Word to the Wise
Monday, January 4, 2016 - Monday after Epiphany, or Jan. 7
[1 John 3:22-4:6 and Matt 4:12-17, 23-25]MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2016 ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON [1 John 3:22-4:6 and Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25] From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." [Matthew] The Magi have come and gone. Joseph, Mary and Jesus have made a round trip to Egypt and managed to settle in Nazareth. The curtain comes down on Matthew's story of Jesus' early days. The next thing we know is that he is an important face in the crowd at one of John the Baptist's preachings and is "baptized by John" and then heads for the desert to be tempted. What happened in all those years before Jesus started preaching? The answer, very simply, is that we don't know. There have been some efforts to fantasize about the time (Jesus making clay pigeons that fly, etc. etc..). The movie, THE PASSION, has a couple of "young Jesus" scenes. None of this is part of the Church's teaching. Only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke offer us any stories of Jesus' origins. Scripture scholars believe that the two "infancy narratives" were written after the rest of the two gospels were written and reflect concerns floating around. Mark mentions very little other than when Jesus visits Nazareth to preach and a reference is made to being a carpenter. The Gospel of John goes for a theological vision that leaves family memories out. What we do know about Jesus enables us to know that he must have been raised in a pious Jewish household and followed the trade of his presumed father, Joseph, and became a disciple of John the Baptist before beginning his own preaching career. This is what the Holy Spirit has revealed in scripture and it has served the faith well. We'll be dealing with the adult Jesus from now on until next Christmas/Epiphany. AMEN
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