CLE-11

GROUP 3
Lesson 8

Jesus Was Conceived by

the Holy Spirit and Born
of the Virgin Mary
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

Understand the virginal conception of Jesus.

Bear witness to the truth that Jesus is true God
and true Man.
Pray that the Holy Spirit may lead them to a
deeper relationship with Jesus.
 Shaping Minds
The conception of our Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary
happened in a supernatural and mysterious way. It is supernatural because,
as the angel Gabriel declared, it was by the power of Holy Spirit that Mary
would conceive and bear a son. It is mysterious because she will become a
Virgin Mother: “How can this be, since I have no relations to a man?” (Luke
1:34) The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power
of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be
called the Son of God”. The word that was with God in the beginning, as
St.John pointed out, became flesh to dwell among us and redeem us from
the slavery of sin,death,and satan.
 This lesson leads us to understand the mystery of
Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the son of God,
who became a human being just like us, and is both
God and Man. The letter to the Hebrews attests to the
fact that Jesus became like us in all aspects except sin.
(Hebrew 4:15) For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we
have one who has been tempted in every way, just as
we are—yet he did not sin.
 Transforming Action 1

The Incarnation

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And
the word became flesh and make his dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory
as of the Father’s only Son full of Grace and Truth.”

— John 1:1-14
 Points to Ponder On

1.What is the meaning of “the Word became flesh”?

2.What is the significance of the truth of incarnation to us?

3.Who revealed the incarnate word of the world?

 Inflaming Hearts

The Incarnation refers to the mystery of the Word that became flesh. This doctrine is
called hypostatic union which the Church teaches as "the mystery of the wonderful
union of the divine and human natures in the one person of the Word" (CCC, 483).
The Word that came from the Father assumed human body, and as a true human
being, dwelt among us so that we may see and experience the love of God for us. All
the earthly experiences of Jesus such as feelings of pain, suffering, joy, happiness,
and His passion and death were actions and mysteries in the life of the God- Man
Jesus. He was in every bit human except in committing sin. We can understand the
message of the Incarnation as God's visitation to us. However, unlike visitors who
come to our place and spend some time with us, Jesus became like us and lived
among us. Jesus lived like we do but loved unconditionally like no other. By
becoming man, He visited us and invited us to the Kingdom of God. He did not
merely sympathize with our sorrows and pains, but He bore our sufferings to show us
the face of God-misericordiae vultus, the face of mercy.
 Transforming Action 2
The Birth of Jesus

In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the
first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So, all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who
was with child.

While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She
wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

-Luke 2:1-7
Points to Ponder On

Question 1 Question 3
Why is it
Why was Jesus born Why is it important to
important to know be registered in a
the story of Jesus' birth? in a manger?
population book?

Question 2
 Inflaming Hearts

St. Paul ascribed the fullness of time to the birth of Jesus who was sent forth by God and born of a
woman (Gal 4:4). Mary was with child because of the power of the Holy Spirit. The announcement of
the coming of the Promised Messiah, which occupies the central place in the prophecies of the Old
Testament as when Isaiah foretold that a virgin will conceive and bear a son (Is 7:14), found its
fulfillment in the incarnation of the Word. Jesus became truly human because of His birth from a
human mother. Jesus was also listed in a population book. It is important to take note of this event in
Jesus' life because it affirms that He lived in a particular place and in a specific period in human
history. Our Lord belonged to a family, was a registered member of a community, and a citizen of a
country.
The birth of Jesus was the joyful news that the angels announced to the shepherds, the magi, and to
the people who were waiting for the fulfillment of the divine promise, the coming of the Messiah. We
celebrate this event every Christmas. It is a celebration of God's love, as love was the very reason why
God sent His only begotten Son to the world. We recall this event when we pray the third joyful
mystery of the Holy Rosary. It is an assurance that the promise of God to bring salvation for us is
fulfilled.
 Catholic
Teachings

The Word was made flesh. The Church calls this mystery the Incarnation. Let us
take a look at how this sublime mystery was realized. The body of Christ was
formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The soul of our Lord
Jesus Christ was directly created by God and was united to the body. This union
of body and soul was assumed by the divine Word in a single person, Jesus
Christ. The union of the human nature and the divine nature in the person of the
Word is what the Church calls "hypostatic union."
The Gospel accounts emphasize the common understanding of the virginal
conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding
and possibility (CCC, 497).
We can grasp the extent of the incarnation in the following teachings of the Church:
The Church professes that "the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the
giver of life, is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary
and divinely fecundate it, causing her to conceive the eternal
Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own" (CCC,
485).
Before the great incarnation, God prepared for it. He made
everything converge in Christ. He announced Him through
the mouth of the prophets like John the Baptist, who is the
Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, the one sent to
prepare the Lord's way (CCC, 522-523).
The coming of the promised Messiah which the prophets of the Old Testament foretold took
place when the fullness of time came. "The annunciation to Mary inaugurates the 'fullness of
time, the time of the fulfillment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to
conceive Him in whom the 'whole fullness of deity would dwell 'bodily" (CCC, 484).
From the first formulations of the faith, the Church had declared the truth of the virginal
conception of the Lord. "Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was
conceived by the Holy Spirit without human seed. The Fathers of the Church see in the
virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our
own. Thus, St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says: 'You are
firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh,
Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin, he was truly nailed
to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate, he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen"
(CCC, 496).
Jesus became one with us to save us through reconciliation with God (1 Jn 4:10, 14) and that
we may know God's love (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 4:9). He became our model of holiness (Jn 14:6; 15:12)
making us partakers of the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). The only-begotten Son of God who
desired to make us sharers in his divinity, had assumed our nature, so that He, made man,
may make human beings gods (CCC, 457-460).
THANK YOU
SO MUCH