Author name: Molly Hostetler

“Who is Jesus Christ?”  

The answer to this question is the heart of all Christian doctrine. In a very real way, all of Christian theology is an attempt to answer this question, and it’s not a simple question to answer, for Jesus Christ is the very center of history and the very center of all creation; he is the one through whom everything was made and to whom everything points.

The promise of the Messiah was first revealed after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. God said to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15).  

Jesus Christ knew the power of words. He was the Word. When Christ became man and began his public ministry, he most often conveyed truths about Heaven, His Heavenly Father, and living a moral life through stories.

Do you remember Christmas when you were a child? I recall the excitement that the approach of the holiday created in me. During the month of December, Christmas was never far from my thoughts. What gifts would I receive? With little resources, what present could I give to my mom and dad? Of course, the closer to December 25, the more my excitement intensified.

As a westerner, I struggle with something that I think most of us do. We are highly materialistic. I don’t mean that we don’t necessarily believe in God. I mean that even as Christians, we have an unhealthy attachment to wanting things to make sense to us according to the senses and the scientific method. A prime example of this materialism is the major flaw of reading Scripture from a fundamentalist perspective: Genesis is seen as a literal account of what, where, why, how, and in what way God made the universe. As Catholics, we read the Bible literarily, considering the various genres of each book of the Bible.

In 1999, Tim Drake was working in the communications department of Catholic Charities, whose offices were in an old building called the Zardetti House, located on the campus of Cathedral High School in St. Cloud. One day, something led Tim to the attic. There, among other treasures, he found a painted portrait of Pope Leo XIII, who officially created the Diocese of St. Cloud in 1889. 

It’s easy to take a romantic view of the Holy Family, as if they were angels rather than human beings. But even though Mary and Jesus never sinned, that doesn’t mean there were no parental mistakes. And it doesn’t mean Jesus never frustrated His earthly parents.  

The image of Mary as Queen Mother is directly related to the first official Marian dogma defined by the Church: Mary’s status as Mother of God. The Greek word for the title is Theotokos, which literally means “God-bearer.” That title is one of the oldest and most commonly used titles for Mary, with Christians using it in the very first centuries of the Church. The title also appears in one of the oldest known Christian prayers, the Sub Tuum Praesidium (“Beneath Your Protection”), an early form of the Memorare that dates to the third century.

A number of traditions are connected with the Advent season. Many of these traditions, while outside of the official liturgy of the Church, enhance the celebration of the season. One of the most popular symbols of this time of preparation is the Advent wreath.  

Imagine the level of excitement in your home if you just learned that the president of the United States was coming for dinner in four weeks. You would want to shine the silver service, get out the best dishes, mow the lawn, and have your best suit cleaned. You would enthusiastically tell all your friends and family about the important guest. Preparing for that guest would change your life.