Evangelism: Et Incarnatus Est
...et incarnatus est de spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine et homo factus est.....
The 'incarnatus' was achieved by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary. She was not a surrogate mother, she let the Holy Spirit use her flesh as the flesh of the baby Jesus. She was a normal mother who loved her baby as most other women do. She was the Mother of Jesus and over 100 year later in 431 AD The Fathers of the Church would acknowledge her to be just not the mother of the human Jesus but also of God Incarnate, she was given the title 'Mother of God'. What a wonderful honour for any woman! So she walked through life with her baby Son with no worries, no cares, and as some say 'keeping her mouth shut'. What a travesty of the truth this is! To give birth to Jesus, she had to travel to Bethlehem, and if God was on her side she certainly would not have felt it, as she was turned away again and again from hostels and houses when she was in labour. Then a smelly stable was found for her. "God, do you really care" she would have asked. But God in answer sent angels and shepherds and even Kings to where she and Jesus were. Then she went to the Temple with Jesus to be told the news that he would grow up to suffer and her own heart would be pieced by a sword. I am sure that made her day. But just as she was settling down, along came the news that King Herod wanted to kill her child. So it was off to Egypt over rough territory in the middle of the night. Now out of all this I am concluding that Mary was a 'tough cookie". She had to be. She eventually returned to Nazareth and began to raise the boy knowing what lay ahead for him. Can you imagine being the mother of a child you knew to be the Saviour of the World. I think it must at times have been terrifying. And that is what we learn from the story of how he was lost for three days and then was found teaching in the Temple. "My son, why have you done this to us?" I am sure there were tears in her eyes from the relief of finding him after so much worry. His answer was a strange one. "Why were you seeking me? Did you not know I must be about my Father's business" At 12 years of age Jesus knew who he was, and was reminding his mother of this. He was with his Father. Despite her feelings Mary had to come to terms with this. In his life and in her life, God always has to come first. But they retuned to Nazareth and the evangelist Luke tells us of happier days when Jesus went down to Nazareth with them, and was subject to their authority, as parents, and Jesus grew in wisdom and truth. O how Mary must have relished those days, although she must have grown in anxiety as the shadow of a Cross drew near to her son and to herself.
The 'incarnatus' was achieved by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary. She was not a surrogate mother, she let the Holy Spirit use her flesh as the flesh of the baby Jesus. She was a normal mother who loved her baby as most other women do. She was the Mother of Jesus and over 100 year later in 431 AD The Fathers of the Church would acknowledge her to be just not the mother of the human Jesus but also of God Incarnate, she was given the title 'Mother of God'. What a wonderful honour for any woman! So she walked through life with her baby Son with no worries, no cares, and as some say 'keeping her mouth shut'. What a travesty of the truth this is! To give birth to Jesus, she had to travel to Bethlehem, and if God was on her side she certainly would not have felt it, as she was turned away again and again from hostels and houses when she was in labour. Then a smelly stable was found for her. "God, do you really care" she would have asked. But God in answer sent angels and shepherds and even Kings to where she and Jesus were. Then she went to the Temple with Jesus to be told the news that he would grow up to suffer and her own heart would be pieced by a sword. I am sure that made her day. But just as she was settling down, along came the news that King Herod wanted to kill her child. So it was off to Egypt over rough territory in the middle of the night. Now out of all this I am concluding that Mary was a 'tough cookie". She had to be. She eventually returned to Nazareth and began to raise the boy knowing what lay ahead for him. Can you imagine being the mother of a child you knew to be the Saviour of the World. I think it must at times have been terrifying. And that is what we learn from the story of how he was lost for three days and then was found teaching in the Temple. "My son, why have you done this to us?" I am sure there were tears in her eyes from the relief of finding him after so much worry. His answer was a strange one. "Why were you seeking me? Did you not know I must be about my Father's business" At 12 years of age Jesus knew who he was, and was reminding his mother of this. He was with his Father. Despite her feelings Mary had to come to terms with this. In his life and in her life, God always has to come first. But they retuned to Nazareth and the evangelist Luke tells us of happier days when Jesus went down to Nazareth with them, and was subject to their authority, as parents, and Jesus grew in wisdom and truth. O how Mary must have relished those days, although she must have grown in anxiety as the shadow of a Cross drew near to her son and to herself.
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