True, historical insinuations are contained in the Infancy narratives of the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke, but more than for the historicity of the facts mentioned there, it is for its spiritual and religious truths that makes them timeless and continue to inspire Christians of every century. Infancy
narratives may be read as meta-history, in the sense that it is the story of God’s (who is above time and history) action in human life – not of the past but here and now. Perhaps this reviewer feels, Fr Jose Pulickal’s latest book, “They Touched Him – and He Theirs” is an attempt to read the infancy narratives as meta-history. The author’s statement in his characteristic unassuming style in the introduction to the book, “This book is not a scriptural or theological treatise” – may be misleading. When the reader reaches the end of many of the chapters, he feels that the book is a contribution towards contextual reading of the
Gospels.
The book has ten chapters on the ten personages: Joseph, Mary, The Magi, Anna, Simeon, The shepherds, Elizabeth, Zachariah, Herod, and John the Baptizer, that appear in the infancy narratives of the Gospels. The fact that they appear in the infancy narratives, that they were involved in the infant life of Jesus and that the focus of their lives is solely Jesus keep the ten chapters of the book together. Apart from that each chapter of the book stands by itself. Each chapter is a study of the personality and impelling force of the personages. He contextualises each of the persons in the present and in the real circumstances of human life, making them real to the modern reader.
Joseph, for the author, is a “metaphor of a humble believer who, while toiling for their daily bread tried to remain faithful to the Plan of God” (p. 16). Again, the author depicts Mary as a model of faith “because she is one of us with her frailties and anguishes, doubts, fears and queries.” He sees in Mary the spiritual journey of every man and woman (p. 34). Author does not scrutinize as to whether the incident of the Magi a historical or mythical, rather he sees the reflection of the Magi in the universal quest for the divine experience. They are a paradigm of man’s ultimate meaning of life.
More interesting is the meditation on the life of Anna. In Anna author unravels how in the midst of hard and harsh realities of life how a person can remain serene and joyful, loving graciously and serving joyfully. He convincingly shows how she is the daughter of the face of God (from the meaning of her father’s name Phanuel), bent one, meaning the worshipping one (from her name Anna) etc.
Zachariah the priest is the one doubted what the angel told him. In this priest we are brought to face to face with the life of the faithful and just people of all time who try to live according to God’s dictates and yet they find mockery of truths and values they hold firm. Through the midst of these contradictions, the author successfully shows us how God makes them the blessed.
Similarly, through the lives of Shepherds, Elizabeth, Simeon, and John the Baptist, the author delineates many facets of human experience as an arena for God to unfold His wonderful plan. In the Chapter on Herod, we brought face to face with the perennial questions of evil and suffering. The author argues that we are not to ask why to the problem of evil because it is a mystery, but how one can withstand, circumvent or evil .
The magic of the author’s handiwork lies in the fact that the old and trite topic has been enriched with so many new insights that you just cannot help reading it right through! The book written lucidly is interesting to read, inspiring in its content and original in its conception and execution.