancy mystery of the FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

• What is that Jesus is doing when He, Mary, and Joseph have to flee into Egypt

• When He comes out of Egypt, what does that say?

• That’s the first BATCH of mysteries, the INFANCY MYSTERIES

• The second BATCH is the MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ HIDDEN LIFE

• He had a life of LABOR

• He had a life of OBEDIENCE

• He had a life of SILENCE

• Those all are VERY VERY IMPORTANT THINGS that reveal something to us

• We don’t really SEE much

• We do have the Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple in Paragraph 534

• Other than that, all we know is that the life of Jesus was marked by ORDINARINESS

• It was marked by SILENCE

• It was marked by OBEDIENCE

• It was marked by WORK

• Not only obedience to Mary and Joseph

• BUT…

• Also how that prefigures His RADICAL AND TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO HIS FATHER IN HEAVEN

• As we launch into this, remember whenever we are walking among MYSTERY, we ask the Lord for His grace, guidance, and illumination

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we do trust you and we know that we need you. We know that we need your light to guide us, your voice to call us by name. And so as we reflect on the infancy mysteries, the infancy narrative of Jesus, as we reflect on His being presented in the Temple, His being lost and being found, as we reflect on His hidden life in Nazareth, and the silence that marked the vast majority of His life, the obedience that marked all of His life, and the work that marked His life, we just ask you to enter into the silence of our own hearts. Enter into the ways in which you are calling us to be obedient, not only to you, but also to those people who are in our lives that you are calling us to be obedient to. Enter into our work, Lord God. With your grace, with your own hands you worked. And so we ask that you please enter into the work of our hands. You sanctified work. Help our work this day be sanctified in you no matter what it is that we are doing. Let it all be for your glory and for the salvation of the whole world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So here we are!

• GOSH YOU GUYS!!

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• We have these four PRETTY SIGNIFICANT MYSTERIES of Jesus’ infancy

• CIRCUMCISION

• EPIPHANY

• PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE

• THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT

• What is Jesus’ CIRCUMCISION a sign of?

• Paragraph 527 says, “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.”

• If you were a male and Jewish, in order to be brought into the covenant, you had to be circumcised

• So His mother and legal father are bringing Him into the covenant

• It is a sign that PREFIGURES the circumcision of Christ at His Baptism

• Because what brings US into the covenant in the New Covenant, New Testament, is BAPTISM

• This is RADICAL OBEDIENCE by Mary and Joseph

• To be able to bring the Child Jesus to be circumcised on the 8th day

• WHICH IS REMARKABLE!!

• Not only that, but we have THE PRESENTATION in Paragraph 529

• BUT BEFORE THAT…

• WE HAVE THE EPIPHANY!!

• So what is the Epiphany?

• It is a FACT!!

• It is also this SIGN 

• Salvation is from the Jews and Jesus makes that VERY CLEAR in John Ch 4

• AND AT THE SAME TIME…

• SALVATION IS FOR THE WHOLE WORLD!!

• The Magi visit from the East and WERE NOT JEWS

• They come to DO JESUS HOMAGE

• They saw a star and they bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh

• Paragraph 528 says, “In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation.”

• This is one of those…

• (SQUIRREL!! 😉)

• Where the circumcision is an incredible mystery of Jesus as a Jew

• The Epiphany is an incredible mystery for us who were not born Jewish, but have been GRAFTED ONTO THE TREE as St Paul writes about

• We are not descendants of David

• We don’t share in that genetic home or genetic family

• BUT…

• We are brought into the family of God through BAPTISM and through GRACE 

• WHICH IS INCREDIBLE!!

• God wants EVERY PERSON ON THIS PLANET to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in such a way as to live with Him forever in the next life

• Circumcision is a sign that Salvation comes from the Jews

• The Epiphany is a sign that IT DOES NOT STOP THERE

• IT GOES TO THE WHOLE WORLD!!

