Dear Rev. Know it all

Please don’t think me an illiterate Catholic, but I was asked when Jesus was born and I couldn’t really answer. I’ve searched and cannot find any data. I know that if anyone can find the answer, you can!

Yours, Natalie Bourne

Dear Natalie, 

Your question does not betoken illiteracy. Au contraire!  (That’s French for “Ain’t no way!) Those people who think that Jesus was born on December 25^th of the year 1AD are sadly mistaken. Let me explain. There was a monk who lived around 500AD, named Dionysius Exiguus (or Dennis the short, or little Dennis). He thought it inappropriate to mark time by the dates of pagan Roman emperors, so he decided to figure out just how many years before his time Jesus had been born. The Romans, who by that time were Christians, were remembering the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25^th, probably in order to de-emphasize the Roman feast of the Saturnalia which was a really good time had by all, if you were pagan, that is. Saturnalia was a week long debauch in the old Roman style. Christians needed something to distract them, and in the East they had been celebrating the birth of the Lord on Jan. 6^th as part of the feast of the Epiphany.

Don’t be alarmed by this. We have George Washington’s birthday on a Monday no matter when the date actually falls, and we wait to celebrate Uncle Fred’s birthday until he’s out on parole or some such. The first to comment on the date of Christ’s birth was St. Clement of Alexandria who lived around 200 AD. He seems to favor a date of November 18 or possibly January 6^th or perhaps sometime in spring. A huge part of the problem is the coordination of ancient calendars with modern. Which particular ancient Egyptian calendar was St. Clement using? Who knows? December 25^th is probably as good a date as any and it falls between Nov. 18^th  and Jan. 6th.

Some might point out the Bible text: “the shepherds were abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks.” Shepherds abide in the field during spring, not winter. I’ve been to Shepherds’ Field in Bethlehem. It’s a hill with a cave that shepherds in Bethlehem have always used and it’s essentially down the street from the cave of the Nativity where Jesus was born. “Shepherds abiding in the field” gives us no information about the time of the Nativity of the Lord. So, go ahead. Enjoy Dec. 25^th, or Jan. 6^th, when there are discounts at all the major retailers, or if you prefer, November 18^th which is a much quieter day.

Of equal difficulty is figuring out the year of Christ’s birth. Most scholars think Herod died in 7 or 4 BC. Jesus was born while Herod was still alive, though in the process of a painful, lingering death that made him crazier and crueler than usual. Some aficionados of the question point out that Herod may have died in 1 or 2 BC and there were plenty of astronomical and astrological events, from supernovas to planetary conjunctions, that could have qualified as the Star of Bethlehem, so we don’t know the exact year of Jesus, birth.  Suffice it to say that Christ was born sometime before Herod died, that is anywhere from 7 to 1 BC.

This confusion is more significant than you may think. First of all, it places Jesus once more in the ranks of the poor and unsung. In ancient times, the birth dates of the rich and powerful were remembered. The poor were forgotten, as they often still are. By the time people were asking “Oh, by the way, when was Jesus born?” The only person who had “cherished these things in her heart” was also dead and assumed into heaven like Elijah. They always remembered where, but not quite when. From the earliest days, they pointed out the cave where he had been born. It was a place of pilgrimage from the earliest days. The question was “when,” never “where.” He was a poor boy born to die a criminal’s death. This is important.

Second, remember all the fuss about the Millennium? The television shows, the storing of bottled water, the prophets of doom?  I think that mine was the only computer that died. It was quite old. I suspect that my ancestors brought it over on the boat with them from the old country. I sat around watching the general apocalyptic panicked thinking. Golly, the millennium was almost ten years ago and it really went quite well.

We should learn two things from this. One: Don’t get your religion from television. Television producers are clueless and most TV reporters only know what they read on the back of the hair spray bottle. Two: Don’t panic. “The kingdom of this world has the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ.”  The so-called “Millennium” came and went without mishap. There are lots of new things to panic about. People regularly come up to me inviting me to move to the Canadian wilderness to escape the wrath to come. They forget what Jesus said. “When you see these thing, lift up your heads and rejoice, for your salvation is at hand.” Our God is bigger than any disaster that humanity can dream up.

There is one birth date that we should consider and know well, the day that Christ was born in our hearts. “Amazing grace how sweet the sound... How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” Can you remember that hour that you decided to give your life to Christ? Perhaps it was your First Holy Communion or your Confirmation, or a retreat or parish mission. Perhaps it was some quiet moment when in the stillness of your heart you asked Him to be your Lord. That moment was His birthday and yours. If you haven’t yet had “that hour” it is never too late to ask Him to be born in you as your Lord and your Savior.

Rev. Know-it-all