Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:05 We're going to take a closer look at the gospel. We'll read along and then I'll make a few comments as we go. We'll read the first part. I won't make many of the historical comments. We'll just pass over that fairly quickly. And it came to pass in those days and went out is Cree from Caesar Augustus. The whole world should be enrolled. Well. It was first made by Cerenia as the governor of Syria and all went to be enrolled everyone into his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth and to cheat it Judea, the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was at the house and family of David to be enrolled with Mary's espoused wife was with child and it came to pass that when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Speaker 0 00:00:47 And she brought forth her first born son. Now we just commented on this, on the face, the neck conception, but it's worth a quick review. Remember the symbolism of the Easter fire. At least your fire started by striking a Flint with steel and the symbolism there. The spark coming out of the rock is like our Lord passing through the, the tomb. He came out the angel later on rolled back the stone, but he passed out through it is once you login says, um, well, I'll just read what that has to do with Christmas right here. What one theology says is Christ in his risen body will one day pass of a sealed stone tomb without opening it. So now he leaves the womb of his mother and Anders. The world was out to private here of her virginity. Okay. As Sandy Gustin points out, our lady was a Virgin before the birth, during the birth and after the birth Saint Gregory of Nissa quote, although coming in the form of man yet, he is not subject and everything to the law of man's nature.
Speaker 0 00:01:47 What was being born of a woman tells of human nature, virginity becoming capable of a child, or be tokens, something above man's nature of him. Then his mother's burden was light. The birth inaccurate, the delivery without pain. The nativity with Octapharma for is she who by her guilt and graphic death knew her nature was condemned to forth, bring forth in pain. That's E it was fitting that she who brought life into the world. Our lady would accomplish her delivery with joy. Okay. And if there was still any doubt in the course, I'm clearing up all the errors from his boss, his movie, here's the som infallible teaching in the Catholic church, giving it the first ladder in council, six 4,912 st. Mark quote. This is Canon three is in foul. If anyone does not properly and truly confess in accord with the Holy fathers, that in the true and proper sense of Holy mother of God and every version and accurate marrying this last age, not with human seed, but if the Holy spirit properly and truly see the divine word himself who was born in the God, the father from all ages, and that she gave him birth without any attachment or virginity, which remained in Bible, even after his birth, let him be condemned.
Speaker 0 00:02:58 Okay. We'll return to the gospel, Luke 77, and she brought forth her firstborn and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes. Now I'm sure everybody here knows what swabbing clothes are. When we, when we see a, a manger, we don't see it, but they're wrapped up like a little football. It's like a cloth diaper went in, in the middle East in those days. So it'd be a triangle they'd wrap around that. They'd wrap that around with bands, the swaddling clothes, the relics there's they're swirling clothes. The Charlemagne built a Chaplet was Chapelle in, in Germany where, uh, I think, uh, 37 or so, uh, the ampers recount over the years, and there's a Relic query there it's called the relevance, probably the visitation. And it has some of the swaddling clothes that our Lord was wrapped. And so if you're in Aachen, Germany, you can Ben ranked those relics.
Speaker 0 00:03:48 So there they're, they're kept enough a golden Relic query that depicts the presentation at temple. And that's where some of those are okay. Returning to the gospel. Luke seven, seven, she brought forth her first born son wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them. And in the end now, what was it like where they're at and what we can go all the way back. We know, of course I'm conditioned, but I'll just read you from pumps. Some of the fathers, Saint Justin martyr was born in a very early second century. He's a native of Palestine. He's a member of the generation immediately post out the solids. So he knew all the guys that interview after they confirmed him, had been taught by the apostles and whatnot. And certainly he knew what was going on in Bethlehem.
Speaker 0 00:04:34 And here's what he wrote. Quote, since Joseph could not find any lodging in the village, he took up his quarters in certain cave, near the village, and it was while they were there, that Mary gave birth to it Christ and laid him and a manger. So in the cave now in 30 132 Hadrian, the emperor tried to desecrate all the Holy places. So he built pagan shrines right there in the Holy land, every place where this Holy place, they build a pagan shrine over today to the gods st. Jerome writes about this in st. Jerome, he lived in Beslan for 34 years, from three 86 to four 20 st. Jerome doctor the church from the time of Hadrian to the reign of Constantine, a period of about 180 years, the spot which had ruined missed the resurrection was occupied by figure of Jupiter. Well, on the rock with cross, it stood a Marvel statue of Venus was set up by the healing.
