The Annunciation of Our Lord

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “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. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Matthew 1:18-21

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Apostles Creed"And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit"

Nicene Creed"...who
 for
 us
 men 
and 
for
 our
 salvation
 came
 down
 from
 heaven
 and 
was 
incarnate 
by
 the 
Holy
 Spirit
 of
 the
 virgin 
Mary..."

Joseph, Guardian of our Lord

Joseph was a righteous man, who obeyed God by followed the angel’s instructions of taking his pregnant fiance, Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24).  He was a carpenter by trade (Matthew 13:55).  He also obeyed God by following the angel’s instruction to move his family Egypt in order to escape Herod the Great’s murderous plot (Matthew 2:14).  Joseph last appears in Scripture when he and Mary faithfully take the twelve year old Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41-51).  Joseph, the guardian of our Lord, has long been associated with caring parenthood.

Book Review/Summary - How the Irish Saved Civilization (Thomas Cahill)

While not a book about theology, it is a really interesting part of church history. The Germanic people who had adapted the Roman agriculture had a population explosion because of it. In 406, they crossed the Danube and the Rhine into Rome for the first time and 476 saw the death of the last Roman Emprorer and the fall of the Roman Empire. Cahill then states that Augustine is the "last classical man" and the first "Medieval man". After the fifth century, the law was mostly carried out by the church. Meanwhile during all this time, the dominant culture in Ireland was the Spanish Celts, who entered in the 4th century BC and were an illiterate, semi-nomadic, Iron Age warrior culture, that advanced little. Their economy was based on property such as animals and slaves. Patrick was  a Roman Briton taken to Ireland as a slave at the age of about 15, in 400. He escaped 7 years later and returned 25 years after that to be a missionary for the last 30 years of his life.

The Irish, whose culture was big on sacrifices, adopted "green martyrdom", which was moving to remote locations and subsistence living, while devoting oneself to learning and to God. This quickly led to the monastic tradition. They brought in and copied as many books as they could, learning all they could, amassing vast libraries (the largest in the world). The burning of the Library in Alexandria, was really a series of destruction from an attack by Aurelian in 270s, the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus in 391, ten years after the First Council of Constantinople, and the decree of the second caliph Omar ibn Al-khattab in 640.

The Rise and Fall of Rome

Perpetua and Felicity

Perpetua and Felicity (or Felicitas) were the two earliest recorded female Christian martyrs, believed to have died 203. The Passion of St. Perpetua, St. Felicitas, and their Companions is one of the oldest non-canonical early Christian texts. It survives in both Latin and Greek forms, and contains the actual prison diary of Perpetua. Perpetua was married to a nobleman with an infant and Felicity was her pregnant slave.  They were imprisoned for being baptized as Christians, before eventually going to the amphitheater for games in celebration of Emperor Geta's birthday. On the way in to the amphitheater, they were scourged by a line of gladiators before having a wild cow attack them. They were then finished by the sword.

Transfiguration, Last Sunday in Epiphany, Quinquagesima

Celebrated on the last Sunday of Epiphany. Quinquagesima means 7 weeks (~50 days) before Easter.

During the Transfiguration, Jesus is shown to be "the Word." Historically, Jesus referred to the Scripture as "the Law and the Prophets," referencing a common idiom of the time for what we now call the Old Testament. Of these, Moses is clearly the "Lawgiver," and Elijah is the "Prophet." as explained by Origen the first time. By appearing with "the Law" (Moses) and "the Prophets" (Elijah), Jesus is shown to be fulfilling all of Scripture.

During the transfiguration, the three were discussing his "departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” The word departure is the same word Exodus. Jesus fulfills the type that Moses was, as the true leader out of bondage and into the Promised Land. Jesus leads the ultimate exodus. Jesus brings us out of the hard labor of sin, and he says, “Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus leads us through the wilderness of this world on our journey to the promised land of heaven. Thus Jesus is the super-Moses.

Likewise, Jesus fulfills the type that Elijah was. Elijah was the greatest prophet, and was prophesied to return in Malachi 4:5-6: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” The Hebrew term rendered decree of utter destruction refers to things devoted (or set apart) to the Lord (or by the Lord) for destruction. Thus Jesus is the super-Elijah.

When God the Father spoke of Jesus as being his son, he was giving him preeminence over those of the other two, who were merely servants. When only Jesus is left alone at the end, he is shown to be superseding the Old Covenant with himself, the New Covenant.