A Love Supreme: The
Infancy Narratives
By: Joseph Ratzinger
(Image, 132 pages $20)
Imagine touring the Sistine Chapel with someone who has done more than
merely read some learned commentary on the paintings of Michelangelo.
He has looked at them, pondered them, loved them, even waited upon them
to reveal their inner harmony, and now he seeks to hand on to you what
he has found. Imagine listening to a master organist not playing the
whole St. Matthew Passion but showing you, as he touches a chord here
and makes a progression there, some hint of the grandeur of Bach's
composition that you might miss in the overwhelming storm of its
performance. Then you have an idea of what Pope Benedict XVI has
attempted in his three-volume work on the life of Jesus, but most
humbly and sweetly in
Jesus of
Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives.
Modem men too often see things only by the guttering firelight of
politics. Pope Benedict, who wrote many works of deep scholarship while
simple Joseph Ratzinger, also served as the head of the Vatican's
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, earning him a reputation
among the ignorant as combative----"God's Rottweiler." It may surprise
some, then, to read that Pope Benedict has written about one topic all
his life long.
Love is the key to his
work, as it is the theme and lesson of this work. Indeed, the Pope has
written that in Jesus, the man and the mission are one, and the mission
is the holiness of love of being ENTIRELY for and with God, and for and
with mankind, WITHOUT RESERVE. Now Benedict shows how this
understanding of Jesus is manifest from the beginning in His
conception, His birth and His childhood.
Any scholar who would write on the first few chapters of Matthew and
Luke faces two problems. The first is the opinion that the narratives
about the birth of Jesus are add-ons, not central to the mission and
the person of Jesus. The second is that we are too familiar with them.
We have heard the carols and seen the crèches. We do not see the
shadow of the cross fall upon the stable of Bethlehem.
Benedict addresses both problems
at once, affirming the historicity of the narratives and showing that
the question of who Jesus is hinges upon whence He has come.
People who encountered Jesus, whether they chose to follow Him or not,
claimed that they knew exactly where He came from, the no-account
village, of Nazareth. Yet they did
not
know where He came from- whence He derived His authority. The early
Christians, by contrast, saw the life of Jesus as a coherent whole. The
end of Matthew's Gospel, says Benedict, when Jesus commissions His
disciples to go forth to the ends of the earth, baptizing all nations,
is present in the beginning, in the genealogy that links Jesus with
Abraham and God's promise of universality. Abraham is the
essential wayfarer, Benedict writes, whose "whole life points
forward," a dynamic of "walking
along the path of
what is to come."
Even to those who think themselves familiar with these texts,
every page of "Jesus of Nazareth" will
present some pearl of great value, something that should have been
obvious but that has been passed over in haste or inattention.
For example, when Luke places Jesus' birth in the context of the
Augustan empire, and notes that Joseph and Mary had to travel to
Bethlehem to register for the tax, he expects his readers, Benedict
argues, to compare one "prince of peace" with another, for that is what
Agustus styled himself ("Princeps Pacis"). The epithet was more than
propaganda, Benedict says. It expressed a heartfelt longing in the
people of the time, wracked by the Roman civil wars and conflicts
between the Roman empire and her rivals to the east. We might see how
seriously it was taken if we study Augustus' Altar of Peace in Rome,
consecrated a few years before Jesus' birth. It was so placed that on
the emperor's birthday, between morning and evening, the sun cast the
shadow of an obelisk, says the Pope, along a line that struck the very
center of the altar, where Augustus himself was portrayed as supreme
pontiff.
But Augustus belongs to the past, Benedict notes, while Jesus "is the
present and the future". That is because the salvation we yearn for is
not simply a truce, with some economic prosperity, but the HEALING of
our very selves. Man is "a rational being," Benedict writes, by which
he means that
we only know ourselves
when we give ourselves away in love. More to the point,
Benedict teaches,
God allows us to
know Him by giving Himself in love to us. This gift, though
grand, is necessarily also secret and humble,
seeking not to overmaster but to invite.
In speaking of
an intimate love,
all the Gospel writers speak the same language, Benedict explains,
whether it is Matthew showing that the birth of Jesus occurs
outside of and against the
predilections of the grand court of Herod, or Luke stressing
the quiet interior life of Mary, or
John saying that God has pitched His tent among us,
submitting to the infirmities of the flesh,
and to rejection.
