The name "Jesus" was a fairly common one among the Jews. In the original Hebrew, it was "Josue." The angel told Joseph that Mary would:
Bear a son, whom thou shalt call Jesus, For He is to save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21
This first indication of the nature of His mission on earth does not mention His teaching; for the teaching would be ineffective, unless there was first salvation.
He was given another name at the same time, the name "Emmanuel."
Behold, the virgin shall be with child, And shall bear a son, And they shall call Him Emmanuel, (which means God with us). Matthew 1:23
This name was taken from the prophecy of Isaias and it assured something besides a Divine presence; together with the name "Jesus," it meant a Divine presence which delivers and saves. The angel also told Mary:
And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, And shalt bear a son, and shalt call Him Jesus. He shall be great, and men will know Him for the Son of the Most High; The Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David, And He shall reign over the house of Jacob eternally; His kindgom shall never have an end. Luke l:31 - 33
The title "Son of the Most High" was the very one that was given to the Redeemer by the evil spirit which possessed the youth in the land of the Gerasenes. The fallen angel thus confessed Him to be what the unfallen angel said He was:
Why dost thou meddle with me, Jesus Son of the Most High God? Mark 5:7
The salvation that is promised by the name "Jesus" is not a social salvation, but rather a spiritual one. He would not save people necessarily from their poverty, but he would save them from their sins. To destroy sin is to uproot the first causes of poverty. The name "Jesus" brought back the memory of their great leader, who had brought them out of Israel to rest in the promised land. The fact that He was prefigured by Josue indicates that He had the soldierly qualities necessary for the final victory over evil, which would come from the glad acceptance of suffering, unwavering courage, resoluteness of will and unshakable devotion to the Father's mandate.
The people enslaved under the Roman yoke were seeking deliverance; hence they felt that any prophetic fulfillment of the ancient Josue would have something to do with politics. Later on, the people would ask Him when He was going to deliver them from the power of Caesar. But here, at the very beginning of His life, the Divine Soldier affirmed through an angel that He had come to conquer a greater enemy than Caesar. They must still render to Caesar the things that were Caesar's His mission was to deliver them from a far greater bondage, namely, that of sin. All through His life people would continue to materialize the concept of salvation thinking that deliverance was to be interpreted only in terms of the political. The name "Jesus" or Savior was not given to Him after He had wrought salvation, but at the very moment He was conceived in the womb of His mother. The foundation of His salvation was from eternity and not from time.
"We have seen his star in the east" (Matt.2;2) Not three only, but perhaps all in that part of the world saw the star. Only three, however, followed it. Truly "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt.20:16, 22;14). How many stars of Divine inspiration has God not sent us, but how many of them have we followed? Here is matter for further acts of contrition for events in our past lives. Let us fear, and pray for more such stars, but endeavour also to respond to our calling by good works.
"We have seen his star in the east and are come to adore him"
It was due to the gift of God that they saw. It was their own doing that they acted on it and set out. Grace is given in vain when there is no co-operation on our part. Let us therefore see that the grace of God is not given us in vain. Let us never neglect it, for it might possibly be the last we shall receive.
"We have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him"
Between seeing the star and setting out there was no interval, for they obeyed the voice of God instantly. They were not deterred by the example of the many who were kept back by the care of their homes, the love of their friends and neighbours of their own interests. Even so must we learn not to delay while we have the light. The chains of earthly affections must be broken.
Comments on The Wise Men by Nicola Avancini, S.J.
Therese Neumann was reported to have been born sometime between Good Friday and Holy Saturday, in April 1898 and died in 1962. She was the first of 11 children, baptised a few days later on Easter Sunday; all this happened in Konnersreuth, Germany not so long ago.
Therese, a stigmatist suffered the wounds of Christ, also an ecstatic her soul being so absorbed in God and His Passion, her visions threrefore, would be proper meditation for this month.
THE VISION ACCOUNTS BELOW FROM AUTHENTIC JOURNALS AND DOCUMENTS COMPILED BY: Johannes Steiner
The Vision: Our Savior is brought before Annas, he stands before him. He is mocked. Now she sees Him standing before another man, with a brilliant robe, with something like little horns on his head and something special on his breast; Therese traces a pattern with her hand, down and across on her breast: What she means is the Ephod of the high priest, divided into twelve plates with the names of twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them. Our Savior is struck in the face.
The man with the little horns has ripped His robe. The high priest Caiphas tears His garments as a gesture of condemnation. Peter is spoken to by an old women and once again denies that he knows Jesus. Once more the rooster crows. In the same moment, our Savior looks around and sees the man, who then goes out and cries.
