Why Did Mary Have To Marry Joseph To Have Jesus?

[jswranch]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1129939' date='Nov 28 2006, 01:21 PM']
Your second response is good, however, I really do not feel like getting into the whole idea of "rapture" especially given the ways in which we try to discourage the thinking of rapture the way in which those that are not Catholic believe it to be.
[/quote]
You do not have to talk about the 'rapture' to make a point on death. However, I would not shy away from a topic because others are errant in their doctrines. Should we shy from faith because of Luther and Sola Fide? Should we shy from predestination because of Calvin and Tulip? No. We believe in faith, predestination, and the 'rapture', but we believe in a different version. Be not afraid Father. Our understanding of the 'rapture' is beautiful. If you do not discuss our position, how will they know it?

([url="http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/download/mp3/rapture_and_the_bible.mp3"]Here is a great/fun/fast crash course MP3 on 'the rapture and the bible' by an EWTN guy.[/url]

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='jswranch' post='1130718' date='Nov 29 2006, 09:33 AM']
You do not have to talk about the 'rapture' to make a point on death. However, I would not shy away from a topic because others are errant in their doctrines. Should we shy from faith because of Luther and Sola Fide? Should we shy from predestination because of Calvin and Tulip? No. We believe in faith, predestination, and the 'rapture', but we believe in a different version. Be not afraid Father. Our understanding of the 'rapture' is beautiful. If you do not discuss our position, how will they know it?

([url="http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/download/mp3/rapture_and_the_bible.mp3"]Here is a great/fun/fast crash course MP3 on 'the rapture and the bible' by an EWTN guy.[/url]
[/quote]

No offense, but I find this post to be very condescending. I did not say I won't talk about the rapture I said I did not feel like getting into it. You have to remember I have one page on which I am to answer two questions. I would want more than that in order to explain something like the rapture especially with the connotations it has in this day and age.

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

Thank you everyone....here is the Q&A for this weekend's bulletin

____________________

The next two questions are quite unique in that they are serious questions but it is easy tell were asked in complete innocence. A reminder that the questions are not those posed by adults but children. In fact, I really like the first question because it truly is something only a 3rd grader would be able to think of. With that said, here are two of the final three questions I have been given.

Why did Mary have to marry Joseph to have Jesus?

Mary did not have to marry Joseph in order to have Jesus, rather, she married Joseph in order to be obedient to the customs and laws of the time and further to ensure that she would not be killed. For, you see if a woman was found to be pregnant, but was not married, it was very bad, and she would have to go to the courts and her sentence could possibly have been death. Also, although it is not this way today, during the time, a woman could not own property or have a job, so she needed someone who could provide for her. Finally, in terms of practicality, and the way in which God designed it, He wanted a child to be brought up in a family, with a mother and a father.

To get a little more technical, however, we also need to understand the customs of the time with regard to marriage and something known as betrothal. Betrothal was kind of like an engagement, that we have today, but, at the same time, just like a marriage as we have today. Let me explain, in Jewish custom if a couple was betrothed to one another, there was a solemn contract that was established and from the point of the betrothal itself, the man and woman were known as husband and wife. The difference, however, is that even though to all appearances they were indeed married, as we understand it today, they would not live together until after the actual marriage ceremony. This is why Joseph would have had to issue a bill of divorce. Furthermore, since they were essentially married, it was not uncommon for the woman to be pregnant during this time and would not have been scandalous to others. The marriage then was little more than a social custom because the actual betrothal is when the man and woman became husband and wife.

Who built the Church?

This question is a little misleading because of the word “built.” If it is a question as to who physically built the church, that would have been contractors, architects and construction workers. However, if the question is who “founded” the Church, then that would be Christ and His Apostles. Since it is not specific, I am going to assume that the question is who “founded” Church.

The Church was founded by Christ over 2000 years ago and it began with the words we hear in the Gospel of St. Matthew (16:18) “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it,” and this passage, in particular, refers to whom He is giving the task of continuing His Church on earth, St. Peter, the first Pope. However, it was not just St. Peter’s task to found the Church on his own, no, rather, it was all of the Apostles as well. This is what is known as Apostolic Tradition, that is, the handing down of the faith from one generation to the next. In fact, in St. Matthew (28:19-20) we hear Jesus commanding them for this task: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." And further on in 2 Thess. (2:15) “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”

Their task then was to carry on the teachings of Christ by bringing this message to all the nations in all the world, and, as Christians today, this task is still carried out by the bishops and priests and by all the faithful as co-workers for God’s Kingdom.

Fr. Brian

[jswranch]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1130833' date='Nov 29 2006, 11:24 AM']
No offense, but I find this post to be very condescending. I did not say I won't talk about the rapture I said I did not feel like getting into it. You have to remember I have one page on which I am to answer two questions. I would want more than that in order to explain something like the rapture especially with the connotations it has in this day and age.

God Bless
[/quote]
Oops, my fault. This where I got off " I did not say I won't talk about the rapture I said I did not feel like getting into it."

Sorry.

