God’s Life
The story of Jesus’ life is recounted across the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Scholars generally surmise that Mark’s Gospel was the earliest, written for a Roman audience by one of St. Peter’s disciples. Scholars believe that Matthew – a direct Apostle of Christ – then modified Mark’s Gospel to reach a Jewish audience. The author of Luke, who also authored the book of Acts, also modified Mark to reach a broader gentile audience. The last written Gospel was John’s, which does not have a basis in Mark. It is longer and more intimate and eschatological than the others. Following the Gospels are the book of Acts, which describes the establishment of the Church, as well as the letters of several Apostles, and finally the book of Revelation, in which St. John shares a mystical vision of the end times. These writings help clarify the meaning of the Gospels.
God did not author these words Himself; they were written by men – truly written by men. God did not whisper in the Biblical author’s ears, nor force their hands. Rather, God inspired a chosen author along with all of his unique perspectives, biases, and style of writing, protecting him from theological error. We can see an example of this in the story of Christ’s resurrection. Each of the Gospels tells the story slightly differently, as one would expect of regular men telling a deeply emotional story from a long while past. But, each of them agree on all the important theological points. These two realities – imperfect authorship with perfect fidelity to the truth – are the essence of divine inspiration. This very same infallible inspiration guided the communion of bishops who compiled the Bible, assuring that only truly inspired works became part of the canon.
I will be telling the story of the Gospel through the mysteries of the Rosary. The Rosary is a form of prayer using beads and repetitive chant to lift one’s mind to certain aspects of the life of Christ. The twenty meditations cover every key event of the Gospel story, so this page serves both as a synopsis of the Gospel and a guide in meditation. It may be helpful to read my summary of the Old Testament here beforehand.
Prologue
The year was somewhere between 6 and 4 BC. 720 years prior, the Assyrians sacked Israel, destroying the nation and scattering its people. In 597 BC, the Babylonians sacked Judah. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel forewarned the people of these events, explaining that they were chastisements for unfaithfulness. Along with their warnings and condemnations, they each preached an ever-clearer message of mercy to come. The most vivid prophecies came from Ezekiel, who spoke of a new and everlasting covenant, physical resurrection, and an eternal dwelling place where men would live with their descendants.
The Babylonian Exile ended in 538 BC, with Cyrus the Great of Persia returning the Jews to their land. For the first time in Biblical history, the Jews remained faithful to God. Free from the worst chastisements of the past, their lamentations gave way to hope in the promised savior, the Messiah. The nature of this savior was mysterious. Isaiah, in chapters 42, 49, 50, and 52, describes a suffering servant who would bear the transgressions of the people. Daniel 7 describes one like a “son of man,” that is, a human being, presented before God and given dominion over all things. But God also promises the people His own help – “destruction is thine own, oh Israel; thy only help is in me” (Hosea 13:8-10). Is the Messiah a suffering servant? Or is he a mighty king? And what good could he be if God is the people’s only help?
The Joyful Mysteries
(1) The Annunciation
The story of the Gospel begins with a young girl – perhaps 12 or 13 – visited by the angel Gabriel. This is not Gabriel’s first appearance in the Bible. Earlier, he appeared to the prophet Daniel, telling him of the coming Messiah who would be a ruler, who would be put to death, confirm a covenant, and end the sacrifice of the temple (Daniel 9). “Hail, full of grace!” he addresses Mary, as if she were a Queen.
He goes on to tell her that she will conceive a Son by the power of God, that He will be the Son of God, and that He will rule over the house of David forever. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” she said. “Be it done to me according to thy word.” And the angel left her. And just as the fall of man began with the pride of a woman and the temptation of a demon, the redemption began with the humility of a woman and the honesty of an angel. Now Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph. Upon finding her pregnant, he sought to divorce her quietly. But an angel visited him and told him that the child was of God and instructed him to marry her and name the boy Jesus.
(2) The Visitation
Mary hurried to see her cousin Elizabeth in Judea, who was also with child. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Mary stayed with her cousin for three months.