Our Savior is led into a dark, cold hole, along such a narrow and low passageway that you have to duck down in order to walk along it. The prison is a narrow cell in which at the most two persons can stand up together. Our Savior remains locked up there until morning.
Jesus comes before Pilate, is sent away to Herod and then back to Pilate. Therese also sees Pilate's wife. She sends some word to her husband that makes him very uneasy ("Have nothing to do with this just man. . . " Matt. 27, 19)
Therese looks on in horror and turns her head from one side to the other. She is seeing the scourging. Our Savior is stripped completely naked, and he looks around very much disturbed. His hands are bound once again, and then, with His face towards a pillar, He is raised up with His arms stretched upwards by the same thong that binds His hands, until He is standing on His toes. Then three groups of men (two men in each ) of drunken policemen start beating on Him with different kinds of scourges, as hard as they can and with undisguised pleasure. When they see the exposed parts of His body are already all swollen and would be torn to shreds by further scourging, they turn our Savior around and scourge Him the same way in the front. When they have finished, our Savior is so swollen and sore then that He can hardly bend to pick up His clothing which is lying on the floor. Then one of the servants gives them a kick with his foot so that they fly off a few feet further. While Therese is having this vision of the scourging, wounds break out on her breast and back, bleeding through her bedjacket.
The crown of thorns is not made up of one single crown of thorn branches, as it is so frequently depicted, but it looks like oriental crowns, that are not open on the top, as in the Western countries, but closed and round, like a sort of a basket, with many long pointed thorns, which is placed on Jesus' head, and, in order to keep the soldiers' hands from being wounded, pounded into place with a stick. Now for Therese wounds from the crown of thorns begin to bleed through her head cloth, in which nine particularly big patches of dried blood appear after every Friday suffering.
The cross that she sees does not look like the way we picture a cross, but consists of three pieces of rough-finished wood, bound together with cords, one long unfinished stem piece and two shorter rough-hewn beams. His already sore and swollen shoulder begins to bleed afresh under the weight of the load. A great spot of blood wells up over her right shoulder and stains her bedjacket.
On the way of the cross Jesus sees His Mother accompanied by John and some of the women. Therese hears Him call "Immi" (My mother!). One of the "good-for-nothings" who are carrying the tools that will be needed, notices that it is Jesus' mother standing there and he takes two of the nails out of the box and shows them to her.
A man is ordered to help carry the cross. He is adamant in his refusal. One of the prison people forces him. He is very angry to be treated and talked to this way, and he keeps complaining loudly and his lack of cooperation causes Jesus' second fall. Then our Savior turns to him as he gets back to His feet and looks at him with a "divine look". When he sees this look in our Savior's eyes, not only does Simon give up any further resistance, but he seizes the cross so powerfully in the very middle that our Savior hardly has any weight to support at all.
A woman comes up with a young girl, who is carrying a jug of water. she is the same one who secretly approached our Savior in the crowd and touched His garments, and He cured her of her hemorrhage. Now she is very upset as she sees our Savior's disfigured face, all caked with blood; she takes off her shoulder veil and hands it to Him. He wipes His face with the veil and gives it back to her: the imprint of His face is visible on it.
Our Savior's feet get tangled in one of the ropes that they are leading Him by and He falls flat on the ground. The policemen yell "Kum", and seize our Savior by the shoulder, in order to raise Him to His feet. They are afraid He will die before they have crucified Him.
Our Savior is brought up and they rip His clothing from His body, even though it sticks to His flesh with the dried blood. All His wounds are torn open anew. Our Savior stands there naked, deeply troubled by the shameful treatment, and looks around in search of sympathy. A brave woman there takes off her shoulder veil and hands it to Him. With a grateful look, He takes it and wrapes it around Himself. Then the policemen throw our Savior down on the cross, and tie Him tight by the hips.
Then they tie His right hand to the cross beam in the neighborhood of the wrist and drive the nail through the right hand in the hole that was bored there beforehand. When they come to the left hand, they see that the hole has been bored too far outside. They tie a cord to His wrist and pull it out until it fits the position of the hole. In so doing they tear the arm out of the shoulder socket. Then this arm is also bound tight and the nail is driven through the hand. Therese hears the individual hammer strokes. She jerks up her knee under the blanket as each hand is nailed in place. From the wounds and stigma fresh blood begins to flow. Her fingers are bent inwards and keep jerking back and forth in pain.
