Latest / Into the Mysteries of the Rosary / A Wondrous Birth | Into the Mysteries of the Rosary Ep 4 | Fr. James Brent, O.P.

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A Wondrous Birth | Into the Mysteries of the Rosary Ep 4 | Fr. James Brent, O.P. · Into the Mysteries of the Rosary

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, welcome to Into the Mysteries of the Rosary, a miniseries of the podcast contemplata.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: We return once again to a simple truth.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: God has a plan.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: God has a plan to adopt you and me by grace into his own divine life, so that you and I might come to live in the Father's house in the heavenly places.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: The mysteries of the Rosary tell the story of how God accomplishes his plan of adoption.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we turn now to the third joyful mystery, the nativity or the birth of Christ.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: The first joyful mystery announced the coming of Christ into this world.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: The second joyful mystery celebrated his coming.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: But now the third joyful mystery tells us that the eternal Son of God was actually born of a woman, born in the flesh.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: In one way, of course, God is always with us.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: God is present to all things and to all people, at all times and places, in a common sort of way.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: God sees all things, directs all things on their course, and holds all things in his hands.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: He gives being to all things and supports all things in their very existence from one moment to the next.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: In his common presence to everything, though, God still remains hidden behind the veil of this world.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: We see his creatures, but we do not see him personally.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: When Jesus Christ came into this world, however, God stepped out from behind the veil.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: He showed himself personally.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: He came to be with us in a new way, in a special way, distinct from his common presence to all things and all people.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: The eternal Son took a human nature, was born in this world as a man of flesh and blood, displayed his face, and bore the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus of Nazareth is a great mystery.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, in his person, he is truly the eternal Son of the Father, one of the Trinity, God from God, light from light.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, he is a real human being.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Mary, his mother, gave birth to him.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: She held him in her arms, gazed into his eyes, and became the first to behold his sacred face.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like many mothers do, she wrapped her newborn son in swaddling clothes.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: But unlike other mothers, Mary did so in fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was nursed with care and swaddling clothes, it says in the book of wisdom, chapter seven, verse four.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Literally speaking, the passage refers to King Solomon, yet King Solomon was but a type of Christ.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: A few verses later the book of wisdom also tells us that the wisdom of God reaches mightily from one end of the earth to another, and orders all things well.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: This verse forms the basis for the second verse of the hymn, O come, O come, Emmanuel.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: O come thou wisdom from on high, who orders all things mightily.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: To us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her way to go.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Each year during Advent, in the novena leading up to Christmas, we chant this verse about wisdom ordering all things mightily.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: The purpose of the chant is to prepare our gaze for Christmas wonders.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: When pondering the birth of Christ, the church tells us, remember that wisdom orders all things well.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Holy Mother Church wants us to see that all the circumstances and all the events surrounding the birth of Christ were orchestrated by the eternal wisdom of God.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Every detail unfolds according to eternal designs.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: The location of the birth in Bethlehem fulfills the prophecy of Micah.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are little among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: In Numbers twenty four, verse seventeen it says, A star shall come forth out of Jacob.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is it just a coincidence that a star came to rest upon the place where the child lay?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: The star, of course, led the magi to the child.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The visit of the magi also fulfills Old Testament prophecy Isaiah sixty six.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Caravans of camels shall cover you, dromedaries of Midian and Epha, all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense and heralding the praises of the Lord.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: But the wisdom of God is at work in still more ways during the nativity.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: When Mary wrapped her newborn son in swaddling clothes, she laid him in a manger.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: What an odd thing to do.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Why would a mother lay her newborn child in a feeding trough for barnyard animals?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was a most unusual thing to do.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yet it was the perfect thing to do for the fulfillment of God's higher purposes.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: For some distance away shepherds out in a field were tending their sheep by night.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: The angel of the Lord appeared to them with glad tidings.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now lest the shepherds doubt the vision or dismiss it simply as a phantom of the night, the angel said further, and this will be a sign for you.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if the shepherd's vision of the angel was an illusion, or just some phantom of the night, then should they go and look into the matter, they would most likely not find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: After all, it would be most unusual for a mother to lay her child in a manger.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: If their vision of the angel was true, however, then should they go and look into the matter, they would in fact find a most unusual thing, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the shepherd said, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: When they arrived, they found exactly what the angel had told them, and they reported their vision and the angelic tidings to Mary and Joseph.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Mary and Joseph were filled with wonder, of course, but Saint Luke tells us that Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: As she pondered them, perhaps she connected the experience of the shepherds with her own.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: After all, when Mary received the Annunciation from the angel Gabriel, in her vision she received a sign to go check out, the sign of her elderly cousin Elizabeth, now with child.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Similarly, now the shepherds too had a vision, and in their vision too, they received a sign to go check out, the sign of the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: In both cases, the visions were confirmed by signs.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Mary had one purpose in laying her child in a manger.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it was just a makeshift crib.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: But God had a higher purpose in the matter.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: He worked through her poverty and lack of a proper crib in order to give the world a divine revelation.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: For in the birth of this child everything unfolded according to eternal designs.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: The wisdom of God orchestrated many other signs, but let us consider Saint Joseph in particular.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like Mary, he too received an enunciation from an angel.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like the shepherds, though, his enunciation came by a vision of the night, an angel appearing to him in a dream.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, the angel said, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Joseph too gave his fiat.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: But did Joseph also receive a confirmatory sign?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Indeed he did.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: On the night of the nativity of our Lord, Joseph experienced his own prophetic dream come true, the birth of a son from a virginal mother.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: No wonder he looked on wrapped in silence.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: His dream had come true.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: The world's dream too had also come true.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: Salvation at last is in our midst, and salvation has a name Jesus.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this episode of Contemplata.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends wherever you listen to podcasts.