With this early story, we begin to have a clue as to the identity of this Jesus. In the second book of Samuel, King David carries the Ark of the Covenant to the house of a man from the tribe of Levi, where the Ark remained for three months, the same amount of time Mary remained at Elizabeth’s house. When carrying it back to the city, the prophet describes David as leaping for joy, just like John in the womb (Samuel 6). The Ark of the Covenant contained the bread from Heaven, the Ten Commandments, and the staff of Aaron – sustenance, law, and authority. Most importantly, the Ark contained the presence of God. In the mystery of the visitation, Luke’s message is clear: Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, and therefore Jesus is sustenance, law, authority, and God’s presence.
(3) The Nativity
The family traveled to the town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of David, to register for the census. While there, the time came for the baby to be born, but all the inns in the town were full. The only room was the stable at an inn, where Jesus was born and laid in a manger – a trough for sheep. Angels appeared to the shepherds nearby, prompting them to find the child and rejoice in His presence. There are two important images here. The baby rests in the feeding place of sheep, but He is also the new David, the new shepherd-king. From the very earliest stories of the Bible, God refers to His people as sheep – this baby is somehow both the people’s food and the people’s shepherd.
Matthew explains that news of the birth of a so-called king troubled the king Herod. He sent three distinguished foreigners to find the child by following a star. These magi brought gifts of gold and incense, fulfilling the words of Tobit, who said that a great light would draw the nations to the king of Heaven bearing gifts. Then, warned by an angel not to return to Herod (for he secretly planned to kill Jesus), the magi went home another way. Infuriated, Herod ordered the deaths of all male infants in Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus to Egypt. Matthew’s intention for his Jewish audience is clear – he is comparing the birth of Jesus to the birth of Moses. Jesus is the one who will usher in the New Covenant, as Moses ushered in the Old.
(4) The Presentation
Mary and Joseph take the child Jesus to the Temple to be offered to God as their firstborn son. A devout old man named Simeon, whom the Lord promised would see the savior before his death, was at the Temple. Through the power of the Spirit, he recognized the baby Jesus. He took him in his arms and said “Sovereign Lord… you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation… a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” Then he gave two prophecies to Mary. First, that her Son would be contradicted, which would reveal the hearts of many. Second, that a sword would pierce her soul. Then he was joined by the very old widow and prophetess Anna, who praised the child as well.
This story, along with the story of the circumcision preceding it, reveals that Jesus is truly human. While the circumcision proves that He has a human body, this story describes Him experiencing life temporally, subject to God’s providence. Although Jesus is the eternal God, He is also truly a baby, who must change and learn and grow and suffer like anyone else. Simeon and Anna are also significant characters. Anna and Simeon bear the image of these two righteous characters in order to represent all the righteous men and women of the Old Covenant. Anna bears the image of Hannah, who presented the prophet Samuel to Eli. Simeon bears the image of Israel seeing Joseph after many years apart. Their age and longing for the Messiah represent the Old Covenant itself – old, weary, desperate for fulfillment.
(5) The Finding in the Temple.
When Jesus was 12, the Holy family traveled to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. On the return trip, His parents each thought the other was with Him. But one day into the journey, they realized Jesus was not with either of them. They returned to the city and searched for three days before finding the boy in the Temple, learning from the elders and preaching to them. His mother asks, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” He replied, “why were you searching for Me? Did you not know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Then they returned home, and He was obedient to them.
In the story of the Passover, God accepted two sacrifices: the firstborn sons of Egypt and the mature lambs of Israel (Exodus 12:1-30). Jesus is the firstborn Son of God, born amongst the lambs. But He is also 12 in this story – the age of maturity at that time. There is a suggestion, as in the previous two mysteries, that a sacrifice is bound to happen. The relationship between Jesus and His parents prefigures this event – a painful, confusing separation lasting three days. The terse response He gives to His parents even echoes this. Just as His location in this story should’ve been obvious to His parents, the facts of His death and resurrection should’ve been obvious to those who knew He was the Messiah, based on all the forewarning of scripture.