The nailing of the feet appeared in the following manner: first the knees were tight together. Then the prison people held the right foot tight against the footrest and drove the nail through it, the same size nail as in the hands. This nail is later pulled out and thrown away. It serves only as a preliminary fastening, to keep the foot from pulling free when the other foot is nailed in place. Then the right foot is lifted into place over the left foot, and a longer nail is pushed through the already pierced right foot and with one powerful blow, followed by several other blows, it is also driven through the left foot into the pre-arranged hole in the wood.
The policemen put the title in place, lift the cross with the aid of a few beams, and let it fall into the hole bored out in the stone.Therese Neumann's violent shuddering and expression on her face clearly portray the terrible pain that our Savior's body must have experienced in this sudden shock. She see our Savior go unconscious for a few moments; His head falls forward. The cross does not extend deep enough into the ground; it doesn's hold well enough. The policemen lift it out again, deepen the hole a little and pile rocks around it. Then they set the cross back into place, a little bit more carefully than the first time. Then it refuses to stand up vertical; it hangs a little forward, weighted down by our Savior's body. It seems that the people have counted on this, or had the same experience with other crucifixions: on both sides of the cross, near the smoothed surface of the main stem, there were two rings already in place, a little towards the back and rather high up on the stem with cords hanging from them. With these cords the cross is drawn backwards and then braced into place against two pegs that are sunk off to the side. Then more stones are piled against the foot of the cross and wooden wedges are driven into place. When she was asked in which direction the Savior was looking, Therese said that she was facing the Temple herself while she stood directly in front of our Savior; thus our Savior was crucified with His back to the Holy City. The crosses of the two thieves were somewhat forwards and off to the side so that our Savior "had them both in view."
St. Joseph, in all likelihood, was born in Bethlehem, and it is generally assumed that he died at Nazareth before Jesus began his ministry. The Bible tells us very little of Joseph, but from the early chapters of Matthew and Luke we gather that he was a carpenter by trade, a just and pious man, and a most excellent husband and father. The geneology given in Matthew 1, 1-17, traces his line from Abraham and King David. In accordance with the Jewish ritual, he was betrothed to the Virgin Mary, who was also of the race of David. Later, having learned that she was with child, though he had not been near her, he was privately considering putting her away. Yet he hesitated, for he was a kindly man, and he did not wish to expose the young woman to the reproach which such an action would bring. It was at this time of uncertainty that the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and revealed to him the Mystery of the Incarnation.
"Do not be afraid, Joseph, son of David," said the angel, "to take to thee Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten of her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save the people from their sins" Luke 1; 20-21).
Joseph now accepted without question the two-fold office with which he was charged, protector of Mary's honor and foster father of the child that was to be born. He took Mary with him from Nazareth to Bethlehem, when, in compliance with the Roman edict, it was necessary to return there for the census-taking. Then came the birth of the Lord. We know that Joseph was beside his wife when the three wise men, following a star, came there out of the East to honor the newborn child with precious gifts. The infant was duly circumcized, and when the forty days prescribed by Mosaic law were passed, Joseph and Mary took him to the temple in Jerusalem. A certain holy man named Simeon, to whom it had been revealed that he would not die until he had seen the Christ, was in the temple on that day, and when he saw Jesus, he knew that this was the promised Messiah. The priest blessed Joseph and Mary and spoke of the glory that had come to them.
The angel of the Lord again appeared to Joseph to tell him to flee with his family into Egypt to escape the wrath of the jealous King Herod. Obediently Joseph hastened to comply, and the family stayed in Egypt until word came of Herod's death, when it was safe for them to return to their homeland. Back in the pleasant hill-town of Nazareth Joseph carried on his trade, teaching it to Jesus as the boy grew older. The important event of every year was the Passover, when the pious traveled to Jerusalem to share in the ceremonies. Joseph and Mary were in the habit of going on this journey, and we are told that Joseph shared his wife's anxiety when, on one such occasion, the twelve-year-old Jesus became separated from them, and was later found debating with the learned men in the temple. Thus all we know of Joseph adds to the picture of the gentle, protective father and husband.
The POWERFUL St.Joseph Novena Below is a 30 Day Prayer to St. Joseph for any special intention. It is in honor of the 30 years he spent with Jesus and Mary. Although you can pray this novena any 30 days of the year, the month of March would be most appropriate. Don't be surprised if your request is answered on the feast day of St. Joseph, March 19th, if so please finish the novena in thanksgiving.
A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead, by your kind patronage from danger freed.
Ever-blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.
Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for the favors I ask.
I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.
I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.
I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable infant.
I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.
I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.
I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kindgom and led you into it with special honors.
I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God.
O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. (HERE MAKE YOUR REQUEST)
Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH.
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