Like a Rose

Christ waited until the age of 30 before beginning His earthly ministry.  Until then, the Creator of the world worked as a carpenter, some say a stonemason.

Why this long preparation for a ministry which lasted only 3 years?

“The reason might very well have been that He waited until the human nature He had assumed grew in age to full perfection, that He might offer the perfect sacrifice to His Heavenly Father.  The farmer waits until the wheat is ripe before cutting it and subjecting it to the mill.  So He would wait until His human nature had reached its most perfect proportions and its peak of loveliness before surrendering it to the hammer of the crucifiers and the sickle of those who cut down the Living Bread of Heaven.  The newly born lamb is not offered in sacrifice, nor is the first blush of the rose cut to pay tribute to a friend.  Each thing has its hour of perfection. Since He is the Lamb that set the hour for the sacrifice, and since He is the Rose that can choose the moment of His cutting, He will wait patiently, humbly and obediently, while He grows in age and grace and wisdom before God and man.  Then He will say: ‘This is your Hour.’  Thus the choicest wheat and the reddest wine will be the worthiest elements of Sacrifice — the best this world can give for its consecration and its peace [1].”

–Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

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[1]  The Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen, published by Maco Magazine Corporation, Copyright © 1954 Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.

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