The Luminous Mysteries
(1) The Baptism in the Jordan
About 18 years later, John, the son of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, began to preach and baptize the people with water. When asked whether he was Elijah, the Messiah, or a prophet, he denied each of these roles. Instead, he quoted Isaiah’s prophecy, stating that he was the one to prepare the way for the Lord. Jesus came to Him one day and asked to be baptized. John said Jesus should be baptizing him, but nonetheless obeyed. Immediately, a dove descended and God spoke, saying, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Then, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days, where the Devil tempted Him. After His victory over temptation, He gathered 12 disciples and began His ministry.
This is the story which makes Jesus’ identity indisputably clear. John says that he makes straight the path for the Lord’s coming, not just the Messiah. When God speaks after Jesus’ baptism, He uses the words of Isaiah 42, part of the “suffering servant” discourse. Jesus fasts for 40 days before beginning His ministry, just as Moses hid for 40 years and Elijah fasted for 40 days before their ministries. Finally, Jesus gathers 12 disciples, a representation of the 12 tribes of Israel. So in this story, we see that Jesus is (1) the Lord, (2) the suffering servant, (3) the Messiah come to fulfill the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), and (4) the new king. He answers all the Messianic expectations.
The story also continues the sacrificial imagery. John calls Jesus the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” using Passover and “suffering servant” imagery. Think of these ideas in the context of the story: imagine all the sins of those baptized prior to Jesus washed into the water of the river, polluting it with evil. Jesus did not ask for baptism so this water could make Him clean and holy. Rather, the evil in the water was poured out upon Him, and He made the water clean and holy. Baptism has reflected this reality – the righteousness of the savior poured upon sinners – ever since.
(2) The Wedding Feast at Cana
Jesus and Mary were invited to a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and He brought along His new disciples. The wine ran out – quite a faux pa for a wedding – and Mary appealed to Jesus to help the couple. “What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” he responded. Mary simply said to the servants, “do whatever He tells you,” knowing her Son would deny her nothing. So Jesus told the servants to take six stone jars used for purification rites and fill them with water, and they filled them to the brim. Then He commanded them to take the jars to the master of the feast. But when the master drew from the jars, he found wine instead of water! “Everyone serves the good wine first,” he said, “but you have kept the good wine until now!”
This story of Christ’s first miracle is filled with revealing symbolism. The ceremonial jars represent the Old Covenant, which began with Noah’s cleansing flood and ended with John’s cleansing baptisms – water. The servants filled the jars to the brim – that is, they could not become more full of water. Just like the Old Covenant, the jars did not need more of the same – they needed transformation. And so, Christ transforms the water into wine. Unlike water, wine is flavorful and celebratory; it represents the animating power of the Holy Spirit, who would bring happiness and sanctification in this New Covenant. There is a second covenantal symbol here: marriage. As marriage is the most intimate union of man and woman, Christ is the most intimate union of divine nature and human nature. This new, transformative covenant He is ushering in is the very marriage of Heaven and earth.
(3) The Proclamation of the Kingdom
After John, the last prophet, was arrested and beheaded, Christ began His ministry. First, we must address His preaching. Though the majesty of Christ’s preaching is impossible to capture in a paragraph, I will explain a few key motifs. First, He clarifies the destruction that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel spoke of was a realm called Hell, a place of everlasting torment for those who reject God. But He also clarifies that the place of hope and eternal life they spoke of was Heaven, the eternal dwelling place of God Himself. His parables all focus on reorienting people away from the passing world and toward eternity. The blessed people, Christ says, are not the wealthy, the powerful, nor the wise. The blessed people are humble – often found among the poor and the weak. He also preaches that “winning Heaven” is not something man can do alone, but only through God’s mercy.
And what does He say of God’s mercy? Jesus tells an old story of an ungrateful son who – tired of working on his father’s land – takes his inheritance and leaves. The son goes off to the city and squanders all his wealth on drink and on prostitutes. A famine then pushes him into destitution, and he works as a hired hand, either eating pig slop or nothing at all. In this miserable state, he realizes that his father would treat him better as a hired hand. He humbles himself and returns home to apologize.
