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Artistic Renderings of The Annunciation

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Last week we revisited the two Gospel stories, in Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-25, where the angel of God comes to speak to Mary and Joseph about God's plan.  In Mary's case, the angel reveals that young Mary will be the bearer of God's new life for the world, carrying and giving birth to the Son of God.  In Joseph's case, the angel intervenes when Joseph is temtped to quietly abandon Mary and the unborn child.  Joseph is en-couraged, and the two humble (and initially overwhelmed) people dedicate their lives in a remarkable faithfulness that can encourage us and stimulate our imaginations. The renderings of the angel and Mary are from Collier, DaVinci, Nesterov, and Caravaggio. The one of the angel and Jospeh is unattributed.  Are there any of them that really engage your attention?  
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Growing With Jesus

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"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor." --Luke 2:41-52 Tucked at the end of the second chapter of Luke's gospel, extending from the narrative of Jesus' birth, is the one account we have of Jesus growing from a child into an adult.  Jesus is twelve years old, the same age as several of our class members.  He is accompanying his parents and family on the yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.  At the conclusion of the Passover observance, the family sets out toward home in Nazareth to the north.  Jesus remains behind.  When his parents realize he is absent, they return frantically to the capitol city, and after three days they find him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers.  He is "listening to them and asking them questions."  The storyteller adds: " And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers."  An anxious Mary and Joseph overflow with angry emotion a...
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