This love is no mere sentiment. It is the ground of our
being. Yet Benedict points to the gospels themselves for examples of
HOW OFTEN WE SEEK LESS than love, even
while we believe we are seeking MORE. Jesus' own disciples
believed that He would reestablish the
earthly
kingdom of David-and Matthew takes trouble both to establish Jesus'
descent from David (it is why Joseph had to travel to the city of
David, Bethlehem) and to show that this kingship is
wholly new, and
not of this earth.
Thus Joseph is told that the child's name will be Jesus, a name derived
from the Hebrew word meaning "to rescue," because "He will save people
from their sins." That seems at once too little and too much, Benedict
says. He compares the verse with the episode of the paralytic in Luke,
who hears Jesus say, "Your
sins
are forgiven." But he wanted to
walk-and
the Jews wanted freedom from their overlords. The paralytic would
indeed rise up and walk, but the point is clear: The gospel calls
people to no less than the
complete
love of God and neighbor-
to the
surrender of ILLUSIONS that we can heal ourselves.
The Infancy Narratives
is a short volume but for that very reason may be an ideal introduction
to Benedict's writings, and for that matter to Jesus' message of love.
[Emphasis added].
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Pray, fast to protect life,
marriage, religious liberty:
U.S. bishops launch new campaign
Lifesite News, December
6, 2012
John-Henry Westen
Citing "unprecedented
challenges" to life, marriage and religious liberty, the bishops of the
United States have called on all the faithful to fast, pray a daily
Rosary, have regular Holy Hours and Masses, and attend rallies, "for
the sake of renewing a culture of life, marriage, and religious liberty
in our country."
In explaining the reasons for the campaign, t
he bishops specifically singled out the HHS
mandate. That mandate coerces employers, including heads of
religious agencies, to pay for sterilizations, abortion-inducing drugs,
and contraceptives.
The bishops also
called on Catholics to resist increased efforts to redefine marriage.
"The pastoral strategy is
essentially a call and encouragement to prayer and sacrifice--it's
meant to be simple," said Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San
Francisco, chairman of the bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and
Defense of Marriage.
"It's not meant to be another program but rather part of a movement for
life, marriage, and religious liberty, which engages the new
evangelization and can be incorporated into the Year of Faith,"
he said. "Life, marriage, and religious liberty are not only
foundational to Catholic social teaching but also fundamental to the
good of society."
In a press release the bishops outlined the
five parts of the strategy:
1.
Starting with the Sunday after
Christmas (the Feast of the Holy Family) and continuing on or near the
last Sunday of every month through Christ the King Sunday in November
2013, cathedrals and parishes are encouraged to hold a Eucharistic Holy
Hour for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty.
2.
Families and individuals are
encouraged to pray a daily rosary, especially for the
preservation of life, marriage, and religious liberty in the nation.
3.
At Sunday and daily Masses, it is
encouraged that the Prayers of the Faithful include specific intentions
for respect for all human life from conception to natural death, the
strengthening of marriage and family life, and the preservation of
religious liberty at all levels of government, both at home and abroad.
4.
Abstinence from meat and fasting
on Fridays are encouraged for the intention of the protection of life,
marriage, and religious liberty, recognizing the importance of
spiritual and bodily sacrifice in the life of the Church.
5.
The celebration of a second
Fortnight for Freedom at the end of June and the beginning of July 2013
is being planned. This Fortnight would emphasize faith and
marriage in a particular way
in the
face of the potential Supreme Court rulings during this time. The
Fortnight would also emphasize the need for conscience protection in
light of the August 1, 2013, deadline for religious organizations to
comply with the HHS mandate, as well as religious freedom
concerns in other areas, such as immigration, adoption, and
humanitarian services.
"With the challenges this
country is facing, it is hoped that this call to prayer and penance
will help build awareness among the faithful as well as spiritual
stamina and courage for effective witness," Archbishop
Cordileone said. "We also hope that it will encourage solidarity with
all people who are standing for the precious gifts of life, marriage,
and religious liberty."
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