The end of the story was well-known at the time: when the father sees the son, he calls his behavior pathetic and puts him to work to pay back what he had taken. In a moving twist, Jesus instead says “while the son was a long way off, his father saw him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him, and said to his servants ‘quickly, bring the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us eat and celebrate, for my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found!” In other words, God’s mercy is endless. A radical message to the Jews, who were acclimated to disciplinarian God.
Beyond revealing God’s nature through His words, He revealed God’ nature through His actions. He healed blindness, deafness, and physical defects, but most importantly he raised three people from the dead. His ability to resurrect the dead parallels Ezekiel’s vision of general bodily resurrection. Additionally, Christ drove out demons with irresistible power and forgave sins as only God can, showing His power even over the forces of evil. Very importantly, He gradually gave more and more authority to the disciples, passing to them the power to heal and cast out demons (Matt 10:8), preach, and baptize (Matt 26:16-20). He also gave Peter leadership over the twelve, handing him the very keys of Heaven.
(4) The Transfiguration
Later in His ministry, Christ took His “inner circle” – Peter, James, and John – up to the top of a mountain. There He was “transfigured.” His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light, and Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with Him. These events fulfill the prophecy of Daniel 7, where the “son of man” is presented to God, but with a twist – Jesus is both the “son of man” and God. While Peter tried to make sense of the situation, a voice spoke from the Heavens, “this is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” And the inner circle fell to the ground in terror until Jesus gently told them “Get up, be not afraid.” Then they talked and walked back down the mountain.
Of all that happens in this brief story, the most revealing part is the disciples’ reactions to God’s presence. The inner circle was terrified of God, for they knew Him as the strict disciplinarian of scripture. But dichotomously, they also knew not to be afraid of their friend Jesus. Now, if God had come to earth in all His glory, the disciples would have reacted by falling to the ground in terror. So instead, God came to mankind as a small-town carpenter from a normal family, and He became our friend. Jesus’ nature reveals that the God of the Old Testament was a disciplinarian because we needed Him to be, not because He wanted to be. But in the time of fulfillment, He makes his true nature intelligible by “coming down the mountain” and becoming a kind friend who tells us to “get up” and “be not afraid.”
(5) The Institution of the Eucharist
John chapter 6 begins with Jesus multiplying five loaves of bread to feed five thousand, with enough left over to fill twelve baskets. The next brief passage is about Jesus walking on the water. Following this is the 25-verse “bread of life discourse:” The disciples asked Jesus for a sign, as Moses gave them their ancestors the sign of the manna in the wilderness. Jesus says in reply, “it is not Moses who has given you the bread from Heaven, but my Father who gives you the true bread from Heaven.” “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread.” Jesus responds, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Then the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” And indeed, this is a strange and difficult teaching. But the man who could walk on water did not relent. Instead, He doubled down: “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Then Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” Christ’s meaning is abundantly clear – you literally need to eat His flesh and drink His blood. St. John calls those who reject this teaching betrayers.
At the Last Supper, He taught the disciples how to confect His body and blood. He took bread, broke it, and gave it to them saying “take this, all of you, and eat of it. For this is my body, which will be given up for you. Do this in memory of me.” In like manner, He took a chalice of wine, gave thanks, and said, “this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.” With His command to “do this in memory of me,” Christ here tasked them and their priestly descendants to multiply the bread of life until the end of time. The disciples – now ordained Apostles – were like the “twelve extra baskets” of bread.
All that remained was the fulfillment of the Eucharistic sacrifice, which would animate this bread with the life of Christ for all time.
The Sorrowful Mysteries
(1) The Agony in the Garden
Jesus’ mission was near its end. His final task was His most difficult – to suffer the sins of the entire world. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He often prayed, and brought the inner circle to keep watch. For the first time, we see Christ break His stoic composure. According to Luke, He fell prostrate, sweating blood from the pain and intensity of His prayer. The Apostles, in a reflection of Israel’s carelessness through all the Old Testament, fell asleep. Christ utters the fiat of His suffering – “my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” Judas, having arranged to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, then entered the garden with soldiers. Peter attempted to fight back, striking one of the soldiers, but Jesus – who had regained His composure – rebuked Him and healed the soldier.