Speaker 0 00:05:28 It became an object of horror show. The original person, indeed, suppose that by polluting our Holy places, they went to privates of our faith and the passion and the resurrection, even my own Bethlehem as it is now that most vulnerable spot in the world in the whole world of which the Sama sayings, the truth has sprung out of the earth and solver shad, a black girl Hannah's that is of Adonis in the very cave. When the infant Christ had uttered, his earliest cry limitation was made for the paramour of, so, uh, that's a that st. Jerome writing about it. In fact, when st. Helena got there and made it kind of easy to find the Holy places, cause they already know from tradition, every place where these things, they just had to tear them down and dig under them. And they're at the end. And there it was right there.
Speaker 0 00:06:12 So fairly easy for st. Helen's to locate this stuff. The pagans had already done it for, okay. What about, uh, the manger? Uh, okay. St. Jerome origin writes about it, but st. Jerome at the time, the manger was there is as syndrome writes, quote, I too miserable center that I am, have been accounted worthy to kiss the manger in which the Lord cried as a babe and to play in the cave in which the Trevor travailing Virgin gave birth to the infant lower. It's not a cave anymore because the Basilica, they had to remove the roof of it because it was too heavy, but that's where it is. Anyway, what happened in six 40 a though, the Muslims came in under the California Mara, and they captured Palestine and Jerusalem. And so this along and terrible nine took months on a miss roll, fell on the Holy land.
Speaker 0 00:07:00 And immediately after that, and then six 42 during the reign of Polk seed or the first, now he's a native of Jerusalem, uh, and to support from six 40 to six 49, and relics from, from the manger were brought to wrong for safe, keeping their supply cords of Sycamore wood. They'd been the supports and the manger there in st. Mary major that the silica Saint Mary major and wrong is where if you ever go there, it's right under the main officer, there's kind of a little staircase. You can go down and there's a scene without Lord laying in the manger. And the silver Relic, accordion has crystal windows that you can see the boards that you can see through and see the board. So there's five boards of them and this and this urn that's, it has Christ our Lord on him. Anyway. So the relics are there from the Holy land, from the manger returning the gospel.
Speaker 0 00:07:50 And they were in the same country, shepherds watching and keeping an eye watches over the flock. Okay. Of course, the fact that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem was clearly prophesied in the old Testament, about 800 years before Lord's birth. The prophet Micah spoke clearly about the day to day of this small village of Bethlehem quote. And now that's on the frog to our little one among the thousands of Judah out of the shall he come forth. That has to be the ruler in Israel and is going forth is from the beginning. From the days of eternity close quote out of Bethlehem shall come the ruler in force. He used to be the ruler in Jerusalem. This going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity, really clear prophecy, roughly contemporary with Isaiah's prophecy about the Virgin birth. That's not all Genesis 35, 21 speaks about a Watchtower near Bethlehem that was used by shepherds to keep watch over the flocks.
Speaker 0 00:08:46 It's called a flock tower or the Watchtower, depending on what kind of translation. You're looking at an ancient Jewish commentary. So we'll start the Jewish commentary. We'll look at the Catholic one a second, but an ancient Jewish commentary on Genesis 35, 21 records. The belief that the Messiah was to be revealed from that very tower near Bethlehem, that flogged teller. So I'll read you something. I have different ones, but this is the easiest one right here. It's written 150 years ago by a rabbinic student that never made it twice to Catholicism, but he got to be an Anglican. So he has an Anglican. He's writing this. He, he makes fun of the Catholicism in various place. So he's a hostile witness to a certain degree that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem was a settled conviction equally. So as a belief that he was be revealed from the tower of the flock.
Speaker 0 00:09:36 This was not the watch for the ordinary flocks, which pastured on a Baron sheep gone. You're beyond Bethlehem, the Lake, close to the town on the road to Jerusalem, the flocks, which pasture there were destined for temple sacrifices. It's very significant. And accordingly the shepherds who washed over them are not ordinary shepherds. These flats layout all the year round that's Jewish tradition in some Tim manner apprehended. The first revelation of Messiah from that watch teller where shepherds wash the temple flocks all the year round of a deep symbolic significance of such coincidence. It is needless to speak, obviously, cause we know that when we talk about the August day, the lamb of God, you know, here they are, God sets up everything just as a parent theoretical thing. It's not accidental. He's born this time of the year when it's darkest. The dark in the darkness is just starting to break and the days are going to start getting along in the life.
