Gregory Nazianzen issued him a birth certificate in the year 379. Jesus was born on December 25. Thus the Catholic Church once again draped itself in the illustrious robes of idolatry. According to pagan tradition, that was the day the sacred sun initiated its march against night through the winter’s darkness.
Whenever it may have occurred, that first silent night of peace and love was certainly not celebrated as it is now in many lands, with the deafening battle roar of firecrackers. For sure, there were no little pins showing the golden-curled babe which that newborn was not. Any more than the ones who followed a star no one else ever saw to a manger in Bethlehem were either three or kings. And certainly that first Christmas, which foretold such bad news for the merchants in the temple, was not and was never intended to be a promise of spectacular sales for the merchants of the world.
WANTED
WANTED
NAME, JESUS.
AKA, MESSIAH.
NO JOB OR FIXED ADDRESS.
He claims to be the son of God, who came down from heaven to set fire to the world.
An outlaw from the desert, he gets townspeople all riled up.
He promises paradise to the destitute, to slaves, crazies, drunks, and prostitutes.
He fools the common people by curing lepers, multiplying loaves and fishes, and performing other tricks of magic and sorcery.
He does not respect Rome’s authority or Jewish tradition.
He has always lived outside the law.
For thirty-three years he has been running from the death sentence he received at birth.
The cross awaits him.
THE ASS
He gave warmth to newborn Jesus in the manger, and that’s why he is in all the pictures, posing with his big ears beside the bed of straw.
On the back of an ass, Jesus escaped Herod’s sword.
On the back of an ass, he wandered all his life.
On the back of an ass, he preached.
On the back of an ass, he entered Jerusalem.
Perhaps the ass is not such an ass after all?
RESURRECTION OF JESUS
In Oaxaca, the Mazatecos say Jesus was crucified because he gave the poor a voice and made the trees speak.
And they say that after long suffering, they took him down from the cross.
And he was already buried, asleep in his death, when a cricket began to sing.
And the cricket awakened him.
And Jesus said he wished to leave death behind.
And the cricket told the mole, who then dug a long tunnel underground until he reached the casket where Jesus lay.
And the mole sought the help of the mouse, who then broke open the casket with his sharp teeth.
And Jesus got out.
And with one finger he pushed aside the immense boulder that the soldiers had put in his way.
And he thanked the cricket, the mole, and the mouse who had been so kind.
And he rose up to heaven, though he had no wings.
And above the open tomb he left the immense boulder floating in the air with an angel seated on it.
And the angel told all this to lady Mary, mother of Jesus.
And lady Mary could not keep the secret and she told her neighbors in the market.
And that is how we know.
MARYS
In the scriptures, Mary seldom appears.
The Church ignored her too until about a thousand years ago. Then the mother of Jesus was consecrated as the mother of humanity and the symbol of the purity of the faith. In the eleventh century, while the Church was inventing purgatory and obligatory confession, in France eighty churches and cathedrals sprang up in homage to Mary.
Virginity was the source of her prestige. Mary, nourished by angels, impregnated by a dove, was never touched by a man. The husband, Saint Joseph, said hello from afar. And she became even more holy after 1854, when the infallible Pope Pius IX revealed that Mary had been conceived without sin, which in translation means that the mother of the Virgin was also a virgin.
Today Mary is the most adored and miraculous divinity in the world. Eve brought ruin to all women. Mary redeems them. Thanks to her, the sinning daughters of Eve have the chance to repent.
And that is what happened to the
Whenever it may have occurred, that first silent night of peace and love was certainly not celebrated as it is now in many lands, with the deafening battle roar of firecrackers. For sure, there were no little pins showing the golden-curled babe which that newborn was not. Any more than the ones who followed a star no one else ever saw to a manger in Bethlehem were either three or kings. And certainly that first Christmas, which foretold such bad news for the merchants in the temple, was not and was never intended to be a promise of spectacular sales for the merchants of the world.
WANTED
WANTED
NAME, JESUS.
AKA, MESSIAH.
NO JOB OR FIXED ADDRESS.
He claims to be the son of God, who came down from heaven to set fire to the world.
An outlaw from the desert, he gets townspeople all riled up.
He promises paradise to the destitute, to slaves, crazies, drunks, and prostitutes.
He fools the common people by curing lepers, multiplying loaves and fishes, and performing other tricks of magic and sorcery.
He does not respect Rome’s authority or Jewish tradition.
He has always lived outside the law.
For thirty-three years he has been running from the death sentence he received at birth.
The cross awaits him.
THE ASS
He gave warmth to newborn Jesus in the manger, and that’s why he is in all the pictures, posing with his big ears beside the bed of straw.
On the back of an ass, Jesus escaped Herod’s sword.
On the back of an ass, he wandered all his life.
On the back of an ass, he preached.
On the back of an ass, he entered Jerusalem.
Perhaps the ass is not such an ass after all?
RESURRECTION OF JESUS
In Oaxaca, the Mazatecos say Jesus was crucified because he gave the poor a voice and made the trees speak.
And they say that after long suffering, they took him down from the cross.
And he was already buried, asleep in his death, when a cricket began to sing.
And the cricket awakened him.
And Jesus said he wished to leave death behind.
And the cricket told the mole, who then dug a long tunnel underground until he reached the casket where Jesus lay.
And the mole sought the help of the mouse, who then broke open the casket with his sharp teeth.
And Jesus got out.
And with one finger he pushed aside the immense boulder that the soldiers had put in his way.
And he thanked the cricket, the mole, and the mouse who had been so kind.
And he rose up to heaven, though he had no wings.
And above the open tomb he left the immense boulder floating in the air with an angel seated on it.
And the angel told all this to lady Mary, mother of Jesus.
And lady Mary could not keep the secret and she told her neighbors in the market.
And that is how we know.
MARYS
In the scriptures, Mary seldom appears.
The Church ignored her too until about a thousand years ago. Then the mother of Jesus was consecrated as the mother of humanity and the symbol of the purity of the faith. In the eleventh century, while the Church was inventing purgatory and obligatory confession, in France eighty churches and cathedrals sprang up in homage to Mary.
Virginity was the source of her prestige. Mary, nourished by angels, impregnated by a dove, was never touched by a man. The husband, Saint Joseph, said hello from afar. And she became even more holy after 1854, when the infallible Pope Pius IX revealed that Mary had been conceived without sin, which in translation means that the mother of the Virgin was also a virgin.
Today Mary is the most adored and miraculous divinity in the world. Eve brought ruin to all women. Mary redeems them. Thanks to her, the sinning daughters of Eve have the chance to repent.
And that is what happened to the
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