• Paragraph 529 talks about the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

• We have read in the Bible that the first-born male of animals and human beings had to be redeemed

• The first-born of the animals would be sacrificed

• For human beings, an animal was sacrificed in their place

• Mary and Joseph were so poor that they offered the minimum sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons

• Not because their hearts were small, but because their pocketbooks were small

• BUT…

• To redeem Jesus back, the first born of Mary, therefore He belongs to God

• There is OBEDIENCE of His mother and father not only in having Him circumcised but also in His Presentation in the Temple

• Simeon and Anna highlight the fact that this is the LONG AWAITED SAVIOR

• Simeon was promised that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Anointed

• Simeon says, “Now Lord, let your servant go in peace. Your Word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people. A light to reveal you to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”

• Here is THE ONE

• Here is THE MESSIAH

• Anna, a prophetess, prophesied to Mary

• Here is Jesus who is destined for the fall and the rise of many in Israel

• A sign of contradiction

• BUT ALSO…

• That Mary’s own heart would be pierced with the sword

• The last mystery of Jesus’ infancy is THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT and the MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS

• What does this make manifest?

• Paragraph 530 says, “The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents makes manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: ‘He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.’”

• IT IS REMARKABLE!!

• God is INVULNERABLE 

• You can’t HURT God

• BUT…

• God makes Himself ONE OF US

• Think about this…

• FROM THE MOMENT THAT GOD MADE HIMSELF VULNERABLE, HUMAN BEINGS TRIED TO KILL HIM!!

• FROM THE VERY MOMENT GOD MADE HIMSELF HURTABLE, WE TRIED TO HURT HIM!!

• WE TRIED TO KILL HIM!!

• That says something about the heart of human beings

• It says something about the reality of the opposition of darkness to light

• If God came close to you, would you receive Him WITH LOVE?

• OR…

• Would there be so much RESENTMENT in your heart that you would LASH OUT AGAINST HIM?

• It’s worth reflecting on that so we can know our own hearts

• Paragraph 530 says, “Christ’s whole life was lived under the sign of persecution. His own share it with him.”

• From the moment Jesus is born, He has to flee into Egypt to avoid being killed

• If we belong to Him, we SHARE THAT WITH HIM

• Paragraph 530 continues, “Jesus’ departure from Egypt recalls the exodus and presents him as the definitive liberator of God’s people.”

• Moses was a liberator of God’s People

• Joshua led the people into the Promised Land

• Jesus is the NEW MOSES

• Jesus is the NEW JOSHUA

• Now we get into THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ HIDDEN LIFE

• Part of Jesus’ mystery is HIS OBEDIENCE

• Paragraph 531 says, “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.”

• A SIMPLE LIFE!!

• THERE IS NO LIFE THAT IS BENEATH THE LORD!!

• THERE IS NO WORK THAT IS BENEATH THE LORD!!

• In Scripture work is held up as something that is NOBLE and HONORABLE

• There is no task that is BENEATH you or me

• If we are ever tempted to think that there is work that is beneath us, we have to remember that for 30 years of His life, Jesus spent day in and day out in manual labor

• Jesus also had a RELIGIOUS LIFE

• Paragraph 531 continues, “His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, a life in the community.”

• It’s not as if Jesus created this WHOLE NEW RELIGION

• HE DID NOT!!

• HE FULFILLED THE OLD COVENANT!!

• He fulfilled the religion that God had revealed and given to the people of Israel

• There was this OBEDIENCE that Jesus has not only to His parents or community

• BUT ALSO TO THE LAW OF MOSES!!

• There is something POWERFUL about that

• Paragraph 532 says, “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, [Father, but your will be done.]”

• In our day and age, when we think of obedience we think of dog training

• AND YET…

• What did couples vow in wedding vows?

• TO LOVE

• TO HONOR

• TO OBEY!!

• There is something REALLY PROFOUND about that

• We can love someone

• We can honor someone

• BUT…

• Can we OBEY THEM?

• Because obedience implies a DEPTH OF TRUST

• Love of course requires trust

• Honor requires trust

• BUT…

• If I am going to place myself into your hands and do what you ask of me, it means I HAVE TO TRUST YOU

• Paragraph 532 continues, “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.”

