The Catholic Weekly 25 December 2020

h artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). Herod the Great, or Herod I, was born around 74-73 BC and died in 4 BC. Obviously, being the one who wanted to kill Jesus, the year of Jesus’ birth must be placed at 4 BC or earlier. He suffered from paranoia and had several high-ranking people put to death who posed a threat to his reign. Among those executed were several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne I and her son Antipater, her mother Alexandra, his brother-in-law Kostobar, and his own sons Alexander and Aristobulus. To protect himself he had a personal bodyguard of 2000 soldiers. His desire to kill Jesus is typical of what is known of his character. – Fr J Flader Since she was not yet living with Joseph, Mary must still have been at the home of her parents, accord- ing to tradition named Joachim and Anne. Presumably, like most dwellers in Nazareth then and for long afterward, they lived in a nat- ural cave in the soft rock built up at the entrance so as to serve as a humble home. Luke’s language clearly indicates that the Angel Ga- briel actually entered the dwelling and spoke with Mary alone inside, using the words whose millions upon millions of repetitions have been counted in Heaven through all the centuries the Rosary has been prayed: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Then the angel told her that she had been chosen to be the Mother of the Eternal God, Whose king- dom has no end – if she agreed. She asked how this could be, in view of her vow of virginity, arid the answer came in those glowing, perfect words: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Her Divine Son was to have no human father, only His Father in Heaven. Gabriel went on to tell Mary of the miraculous conception of John the Baptist in the previously barren womb of Elizabeth, who was re- lated to Mary, reminding her that “with God nothing will be impos- sible.” Then came Mary’s humble ac- ceptance-on which, as a free act of her own will, depended the fate of billions of souls, the whole desti- ny of the human race. There in the roomof the cave-house in little, for- gotten Nazareth, alone except for the angel, utterly unknown to the mighty of the world then hanging in the balance, she paused, while the King of the Universe waited upon her answer. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me ac- cording to your word.” In that moment, according to most orthodox theologians, the In- carnation was accomplished. For the next nine months Mary Immac- ulate carried God in her womb. As soon as she could arrange it, Mary left Nazareth to visit Eliz- abeth, her relative whose special blessing of a son the Angel Gabriel had reported to her. It is most un- likely that Joseph accompanied her. She may have travelled alone or with a caravan, riding a donkey or on foot-but probably in compa- ny for safety and on foot because of her poverty. If she wore the usual women’s costume of that time and country, she was clad in a blue dress with a red cloak, or a red dress with a blue cloak, with a large white veil. The journey to Ain Karem near Jerusa- lem, the probable site of Zachary’s and Elizabeth’s home, would have taken at least four days; the roads were often steep and rocky. Even if with a caravan, Mary was in a human sense utterly alone dur- ing that journey, for no one in all the world knew or could possibly have begun to imagine her secret, that she carried in her body the sal- vation of mankind. Her attention must have been focussed constant- ly on the glory within her. Mary’s lonely journey from Nazareth to Ain Karem on the occasion of the Visitation would seem to merit more attention than it has generally received in theological and devo- tional works. When she arrived at Elizabeth’s home and Elizabeth came to greet her, Mary at last found another whom God had enlightened about her Son. Elizabethwelcomed her as “the mother of my Lord’’ and John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy” as, according to orthodox Catholic theology, he was baptised and sanctified by Christ from Mary’s womb. Mary respond- ed with her sublime Magnificat: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. It seems overwhelmingly proba- ble that Mary remained with Eliza- beth until John was born, only then returning to Nazareth. It had now been nearly four months since the Incarnation, and Mary’s pregnan- cy had become visible; yet still, not having been directed to reveal it, she kept her cosmic secret even from Joseph. Knowing her to be spotless- ly pure, and knowing at the same time that the child she was carrying could not possibly be his because of the total continence of their re- lationship, he struggled to decide what he should do. Public denunci- ation and repudiation of Mary – the usual action of a Jewish man under such circumstances – was unthink- able; but to proceed with the mar- riage without knowing the truth about this child seemed wrong for a just man, a descendant of David who lived by the Law and honoured all the traditions of his people. So Joseph, debating with him- self, inclined toward a private sep- aration. When the child was born it would be assumed to be his, for Jewish betrothal customs of that time apparently often involved in- tercourse between betrothal and marriage, which was not regarded as a serious sin. Whatever public blame there might be would fall upon him rather than upon her, since people would assume that had Mary been guilty of infidelity Joseph would have denounced her. But the choice was extraordinar- ily difficult. Joseph’s own profound love for Mary must have impelled him, despite the tyranny of custom, to the course that naturally suggests itself to us: stand by her, marry her regardless of the unexplained preg- nancy, and wait for God to reveal the truth. The language of the terse Greek text of St Matthew’s Gospel which is our only source for Joseph’s ordeal on this occasion – in the original, though not in most translations – indicates a firmdecision on his part not to defameMary in any way, and only a tentative leaning toward the separation. In his doubt and great distress he would have prayed much for God’s help and enlightenment, and Mary would have been praying constant- ly for him; and so another angelic message came, to reassure Joseph that it was right for him to take Mary as his wife, and informing him of the virginal conception and salvific mission of Jesus. Thus Joseph became, to all out- ward appearance at the time, the father of Jesus; and through his adoptive or foster fatherhood he transmitted to Jesus juridically the lineage of David, which was suffi- cient in Jewish law and custom to establish the descent of Jesus from David which the prophets had fore- told of the Messiah. FromThe Founding of Christen- dom, vol 1, byWarrenCarroll, ChristendomPress. This book can be ordered from TheMustard SeedBookshop: www.mustardseed.org.au ‘Better to be Herod’s pig than his son’ A bust possibly depicting Herod the Great.