Prepare O Bethlehem - Mary

"Peace to Mary. The Lord is with you. Gabriel said that you are a jewel among the women. In you we can see God. You carried Him in your stomach, who carried the world." (Translation of Hoothomo that is sung at the dismissal after the Holy Qurbana)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus 

In the Gospel reading we heard on Sunday, we heard the angel Gabriel bringing a very astounding news to Mary. She who is a girl betrothed to be married will bear a son who is to be called Jesus, the Son of the Most High. And this will happen through the Holy Spirit. And Mary submits herself to the plans of the Most High God. 

Mary has been a subject for many poets, artists, sculptors, writers and theologians. In our homes, more than anyone else, we find icons of Mary adorning our walls. Songs and hymns have been dedicated in her honor, and churches, seminaries, monasteries and shrines have been erected in her blessed memory. Miracles have been ascribed to her intercessions, and special services and prayers are written for her. She is known as the Queen of Heaven, the Mediatrix and, most importantly, the Theotokos. 

Liturgical hymns speak of her as the flower that bore the fruit, the Golden censor, the New Jerusalem, the ewe that bore the lamb, and her womb is said to be more spacious than the heavens. She is said to be more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim. Her memory is invoked at every liturgical service. Mary is certainly very special to Christians and will always be remembered for being the mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During the Christmas Season, she is officially commemorated on December 26th, which is called Praises (Synaxis)  of the Theotokos. 

God’s grand plan for our salvation involved incarnating the Word of God into the flesh, for God to become like one of us.  And this would happen in a way that was both miraculous and understandable.  The understandable part was that He would come into the world as a new-born baby.  The miraculous part was that the conception would be by the Holy Spirit, an immaculate conception.  And a woman would bear God’s Son in her womb and give birth to Him.  So, God would bring His Son into the world through one of us.

The Virgin Mary was the woman that God selected for this task.  Tradition says that she was born in a miraculous way to elderly parents named Joachim and Anna.  When she was three years old, she was taken to the temple by her parents and given to the service of the Lord.  After being raised in the temple for ten years, she found herself living in a small town called Nazareth, where she was betrothed (engaged) to a man named Joseph.

It is however very ironic, that while Mary is very prominent in the birth narratives, she is only mentioned a few times in the entire New Testament. While her name is never specifically mentioned, she intervened at the first miracle that Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee where Jesus changed water into wine (See John 2:3-5). Jesus who was not ready to perform a miracle, performs a miracle out of obedience to His mother. He performs the miracle which is the first of series of miracles in the Gospel of John. 

In Luke 8:19-21, she is mentioned together with Jesus' family. She is also mentioned by the evangelist John as one of the persons standing at the foot of the cross together with John the beloved disciple (See John 19:25-27). In the Book of Acts 1:14, Mary is with the other disciples in the upper room after Jesus ascended into heaven. The Apostle Paul in his letter to Galatians refers to her as the mother of Jesus, though does not specifically mention her by name (Gal. 4:4-7).

However, if we read the birth narratives carefully, we understand that she has a role, secondary only to that of Jesus. The Lord used her as His instrument of redemption and salvation. When Mary was called to give birth to the Savior of the World, we do not know if she answered with fear or with confidence. But we do know that she ANSWERED by placing herself as the handmaiden of the Lord. 

One of the most beautiful hymns in the Orthodox Church is the Magnifact. The Magnifact is taken directly from the first chapter of Luke's Gospel. When Mary visits Elizabeth, Elizabeth, who is already six months pregnant, realizes that Mary is carrying a very special child. She tells Mary, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she so believed that there would be fulfillment of what was spoken of her from the Lord." 

Mary responded to Elizabeth with the following words:

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold all generations will call me blessed;
For He who is mighty has done great things for me
And Holy is His name
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation
He has shown strength with His arm
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts
He has put down the mighty from their thrones
And exalted those of low degree
He has filled the hungry with good things
And the rich He has sent away empty
He has helped His servant Israel
In remembrance of His mercy
As He spoke to our fathers
To Abraham and to his posterity forever." (Luke 1:46-55)

These words remind us of God's generous love toward His people. He exalts the humble and the lowly, and He brings down the mighty and the powerful, themes which are woven throughout the Old Testament. The Magnifact also echoes a very important Old Testament text which is found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Here,the once barren Hannah offers a prayer to God in thanksgiving for bearing a son with her husband Elknah. Her son is not just any child, but Samuel who will grow up to be one of the first prophets of the Old Testament. Samuel also is the one who anointed David to be king. 

