Christmas begins with work?

23 Dec 2007 (Sun)

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND A JOYFUL NEW YEAR TO YOU!

CWNews:

Instead of the familiar scene of the Baby Jesus laid in a manger, the Vatican’s Nativity scene this year will show the infant Jesus in a home that also includes his father’s workshop. No reason has been given for the change.

Does the it look like this Honthorst painting of St Joseph, as displayed on AmericanPapist.com (with an infant instead of a child looking up at St Joseph)?
St. Joseph by Gerard van Honthorst, c. 1620.

AN INTERESTING EXPLANATION from Zenit:

Lev [an art historian] said: “This Nativity is not so much a break with tradition but is presenting a new side of the Nativity, revealing a new facet.

“It is trying to represent Joseph’s experience, his dream of what will happen knowing that Jesus will be born and Mary is with child. He had no idea the way it would all work out as he prepared to take on this task given to him by God through a message of an angel. So it is what he imagines in his home amid his work before it comes to pass.”

“This fits Joseph and the acceptance of his call into the story,” Lev continued. “Joseph is never the star of the Nativity, but his role is crucial. So this is not upsetting biblical tradition, but [giving] a different facet, looking at it in a different light.”

“In the Nativity accounts, a mother figure is always there, but this Nativity makes present the importance of the father figure and the fact that he is essential. It’s a reminder that he wasn’t born only to a mother, while providing a source of meditation during this time when we are faced with the battle against marriage and the family. It is a good way for the Church, in nonaggressive and nonpolitical way, to remind us of the basis of our understanding of family through the Holy Family.

“This is a Nativity very much of Joseph Ratzinger, a teaching Nativity. Instead of complacently laying out the characters, this year they are being laid out in a way so we have to think about what this momentous birthday means, think about the circumstance in which Jesus is born, while reminding us of Joseph’s essential role.”

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Posted by J.K. in Art, Faith, Miscellany, My Rock | blog reactions | |

Response

3 Comments »

• COMMENTS SO FAR:

  1. Jazz Club Los Angeles says:
    December 31st, 2007 at 1:06 am

    Looking at this painting one can not help but notice that there are other children in it.
    Could this be a silent statement by the Vatican
    that Jesus had siblings maybe? James

  2. J.K. says:
    December 31st, 2007 at 8:32 am

    Yes, possibly.

    It is unlikely that the term “brother” is being used figuratively or mystically because all Christians are Christ’s brothers in that sense, making it pointless to single out certain individuals for this description. Full brother is impossible, as Protestants also acknowledge, since Jesus was not the biological child of Joseph. Half-brother is ruled out by the fact that Mary remained a virgin. It is possible they were adoptive brothers, but there does not seem to be any evidence for this in the biblical or patristic record.

    More plausibly, they were step-brothers: children of Joseph who were Jesus’ brothers by marriage. There is some evidence for this in the writings of early Christians. The earliest discussion of the matter that we have–in a document known as the Protoevangelium of James (c. A.D. 120)–states that Joseph was a widower who already had a family and thus was willing to become the guardian of a consecrated virgin. Though not inspired, the document was written within living memory of Mary, when Christ’s family was still well known, as other sources attest (e.g., second century historian Hegisippus). It may contain accurate traditions regarding the family structure.

    …There is no Aramaic word for cousin, and there certainly is no evidence that there was one in first-century Aramaic.

    Check out http://www.catholic.com/library/Bad_Aramaic_Made_Easy.asp

  3. Katie says:
    January 8th, 2008 at 4:15 am

    Interesting article. Ive seen this painting many times. Good to see it again. Ps. Great site! Congratulations!

 

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