The agony is a brief account, but extraordinarily revelatory. First, His “yes” reflects Mary’s yes to conceive Him so many years before, and their combined obedience, here in this garden of death, reverses the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden of life. Second, Jesus – God and man – mysteriously demonstrates spiritual growth. For the first time, we see Him lose His stoic composure. But through faith, He presses onward and regains it. In a sense, this tells the story of the entire spiritual life – God’s will always seems impossible until we consent to it, but when we consent, we become unstoppable. This serves as a foil to the disgraceful behavior of the Apostles, who shirked God’s will out of laziness, then – when caught in an embarrassing position because of it – tried to fix the situation with violence.
(2) The Scourging at the Pillar
Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, and charged with blasphemy. Peter followed behind, presumably trying to work out a clandestine rescue mission. In service of this mission, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. Upon the third denial, Jesus looked at him, and Peter finally recognized he was not a hero, but a traitor, and left the courtyard weeping bitterly. Meanwhile, the Sanhedrin took Jesus to Pilate for execution. Pilate asked if He was a king, to which Christ responded that His “kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate, seeing no evil in Jesus, but wanting to compromise with the riotous crowd, offered them a prisoner exchange. They took the robber Barabbas. Jesus was then chained to a pillar and scourged with whips designed to tear flesh deeply using balls of lead and bits of bone.
This story reveals the many ways we betray God. Judas willfully betrayed Him for personal gain. The Sanhedrin court betrayed Him because pride prevented them from even recognizing Him. Peter betrayed Him by trying to make himself the main character. Pilate betrayed Him by trying to compromise with evil.
Abandoned by everyone, Jesus underwent scourging, a punishment reserved for the crime of insurrection. Now, Jesus says to Pilate that this world is not His kingdom. Christ is referencing the fact that it is Satan who rules this world, and it is he whom Jesus is truly inciting an insurrection against. What exactly is His act of insurrection? To use His infinite might to obey instead of to subjugate. To be tortured by sinners without offering even the lightest rebuke, when He could call down legions of angels to destroy them instead. His great act of rebellion was to love without condition and without boundary instead of seeking retribution.
(3) The Crowning of Thorns
After the scourging, the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and covered Him in a purple robe, mockingly chanting “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking Him. When the Romans brought Him before the Jews in this state, they called for His crucifixion. Pilate showed some reluctance, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar!” When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate turned to the chief priests, who affirmed the Jews: “we have no king but Caesar.” So, he handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
This brief story juxtaposes the apex of holiness with the apex of evil. Christ wears a crown of thorns, symbolizing the burden of responsibility. He is the true king of all creation – but see He does not wield this authority for authority’s sake. Rather, He uses His authority as a means to serve His creatures. In fact, these thorns parallel God’s curse upon Adam to “toil among thorns” – a curse He now paid for Himself. How greatly this differs from the power of the crowd – an oppressive, violent, hateful force which dominates through fear. Another difference between Christ and the crowd is constancy. His entire life was one coherent mission, culminating centuries of single-minded preparation. Compare this to the erratic crowd – just weeks prior they wanted to crown Him king, but were now mocking Him as a false king and rejecting Him for the likes of Caesar.
(4) The Carrying of the Cross
As they led him away, they seized a man from Cyrene named Simon, who was returning from the country. They put the cross on his back and forced him to carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed Jesus, among them many women who were mourning and lamenting over him. But he turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep rather for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Simon’s character serves as an excellent example to all Christians. First, Luke is careful to mention that He was a man of Cyrene – that is, an African, a gentile. Yet, he helps Jesus, a poor and disgraced Jew. Second, he is snatched into this arduous service on a peaceful walk home from the country. That is, he was ready to help despite surely being exhausted and unprepared. Finally, he carries the cross after Jesus, an image of Christ’s words a few chapters earlier: “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.”
