Taking Flesh and Dwelling among us

This morning started with a beautiful sunrise over the Sea of Galilee with flocks of birds flying across the lake and in from of Mount Hermon

Our day was spent in Nazareth, with the Holy Family, the child Jesus, Mary and Joseph. When began by reflecting on Paul's letter to the Galatians

When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons and daughters. The proof that you are children is that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, 'Abba, Father,' and it is this that makes you a son and daughter, you are not a slave any more; and if God has made you children, then he has made you heirs.
- Galatians 4:4-7

Jesus took flesh in a family with familial relationships. God's plan for our salvation not only entailed his Son, our Redeemer, Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer and Joseph the Guardian of the Redeemer. He would have called Joseph Abba, Father, and that is the name he taught us to call God, Abba. It is a name and relationship of closeness and love. By Jesus' death and resurrection we are invited into his family. With him, as sons and daughters we too call God, Abba, Father.

Arriving at Nazareth we had Mass at the Church of the Annunciation.

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.  He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, so highly favoured!  The Lord is with you.'  She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid, you have won God's favour.  Listen!  You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.'  Mary said to the angel, 'But how will this come about, since I am a virgin?'  'The Holy Spirit will come upon you,' the angel answered, 'and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow.  And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.  Know this too: Your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.'  'I am the handmaid of the Lord,' said Mary, 'let what you have said be done to me.' And the angel left her.
- Luke 1:26-38

It happened here, in this place. We might be put off by the immensity of the church or the crowds... but here in all simplicity the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary. And rather than simply say yes, Mary entered into dialogue with the angel... How can this come about? It's a great reminder that in our prayer its okay to say I don't understand, but in the end Mary, like each one of us, is invited in trust to  surrender. And so her 'I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me.' is her Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. In giving her "yes" she is in essence saying, "This is my womb, my  body, that is given for you" to her Son who gave his body for hers and our salvation.

This is the invitation to us too, in obedience to the Father and by being open to the Spirit to allow Jesus to take flesh in us.

Later as I prayed the Eucharistic Prayer and prayed over the bread and wine I reflected the same dynamic is happening... As I laid hands over the bread and wine I was conscious of the power of the Most High covering the bread and wine with its shadow as the Holy Spirit was invoked upon it so that, through the words of Jesus, it becomes Jesus' Body and Blood. The ministry of a priest is one that causes us to be awe, that God chooses lowly men to be his priests...  just as he chose a lowly woman to be the Mother and a simple carpenter to become the child's guardian. Our God asks each of us to emulate Mary's words, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word.

One who did was Sr Teresa Donworth who then renewed her vows as she approaches 60 years since she entered the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Eternal Triune God,

 trusting in your faithful love,

 I, Sr Teresa Donworth , renew my vows

to live life

following Christ in chastity, poverty, obedience and zeal.

I commit myself anew

 to serve the Church in the apostolate

 entrusted to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Grant me the grace, Lord,

 through the intercession of our Lady

 and the prayers and support of my institute,

 to live these vows faithfully

The steadfast love of our God endures forever. 

With you Sr Teresa, we rejoice at how God has loved you. 

Blessed indeed are you each of you, for trusting as Mary, 

that God’s word to you would be fulfilled. 

We confidently pray that God, who has begun this good work in you, 

will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.

We praise and thank God with you for His faithful love 

which has inspired and enabled your fidelity. 

We thank you, too, for witness of your life and your example of loving service. 

May God fill your heart with love, peace and joy. Amen.

We then went down to the lower level of the church where we visited the home of the Holy Family. Nazareth was a village of caves. After the Roman Empire became Christian under Constantine in 313 his mother Helena came to the Holy Land to secure many of the holy sites for pilgrims. This cave was recognised as the home of the Holy Family.

Inside and outside the basilica are various mosaics of Mary from various countries... these are just a few... there is none from New Zealand!

Before we left we sang Mo Maria under the Ukranian icon praying for peace 

We then visited the Synagogue Church. There has been a church on the site of the Nazareth Synagogue since the 12th century. During our visit there we reflected this is where Jesus learnt to practice his Jewish faith. It was also where he would have learnt to read. People didn't have scrolls in their homes! And it was there he returned to announce the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy... 

Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue  on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord's year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, "This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen." And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.
- Luke 4:14-22

That same Spirit of the Lord has been given to each of us in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. We too have been anointed to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord's year of favour.

Before leaving we prayed that we too might learn from the Divine Master in that place to love and serve after his example.

Hany, the guardian of the church was delighted to have a group from New Zealand... he has a great number of relatives in New Zealand

Our final visit was to the Church of St Joseph. The church was built in 1914 on the site of an earlier 12th century church. The caves, granaries and wells in the lower level were used by the early dwellers in Nazareth. Travellers who had visited the place in the 7th century pointed out that this been the location of the carpentry shop of Joseph. Later traditions identify the place as being the house of Joseph.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son 
and they will call him Emmanuel, 
a name which means " God-is-with-us". 

When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord told him to do: he took his wife to his home.
- Matthew 1:18-24

The New Zealand film Nativity has a scene where Mary asks Joseph to recount his dream... She asks Joseph, "So are you afraid?" "Yes," he replied. "Are you?" Joseph wonders in the film whether he will ever be able to teach the child anything... you can see the short clip at the link here https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqrks9

This is the amazing task Mary and Joseph were entrusted with. Imagine the Son of God living in the abject simplicity and poverty of Nazareth. And Joseph, the silent man but also the decisive man, who kept listening to the angel in his dreams, taking Mary and the child to Egypt in the face of the danger that Herod posed for the child. 

For me, my favourite features of the church are its windows...

The dreaming of Joseph in the lower church

The marriage of Mary and Joseph

The Dying of Joseph

Joseph's workshop/house

A map of the caves below the church

The baptistry in the lower church

The upper church... The dreaming of Joseph

The Holy Family

The dying of Joseph

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: 

And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of

our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: 

Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary...

And the Word was made Flesh: 

And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary...

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, 

that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.