These are some of the lessons we learn from Mary. God calls everyone to something in his/her life. There is no one who is uncalled. Have you heard God's call in your life? Have you answered the call? How have you answered the call? 

Throughout the Scriptures, the biblical God uses the which is broken in the world as a tool for working out His salvation. He uses the barren Sarah in order to produce Isaac; Be uses an orphan Israelite child named Moses to be the giver of the Law; He uses a young virgin girl named Mary to bear the Word of God, and He uses the Pharisee Saul who persecuted Christians who later became the first among the Apostles. With God everything is possible. 

We also learn that just as Mary was part of God's plan for our salvation, we, too, are part of God's plan for our salvation God has provided the path to salvation.  He has even provided the means to go down the path—the church, the scriptures, the clergy, etc.  But we have to walk down the path ourselves.  We work in concert with God in order to attain salvation.

Mary is the model of what we are supposed to be, because she said YES to the call of God.  May we follow her example!  Mary is called Theotokos, meaning, “God-bearer.”  We are called to be the same!

"O Mary, Virgin, beautiful and daughter of David, I am unable to describe your history. O Mary, daughter of David, to those who are near and dear to you, bliss to all. O Mary, daughter of David, you are brought up by the priests and in maturity entrusted you to the Just Joseph. O daughter of David, you are a jewel among women. You are worthy of praise, the fruit of your womb is holy. O Mary, daughter of David, in your feast day, heaven and earth together rejoice. Your praise be a refuge to us." (Rough translation of the Catholic Hymn sung on day commemorated as Annunciation to the Mother of God)

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prepare O Bethlehem - Elizabeth and Zechariah (St. Luke 1:5-38; 57-80)

"When Zechariah offered incense in the temple of Lord

An angel descended from heaven and conveyed a good news

That his wife will bear you a son and he should call him John.

He will be great among the Isreal.

He will give happiness to the whole world.

Because you did not believe the news, you will be mute till the child is born.

For nine months till the birth of John,

Zechariah was unable to speak."

- Catholic Hymn from the Holy Qurbana of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church, sung when we commemorate the Annunciation to Zechariah

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus

Unlike Matthew, who begins his Gospel with the birth of Jesus, Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the "voice of one crying in the desert" who comes to prepare the way of the Lord. St John is a prominent figure in all the four Gospels. He is described as being a prophet who calls people to repentance. We do not know anything about his childhood or youth, St Luke only tells us that his parents were Elizabeth and Zechariah.

We are told that Zechariah was married to Elizabeth, who was a daughter of Aaron. This small but important piece of information tells us that she was from the lineage of Aaron, who was from the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and was known as the leader of the priestly tribe in Israel (see Deut 18:1-5, 21:5, 24:8, 2 Samuel 15:24).

Likewise, both Elizabeth and Zechariah were said to be righteous before God, walking in the commandments, and blameless (Luke 1:6). Furthermore, this birth would be a true miracle, since Elizabeth, like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Hannah, was well beyond her childbearing years. 

Just as we see in the story of Abraham and Sarah, where we see an angel foretelling a birth of a son to Sarah, so too an angel came and told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son. This angel's name is Gabriel, the same Gabriel that comes to Mary later in the same Gospel. However, unlike Mary, who accepts the glad tidings, Zechariah doubts the truthfulness of the message, and as a result he is struck dumb (Luke 1:18). Later, after the birth of his son, Zechariah's mouth was opened, and he gave thanks and offered this prayer to God:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy Prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the path which He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of Peace" (Luke 1:68-79).

Zechariah's prayer opens with a traditional Jewish way of prayer by blessing God for everything that He bestowed upon Isreal. Likewise, the reference to the horn is a reference to God's saving power. The horn was an ancient symbol of power and authority, especially during times of war and distress (Jer. 48:25). Zechariah also mentions great leaders in Isreal, such as King David and the first patriarch Abraham together with the prophets of old. God used these people in order to bring His saving leave to His chosen people just as He uses Elizabeth to give birth to John, who will later become the Baptist, and Mary, who have birth to Jesus.

The birth of John was certainly miraculous, something that neither Zechariah or Elizabeth expected. But, as with Abraham and Sarah, God works in miraculous ways, catches people off guard and tests their faith in the process. The Gospels reveal that nothing is beyond God's power. John is the voice crying in the desert preparing the way for the Christ, and it is he who also will "guide our feet into the way of Peace".

The preparation of the birth of Jesus begins with the Annunciation to Zechariah regarding the birth of John, who is truly the forerunner, and who came before Jesus to prepare the way for our salvation.