But Jesus’ chilling words are worth the closest attention. Just as with the warnings of the major prophets, He had two meanings. He is first forewarning the Jews of the destruction they would face during the Roman-Jewish wars. In other words, “if they torture me so brutally for a crime they don’t care about (green wood), imagine what they’ll do when you antagonize them (dry wood)!” And Indeed, the Romans ended up destroying Jerusalem and scattering the people, never to be reunited. But He was also speaking of future sinful generations using imagery from Isaiah: “you will be like an oak with fading leaves… the mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.” In other words: “if this punishment exacted upon a guiltless man is so awful, imagine the punishment of the guilty in Hell.”
(5) The Crucifixion
On top of the hill called Golgotha, they nailed Him to a cross through His hands and feet and crucified Him between two thieves. Above His head hung the sign “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” In Luke’s account, one of the criminals hurled insults at Him, while the other admitted his guilt, and asked only for Christ to remember him in Heaven. Jesus said to this good thief, “today, you will be with me in paradise.” Christ then looked to His mother and John, who had followed Him. He says to Mary, “woman, behold your son!” and to John, “behold, your mother!” When He had suffered for six hours, He finally gave up His spirit. The soldiers broke the legs of the others, but saw Jesus was already dead and refrained. To check, they pierced His side, and blood and water flowed from the wound.
The crucifixion is Jesus’ greatest victory. This moment resolves the tension between divine “being” and human “becoming” – at the moment of His death, He became the Christ. “Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered, and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him” says St. Paul. Jesus was never a more perfect image of God than when He hung on the cross.
Following His previous warning of damnation, Christ offers forgiveness and hope to the humble thief beside Him, lest we forget God’s mercy. The thief did not even have the gall to ask for salvation – he asked only to be remembered. His humility made him the only man to ever receive assurance of salvation from the lips of God Himself. Christ then gives His mother to John, and the Church to His mother, to raise and nurture as she had raised and nurtured Him.
Like the Passover lambs, His bones were unbroken. The blood and water pouring from His side symbolized the power of the sacraments – the Eucharist, baptism – pouring into the world. This final cooperative act of obedience between Him and His mother undid Adam and Eve’s cooperative act of disobedience. The story of mankind began with the first woman taking fruit from the tree of life. Here, the new woman gives up the “fruit of her womb,” her only Son, to be grafted to a tree of death.
The Glorious Mysteries
(1) The Resurrection
A rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, entombed Jesus, and the Romans stationed guards at the tomb. On Sunday, the third day after His death, a group of women visiting the tomb were met by an angel who announced that Christ was not there, but risen. Then, Christ appeared to them and told them to tell the Apostles, who were in hiding. But the Apostles did not believe. Two of them were on their way out of Jerusalem, to Emmaus, when Christ appeared to them. But they did not recognize Him. He spoke to them as a stranger about the scriptures their friend Jesus had fulfilled. When they reached a place to rest, He gave thanks, broke bread, and they finally recognized Him. Instantly, He disappeared. It is only in the Eucharist that these Apostles recognized Christ. At once they returned to Jerusalem.
With the Apostles gathered together – except Thomas – Jesus appeared. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that He breathed on them (like when He breathed life into Adam) and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Christ thus instituted the sacrament of confession. When Thomas heard their story, he doubted, and said he would only believe if he saw the Lord himself. A week later, the Lord appeared again, and Thomas saw Him and touched His wounds. “My Lord and my God,” he said.
(2) The Ascension
Jesus repaid the Apostles’ forty hours of terror by staying with the Apostles for forty days. He appeared many times, and according to St. Paul, appeared to as many as 500 people (1 Corinth 15). Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had told them to go. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” With this, Jesus ascended to Heaven, body and soul.
