The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-11-11
THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST.

THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST.
Behold, the handmade Of the
Lord, be it done unto me according
to- thy word" was the act of obe7l
dience which Mary gave to the divine.
command that Jesus should be born
of virgin She had reserved for
God her virginity, 'for / know not
man." but the message of the angel
was strong, and bowling her will to
that of her God, she awaited "the
powers Of the Most High and the over
shadowing of the Holy Ghost" believ-
ing, as the angel said, "The Holy One
which shall be born of Thee shall be
called the Son of the Most High" And
at that moment there was conceived
in the virginia. womb, Christ the Son
OF God, and "the word was made flesh"
Truly might she say, my soul doth
magnify the Lord, for He that is
mighty has done great things to me-"
Although the mother of a God, we
find her fastening to the enrolment
at Bethlehem at the appointed time
that she might obey the command OF
Caesar, but better still that she might
help in the fulfillment of the prophecy
of Micheas, "and thou Bethlehem, the
land of Judea, art not the least among
the princes of Judea; for out of thee
shall come forth the captain that shall
rule my people, Israel" And when
they came to the city they could find
no room in the inn, and her days be-
ing accomplished, she must needs find
shelter, and vending her way to
cave in the side of the hill, there was
born to her, Jesus, the Son of God,
deprived of every comfort and
stranger to all. But God the Father
would not suffer the world to pass His
Son unnoticed, and the heavens could
not contain themselves for joy. "Glory
to God in the highest; and on earth
peace TO men of goodwill" sang the
rejoicing angel choirs, announc-
ing at the same time to the shepherds
in the hills Of Judea that their God
was born in their midst and telling
them where they would find Him, in
order that they might be the first of
the children Of men to render Him
homage.
The New Law.
"And on the eighth day He was
circumcised," and so shed His first
blood and took upon Himself the
stigma of our sins, not because He
needed to obey the Law, but only that
He might begin at this early date to
pHc fypoo I'D
His name wassealled Jesus, Savior, the
sweetest OF names, the name which
came down from Heaven.
His mother was purified and gave
her sin-offering and the offering that
would relieve Jesus from the service
OF the temple, for He was to prepare
Himself, not for the service of God
in the Old Law, but to make a fitting
preparation for the great sacrifice
which was to be the foundation of the
New Law.
When the holy family came into
the temple, Simeon approached and
seeing Christ in the arms of His
mother, his eyes were opened and he
saw none other than his Savior-unto
the Gentiles and the glory of "The
Light which shall reveal itself Israel,
thy people," And turning to Mary he
said, "This child is set for the fall,
and for the resurrection of many in
Israel" and seeing with the eyes Of
faith the trials which Christ was to
undergo, he continued, "And thine
own soul sword shall pierce"
And when they returned home,
men came from the East and adored
the Holy Child and extended to Him
gifts of gold to signify His kingship,
frankincense to acknowledge His
divinity, and myrrh to foreshadow His
bitter passion. Their coming was to
disturb the peaceful life of the holy
family, for Herod, ever suspicious and
fearful for his authority, determined
to kill the new king looked for by the
Magi. But the Divine Child was we'll
protected and Joseph was warned by
an angel in his sleep to take the Child
and His mother and go to Egypt and
stay there until such time ais he should
be told to return. Although the Magi
did not return and tell Herod of the
dwe1ling-place of Christ, orders were
sent out that all the male children of
Bethlehem of two years and under