Merry Christmas! & {F56}

Posted December 25, 2015 in Faith, Reading / 4 Comments

Merry Christmas!

I just reviewed this book yesterday and yet I couldn’t resist using it for today’s Friday 56. Today is Christmas and so this is more relevant than it could ever be. However, I may slightly break the rules of the Friday 56 and include more than one quote from a page that is not “56.” 🙂

From Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI:

It is Mary’s obedience that opens the door to God. God’s word, his Spirit, creates the child in her. He does so through the door of her obedience. In this way, Jesus is the new Adam, the new beginning ab integro – from the Virgin, who places herself entirely at the disposal of God’s will.
~page 56~

Mary wrapped the child in swaddling cloths. Without yielding to sentimentality, we many image with what great love Mary approached her hour and prepared for the birth of her child. … The manger is the place where animals fidn their food. But now, lying in the manger, is he who called himself the true bread come down from heaven, the true nourishment that we need in order to be fully ourselves.
~page 68~

As a sign, the angel had told the shepherds that they would find a child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. This is an identifying sign – a description of what they would see. It is not a “sign” in the sense that God’s glory would be rendered visible, so that one might say unequivocally: this is the true Lord of the world. Far from it. In this sense, the sign is also a non-sign.
God’s poverty is his real sign.
~page 79~

Synopsis of Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives via Goodreads

New York Times Bestseller! The momentous third and final volume in the Pope’s international bestselling Jesus of Nazareth series, detailing how the stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood are as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago.
In 2007, Joseph Ratzinger published his first book as Pope Benedict XVI in order “to make known the figure and message of Jesus.” Now, the Pope focuses exclusively on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life as a child. The root of these stories is the experience of hope found in the birth of Jesus and the affirmations of surrender and service embodied in his parents, Joseph and Mary. This is a story of longing and seeking, as demonstrated by the Magi searching for the redemption offered by the birth of a new king. It is a story of sacrifice and trusting completely in the wisdom of God as seen in the faith of Simeon, the just and devout man of Jerusalem, when he is in the presence of the Christ child. Ultimately, Jesus’ life and message is a story for today, one that speaks to the restlessness of the human heart searching for the sole truth which alone leads to profound joy.

I'm linking up with the Friday 56, so I'll invite you to go grab a book and join the fun.