Speaker 0 00:10:30 He's coming in the fullness of time. When the darkness of paganism is hanging like, like a black cloud though, the whole, the devil is like a big serpent colon around the whole earth. And that point in time when star cassettes, when our Lord becomes incarnate comes up the same way is he symbol symbolized knit to which is the light in this time of the year and whatnot. Nothing's an accident in our religion. It was in on a winter night of the 25th of December. Paranthetically remark. Our lady remembered when our Lord was born. If the pastas weren't sure all they had to do was ask him, I've done this plenty of times. I have yet to meet a mother that doesn't remember when her children were born to say nothing of immaculate conception. This is so stupid. When people say that we're not showing our Lord was born.
Speaker 0 00:11:13 Well, you may not be sure, but the Catholic church, sir, that's why we have midnight mass. Okay. On the culinary night of the 25th of December shepherds, watch the floss destined for sacrificial services. The very place consecrated by tradition is that where the Messiah was to be first revealed, close quote, either shine. Now what about Catholic tradition? The father hate docs commentary written centuries ago on that same verse in scripture, Genesis 35, 21 where redid the Fox tower was built about a mile to the East of Bethlehem, where the angels appeared to announce the birth of Christ just as the chews expected st. Helen and built a church there. And honor the angels quote as a Catholic church in a Greek Orthodox church there today. You know, we fight over everything in the Holy land returning to the gospel, Luke seven, nine, following behold, the angel Lord stood by them in the brightness of God, shown a lot about them.
Speaker 0 00:12:05 And they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them, fear, not for behold. I bring you good tidings of great joy. That shall be to all the people for this day is born to a savior who is Christ the Lord and the city of David. And this should be a sign on to you. You shall find infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger and suddenly was with an angel and multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men of Goodwill. What's going on here. What we've seen before the fathers teach that each nation has its own guardian angel and the main purpose of the guardian agents to guide the people that national ways of holiness and righteousness. Father salsa teach that before the coming of Christ, the Chantelle nations increasingly rejected their knowledge of the true God.
Speaker 0 00:12:50 They learn it where all the Senate from Noah. So they knew this from Noah and because of this blade, rejection of God, the guardian angels and those nations had a terrible time just trying to prevent the people from falling father, father, into sin. My dog tree and blatant devil worship Eusebius gives a clear description of the condition of falling man on at first Christmas. Now he's writing in the fourth century quo in such a flood of evil. The angels who have been first set in charge of the nations could do nothing for their subjects. Those are the guardian angels, the nations because of man's own free choice of evil. The peoples each in its own way were driven on by evil spirits and fell into a frightful abyss. If I suffices even the Jewish nation was drawn into their corruption. Now, since such great evils had fallen upon the whole earth, since none of the angels was able to prevent these Eagles.
Speaker 0 00:13:40 And since the race God loved was wallowing in the depths of inequity. And since the activity, the demons continued to increase day by day, the savior himself came to men and helped his angels and their work for the salvation of men. And then when he was seen by his own angels were first set up as guardians over the nations, they immediately recognized their Lord coming to their aid and went to him. Joyously just to sacred scripture says there was a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace demand of Goodwill close. Cool. So on that cold, quiet Christmas night and Bethlehem, when they go RD and angels at a nations South, a little Lord, Jesus wrapped up in swaddling clothes and laid in the manger. They immediate realized that their Lord and God had stoop and come down to earth.
Speaker 0 00:14:31 Not today. It is simply the Hebrew people, but to the aid of all and yeah, honor the come to help us angels. Did he come to make it finally possible to turn their before confused people away from the path of destruction and onto the path to heaven. So what do we see in on that first Christmas or seeing Anne faster from heaven? The second person of the most blessed Trinity coming on a peace mission to his enemies. He came and peace to his enemies. That's us. He came on a mission of mercy, of divine mercy for centers.
Speaker 1 00:15:13 That's us.
Speaker 0 00:15:16 He came to bring peace on earth tonight, Goodwill. That's the message of Christmas. The message of the major said, God came, even though we were at war with him, he came as a helpless baby that none of us can or should be afraid of to show how much he loves us and how much he longs to have mercy on us. That's the message of Christmas Merry Christmas.
