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Views from the Choir Loft

Not One of Aesop’s Fables

Fr. David Friel · December 6, 2015

OTS OF THE STORIES we remember from childhood have a stock beginning. They often start out, “Once upon a time.” That’s quite different from the opening line of St. Luke’s narrative about John the Baptist:

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.

What’s the point of a story that starts out like that? It’s tempting to ask who cares about all that. I believe, though, that the point isn’t so much about any of these tetrarchs or high priests, themselves.

The point is that Jesus is real. Jesus isn’t made up. The Christmas story isn’t just a fairy tale we read to children. It’s not one of Aesop’s fables. Christmas actually happened. Jesus was actually born on Earth.

When? “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee.”

Where? In Bethlehem of Judea.

Who were His parents? A young woman named Mary and a man named Joseph.

This isn’t all just “based on a true story.” It actually happened! This is the point that St. Luke makes so pointedly at the outset of his story about John the Baptist.

Some of our most beloved stories are associated with Christmas: The Polar Express, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, A Christmas Carol, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, etc. But the story of how Jesus was born in a stable outside of Bethlehem is not just another story among all these others. It’s the real deal.

In our Advent meditations, let’s not romanticize the Nativity of Our Lord too much. After all, we’re not preparing to retell a cherished fairy tale from our youth. We’re preparing to enter into the timeless reality of the Christmas mystery.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Fr. David Friel

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at St. Anselm Parish in Northeast Philly. He is currently a doctoral candidate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

In the Orthodox Churches they have kept that pristine liturgy, so beautiful. We have lost a bit the sense of adoration. They keep, they praise God, they adore God, they sing, time doesn’t count. God is the center, and this is a richness …

— Pope Francis (8/2/2013)

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