There are several reasons Jesus ascends. First, the Apostles were, at this point, a living organism of Christ. In Peter was His certitude, in the Apostles were His ability to forgive sins, to heal, and to cast out demons, in all Christians was the power to preach the good news, and like the many parts of the body, they were all united by the physical body of Christ in the Eucharist. Like any great master, He had prepared the students to act in His place. Now it was time to let them. Second, His departure meant He could send the Holy Spirit. Third, His ascension demonstrates that Heaven, the dwelling place of God, was now open to mankind. But finally, His ascension put Him in His proper place at the gate of Heaven, judging men’s worthiness to enter as only the God-man could.
(3) Pentecost
When the day of Pentecost came, ten days after the ascension, the Apostles were all together. Now Pentecost was the Jewish celebration of God giving the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was fitting that it should now be a celebration of Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. A sound like a violent wind came from Heaven and filled their house, and tongues of fire rested on them. This is the very same way God filled Solomon’s Temple with His presence centuries before. But now the “temples” He was glorifying were the Apostles. Filled with vigor and courage and many gifts, the Apostles spoke in tongues and baptized thousands. What once was belief was now faith. What once was a sterile knowledge of Christ was now understanding. The water had become wine.
A Jewish pharisee, Saul, made sport of hunting down these Christian “heretics” with the blessing of the high priests. On the road to Damascus, Christ appeared to him, asked, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” and struck him blind. Christ instructed him to enter the city and go to the house of a Christian named Ananias. After spending a few days with the disciples there, he began to preach. The Bible then refers to him as Paul instead of Saul, highlighting that this transformation changed his very identity. “It is no longer I who live,” he wrote, “but Christ who lives within me.” He became close friends with the Apostles and a bedrock of the early Church. Through his pharisaic mastery of the Old Testament and the Spirit, he became the greatest Christian evangelist of all time.
The book of Acts details the establishment of Christendom, mostly in the stories of Peter and Paul. The Apostles never faltered again, as they had at the crucifixion. They willingly went to grisly deaths spreading the Gospel to Jew and gentile alike. Acts ends with the implication that both Peter and Paul were on their way to martyrdom. Around 65 AD, both were executed in Rome. Paul was beheaded, and Peter was crucified – upside down, at his request, as he counted himself unworthy to die like his Master. The mystery of Pentecost and the story of Acts continues today in the living Church and the living saints.
(4) The Assumption
The assumption of Mary is not a Biblical story. For centuries, many Christians believed it due to early Church traditions and writings, some Biblical hints, and the fact that no one has ever found her body nor any relics associated with her. The Pope declared the assumption of Mary, body and soul into Heaven as an infallible truth in 1950.
Mary’s assumption into Heaven, body and soul, is the final reversal of the story of Adam and Eve. God created Eve because “it is not good for man to be alone.” Now, Christ and His mother are together in Heaven, the new Garden of Eden. This mixing of maternal and spousal imagery seems strange to our human sensibilities at first, but it reveals why Jesus said that those in Heaven do not marry. Heaven is complete, supernatural oneness, whereas natural human relationships impose limitations. On earth, marriage and sexual union is the apex of intimacy; but in Heaven, marriage and sexual union would be a poverty of intimacy. Mary – and, by extension, all the saints – are wholly one with Christ in a pure, mystical marriage free of any imaginable constraint. Mary’s assumption also points us toward the physical resurrection and communion of all the saints at the end of time.
(5) The coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the Ark of His Covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm. A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head” (Rev 11-12).
In ancient times, kings often had several wives. As such, in many kingdoms, the king’s mother ruled as queen, since a man could only have one mother. The Davidic kingdom was no exception – 1 Kgs. 2:19–20 notes Solomon’s mother seated at his right and notes that the king would deny her nothing. Mary’s queenship is a symbolic continuation of the Davidic tradition of mother-queens, and indeed, the King denies her nothing. Note that she did not earn her queenship through some sort of earthly might. Rather, she has the second-highest place in Heaven because she is the second-most selfless being, eclipsed only by the King. Mary’s Queenship reveals that the less you are like self, the more you are like God. Or, in the words of Christ: “many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”