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1130861' date='Nov 29 2006, 12:39 PM']
Thank you everyone....here is the Q&A for this weekend's bulletin
[/quote]
Fr. Brian,
I was under the impression that the betrothal was a product of Joseph and a few other Jewish men deciding to take the Temple virgins under their care in a celibate relationship, since the Temple could no longer house them. I got this from the 'Protoevangelium of James' etc. If I am off, let me know.

Finally, I wish our parish bulletin had more Q&A like this.

[phatcatholic]

[quote name='jswranch' post='1130869' date='Nov 29 2006, 03:04 PM']
I was under the impression that the betrothal was a product of Joseph and a few other Jewish men deciding to take the Temple virgins under their care in a celibate relationship, since the Temple could no longer house them. I got this from the 'Protoevangelium of James' etc. If I am off, let me know.

Finally, I wish our parish bulletin had more Q&A like this.
[/quote]
well, that is one tradition, but no Catholic is obliged to hold it.

[Groo the Wanderer]

2. Who built the Church? Jesus Christ (picked the first bishops and laid out his Divine Revelation) and the Holy Spirit (guides the Church since Pentacost. the building continues to this day...)


3. We have to die to be born into the next life. Think of it as a newborn sees it. The widdle one knows nothing but warmth and sounds and wetness and its momma's insides for nine months. Life is good and this is all it knows. Then suddenly, it is forced into a world full of light and loud noises and coldness and oh my there is nothing to do but scream and cry. Kinda like dying...and then its new life starts so to speak. Our death is really nothing more than birth into our final state of life.

[Theologian in Training]

Thanks to everyone for help and your great insights.

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

I still have no idea what to say about death...

[shortnun]

[quote name='Theologian in Training' post='1141506' date='Dec 13 2006, 04:43 PM']
I still have no idea what to say about death...
[/quote]
How old are the kids and/or what was the specific question? I have my own personal catechetical response, but even that doesn't work in any/every situation.

[Theologian in Training]

Man, that was difficult....

I decided to save the hardest question for last, since I think given the nature of the question, it is one of those that will probably take up the entire page. It is probably one of the most difficult questions to explain not just to a 3rd grader but to everyone, because it is a question we all wonder, we all want to know the answer to, and yet the question we fear to ask the most. With that, the following is the final question from the 3rd grade class.

Why do we have to die?

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical The Gospel of Life, very eloquently explains the theology behind death, and the way in which we should understand its meaning in our life. He says: “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living…Death came into the world as a result of the devil’s envy (cf. Gen 3:1,4-5) and the sin of our first parents (cf. Gen 2:17, 3:17-19).” In other words, death was not part of the original plan, but sin entered our hearts and death entered our world.

I find the way in which the question was posed to be very interesting because it almost seems to infer that we were not designed to die, but something happened which causes us to die, which, given what John Paul II said, is actually quite true. However, the question also seems to infer something else, something I think we have to be careful to avoid, which is that though death was not part of the original plan, we are still living with the belief that no good can ever come from death. Yet, it was the death of one person who brought new life from His death. The God who created the universe took on human flesh and died on a cross made of wood. He became like us in every way except sin so that we might become like Him, and all of us who are baptized into His death will also share in His resurrection on the last day.

This is why we should not look at it as the finality, that is, the complete end of our life, but rather as being born into a new life, a life of the spirit. For you see death is our gateway to eternity, to our eternal home, and though to everyone it appears as though a person’s life ends, it has not, it has only changed. And, it is only by dying that new life can come forth. There is a great passage in Scripture (John 12:24) that explains this quite beautifully: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Now, I realize this may be a bit too theological for a 3rd grader to understand, so I am going to try and “translate” this into something they may be able to comprehend.

A while back I explained the difference between time and eternity, and I noted how we see things affected by time. We see the night change into day, we see the seasons change, and we also see someone get older. The progression of time also means that there is a beginning and an end, unlike eternity, and because of this, everyone eventually dies. Although they die, it is only their body that comes to an end, because, like I said, we have an element of eternity within us, and that is our soul, which will never die.

Now I want you to remember that as I explain the other part of this: God did not want us to die, but the Devil, as you will recall, was jealous of us and the relationship we had with God. So he caused division with God, this division is what we call sin, and when sin entered our world, it also brought death. We actually hear this in Scripture from St. Paul in his letter to the Romans (6:23) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And this is what happened God saw that we needed to be saved from our sins so He sent Jesus, who, because He was God and man, was free from all sin, but took all of our sin (still remaining free of sin Himself) and by taking all of our sins He died for us. However, after He died He rose again from the dead, which we call the Resurrection, this Resurrection means that His body and His soul were united. However, because we believe that Jesus is both God and man, since He became one of us, we also will be Resurrected at the end of the world. So, when somebody dies, we know that it is their body that dies and that their soul lives on. And, we also know that, just like Jesus, our body will also be reunited with our soul, and we too will be a new creation in the Lord.

Fr. Brian

[jmjtina]

And out of the mouth of children comes the most challenging questions!!!

I'm sure the whole parish is benefiting from this!

[123]

Do the Holy Scriptures even mention a marriage ceremony between Mary and St. Joseph? All along I just figured that they were only betrothed. But, the Scriptures never really mentioned a wedding ceremony.