On a personal note, the Indian Orthodox Church commemorates only the Annunciation to Zechariah in the last Sunday and birth of John the Baptist is commemorated later on the first Sunday of December. But for purposes of addressing and understanding this whole theme, I have taken both of them together.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Prepare O Bethlehem - Introduction

Dear parents, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus 

As we entered this week, we start celebrating the Christmas season. The Christmas season is a wonderful time of the year. It is a time of gift giving, family gatherings, parties, winter vacations and many more celebrations. Christmas season reminds me of freshly baked cakes, decorations of home and Church. 

Yet, while we are generally preoccupied with planning and attending family gatherings, we also know that in the background we patiently awake the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and the Savior of the World. Sometimes Christmas comes and goes without much thought as we prepare for New Year's parties, and then the thought of returning back from our vacations fills our minds. Unfortunately, the "reason of the season" gets lost in the middle of Christmas shopping and the end of year related business.

The blog posts "Prepare O Bethlehem" is being written so that we can take a few moments out of our busy lives and reflect on the Scripture lessons of the Christmas season in order to make this feast a more meaningful time of the year.

According to the Orthodox Church calendar, the official name for Christmas is: The Nativity according to the Flesh of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, sometimes simply referred to as the Nativity. In addition to the celebration of Christmas on December 25, the Christmas season also includes the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus on January 1; the Baptism in the Jordan river, called the Epiphany or Theophany, on January 6; and the Entrance of the Lord into the Temple on February 2. These three feasts celebrate the gift of the Word of God who is fully revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. These feasts also reveal to us God's saving work in the world through His Son.

You might ask why should we take efforts to understand the traditions of the Orthodox Church and you might be tempted to see these feasts as mere historical events in the life of Jesus. However, if we carefully listen to the liturgical hymnography of the Church, we see that the Gospel of salvation is presented to us in another form. While Jesus did die 2000 years ago, He is very much alive in the world through the proclamation of the Gospel. Thus, Jesus is still alive and present for us today.

The hymns remind us that while Jesus Christ has already come in the flesh and was crucified for us and for our salvation, He also comes again as a child in the manger and in the Temple and as an adult in the River Jordan as a reminder of the great gift of our redemption and salvation. Today, we are saved through our faith in Him, and today, we rejoice in His baptism in the River Jordan. We know that even though He already came as an infant, He will also come again as the judge in order to bring God's justice to the world.

However, while we await His coming again, we also need to ponder the great mystery of His birth in the flesh. Jesus' birth is one of the most solemn feasts of the Church but which is also filed with great joy.

As with all liturgical seasons, we go through a time of preparation and anticipation for the feast; Pasha, or Easter is preceded by Great Lent, the Dormition or Falling Asleep of the Theotokos is preceded by the Dormition Fast, and Christmas is preceded by a Lenten period called Advent. In the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the period of Advent begins from December 1st and in the Eastern Orthodox Church it begins on November 15th, and concludes at the Divine Liturgy on the Christmas Day. Advent is derived from the Latin word "advenire", which means to come. During Advent, we prepare for the coming of the Lord.

The fear of Christmas continues for five more days as we remember the most holy Theotokos on December 26, the first martyr Stephen on December 27, and then the Holy innocents killed in Bethlehem on December 29. Then we encounter the feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus on January 1, which then leads us to the Prefeast services of Epiphany,  or Theophany. In the feast of Epiphany, we prepare or anticipate the public announcement or manifestation of Jesus to the world. While at Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, at Epiphany we celebrate the beginning of His proclamation of the Kingdom.

The hymns sung emphasize that while the birth of Jesus is important, His baptism which is the beginning of His public ministry, is even more important. During the feast of Epiphany, the priest blesses water to commemorate the baptism in the Jordan, and to remind us that God continually blesses and sanctifies us through material things such as bread, wine, oil, fruit, flowers and water. We also have home blessings during the Epiphany season.

Finally, the Christmas season culminates with the celebration of the feast of the Entrance of the Lord into the Temple, which is also known as the Meeting of the Lord. This is celebrated on February 2, forty days after Christmas.

Because we are usually so busy and preoccupied with so many things during the holiday season, these feasts sometimes take a backseat to other holiday activities. Sometimes, we have to make difficult choices in life, and very often, Church may not always be high on our list. Hopefully, during this Christmas Season, we shall return to the Scriptures so we can know the truth, which is Christ Himself. The Scriptures are the source for our knowledge of the biblical God, His Son Jesus Christ and the life giving Spirit. In the upcoming blogs, I invite you to return to the Word of God, which leads us to know the Word who became flesh for us and for our salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference : Prepare O Bethlehem - William C. Mills