What we know from Scripture and Tradition is that Jesus lived 2000 years ago in Judea, present-day Israel. He was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, and died but rose again in Jerusalem.
Jesus worked as a carpenter until, at age 30, he began his public ministry. He worked miracles and preached the Gospel, from Greek, meaning Good News. In the case of Jesus, it is the Gospel of the kingdom of God.
HOLY TRINITY
We believe that Jesus is one of the three Divine Persons in the one Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This mystery of faith is called the Holy Trinity. Jesus is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the only begotten Son of God, who became man.
After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17)
INCARNATION
We believe that the only begotten Son of God received a human nature like ours (except, as God, he never sinned), and was born of the Virgin Mary. This mystery of faith is called the incarnation, from Latin, meaning to be made flesh.
“The Word was God… And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 14)
By becoming man, Jesus put flesh on the mystery of the unseen God, and enabled people to see, hear, feel, and touch the glory of Divinity revealed by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai:
“So the Lord passed before [Moses] and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity.” (Exodus 34:6)
The early Christians found an easy way to summarize what they believed about Jesus, God and man. They made an acronym out of the five letters that spell the Greek word for fish: i-ch-th-y-s spells out Iesous-Christos-Theou-Yios-Soter, which translates as “Jesus-Christ-God-Son-Savior.” Pretty cool, huh?
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
This is probably a good spot to say something about the place and privileges of Mary, the Mother of the Lord Jesus.
The immaculate conception: Mary was the mother of the sinless savior. So, as original sin is transmitted through human generation, God prepared Mary for her role by preserving her from original sin. She was saved by Jesus, but in a special way, in anticipation of the event on Calvary Hill.
“Hail [Mary] full of grace! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)
The virginal conception: Jesus was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. St. Joseph was the husband of Mary, but he was not Jesus’ biological father (he was his foster-father).
The angel Gabriel said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
The perpetual virginity of Mary: Mary and Joseph did not have other children, either before or after the birth of Jesus. It is believed that Mary and Joseph had taken vows renouncing sexual intimacy, even though they were married. Scholars also say that the mention in the Gospel of the brothers and sisters of the Lord could be Joseph’s children from a previous marriage, or cousins.
“[Joseph] took [Mary] his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24-25)
The Mother of Christians: From the Cross, Jesus asked Mary and the apostle John to regard each other as mother and child. Christians have traditionally seen themselves as represented by John, which would make Mary our spiritual mother. This would also be the case on account of Christians being members of the body of Christ, the Church.
“[Jesus] said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.” (John 19:26-27)
The assumption: At the moment of her death, Mary didn’t lie in a grave, while her body corrupted. Rather, she was taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven. This event gives credence to our great Christian hope in our own resurrection and eternal life.
“And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility, and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: Death is swallowed up in victory.”
(1 Corinthians 15:54)
When we consider all the above, it’s hard to see how the sappy words of a popular hymn apply to Mary: gentle woman, quiet light, peaceful dove, indeed.
More appropriate are the words from the Song of Songs (6:10), traditionally applied to Mary: “Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, beautiful as the white moon, pure as the blazing sun, fearsome as celestial visions?” That’s what we’re talking about!
This is part of a series titled, "A Follower of Jesus In His Holy Catholic Church"
which was published in April of 2021.
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