• All of Christ’s life is MYSTERY

• His whole life is a MYSTERY OF REDEMPTION

• Go read Paragraph 517 again because I’m not going to type it all out again 😜

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Pope Paul VI’s reflection on Jesus’ life in Nazareth is pretty remarkable

• There is this lesson of SILENCE that is learned in Nazareth

• There is a lesson of FAMILY LIFE that is learned in Nazareth

• There is a lesson of WORK that is learned in Nazareth

• These are mysteries that Jesus enters into and REDEEMS, CHANGES, AND TRANSFORMS THEM!!

• When you and I find ourselves in times of silence, we have to ESTEEM THAT SILENCE which is an admirable and indispensable condition of mind

• A lesson an family life that we are all part of broken families and we sometimes bring the brokenness ourselves

• AND YET…

• Family life is a communion of love

• It has beauty

• It has a sacred and inviolable character

• Lastly, the lesson of work

• Pope Paul VI says in Paragraph 533, “To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them their great pattern, their brother who is God.”

• Paragraph 534 says, “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.”

• Even though Jesus is in Nazareth…

• Even though for 30 years and even with all the family life, silence, and work, it seems like Jesus is living off mission

• NO!!

• JESUS WAS NOT OFF MISSION WHEN HE WAS LIVING THOSE 30 YEARS IN SILENCE!!

• JESUS WAS NOT OFF MISSION WHEN HE WAS LIVING THOSE 30 YEARS IN A HIDDEN LIFE!!

• Jesus had TOTAL CONSECRATION TO THIS MISSION that flowed from His divine sonship

• WHICH IS JUST SO IMPORTANT FOR US!!

• God has placed a mission IN YOUR LIFE

• He has something HE WANTS YOU TO ACCOMPLISH

• Maybe it’s something you are accomplishing currently

• Maybe it’s something that has not yet come to fruition

• BUT…

• GOD HAS A MISSION FOR YOUR LIFE!!

• Just because it MIGHT NOT BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW…

• Just because it MIGHT NOT BE ON THE SURFACE RIGHT NOW…

• Just because it MIGHT NOT BE KNOWN RIGHT NOW…

• It doesn’t mean that you cannot at this moment be TOTALLY CONSECRATED TO THIS MISSION

• Because it flows from IDENTITY

• Because it flows from RELATIONSHIP

• Through Baptism, we are now SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD

• Therefore we have this RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

• That gives us our IDENTITY

• It tells us WHO WE ARE

• And that FEEDS US ON OUR MISSION

• For those 30 years Jesus was NOT SITTING AROUND

• In some mysterious way, Jesus lived a life of total consecration to this mission that flowed from His relationship to His Father

• That flowed from His identity

• We get to do the same thing

• Does that make sense?

• OH MAN!!

• Fr. Mike gets a little nuts!! (You wanna get nuts?? Come on!! Let’s get nuts!! Batman (1989) - Let's Get Nuts! Scene | Movieclips 😉) 

• Tomorrow we will talk more and more about THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ PUBLIC LIFE

• THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

• JESUS’ TEMPTATIONS

• AND ALL THE REST LIKE IN GILLIGAN’S ISLAND!! Clip - The Ballad of Gilligans Island, Gilligans Island opening and closing credits _0001_xvid.avi

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!

"Circumcision and Baptism"

-Notes compiled by Andrew Adamany

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

527 “Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth, is a sign of 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”

While the RSVCE translation of Colossians 2:12 reads "and you were buried with him in baptism," the original Greek word "suntaphentes" is an Aorist Passive Participle, more literally translating the passage as "In him you were also circumcised... in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism..."

Just as circumcision was the sign of initiation into the Old Covenant, we are now initiated into the New Covenant by enter into the Body of Christ through baptism, which is done by the Spirit.

Ezekiel prophesied that God would sprinkle clean water upon you, give you a new heart, and put his spirit within you to cause you to walk in his ways.  Real circumcision, which Paul called Baptism as the circumcision of Christ, he also said is a matter of the heart, a fulfillment of God's promiseto  the people of Israel to circumcise their hearts so that they will love him with all their hearts and souls.

Sources

The Holy Bible- RSVCE

Interlinear Greek Bible- Strong’s Concordance