The Birth of Jesus and His Childhood

Around the 24th or 25th of December 1 B.C., Mary, who was ten months pregnant, found herself with frequent bouts of stomach pains and thought that perhaps the child in her womb was about to be born.

At night, Mary looked up and saw a brilliant star descending from the sky, cutting through the heavens like a beautiful meteor shower, and she quickly made a wish: "May the child in my womb be born safely, grow up healthy and engage in things that benefit all beings, and may my child bring peace, light and compassion to the world!"

On that very day, on a romantic star-studded night, Jesus was born.

A beautiful angel announced the glad tidings to the shepherds in the wilderness: "Do not be afraid, for I give you a message of great joy concerning all nations; for today in the city of David there is born for you a Saviour, the Lord Christ. And you shall see a babe, wrapped in a cloth, lying in a manger, and that shall be the sign." Then there was a great company of heavenly soldiers with the angel praising the Lord, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those with whom he is pleased."

Then the shepherds went around and told everyone, "The angel said to me, Christ the Saviour has been born and is lying in a manger, and he will bring peace and happiness to mankind!" And so the night of 24 December was called "Christmas Eve" every year.

Shortly after the birth of Jesus, a pilgrimage came from the Eastern doctors, "and they rejoiced greatly at the sight of the star. When they came into the house and saw the little child and Mary his mother, they fell down and worshipped the child, and opened the precious box, and took gold, frankincense and myrrh in their hands and offered them as a gift to him."

Jesus, which means "God saves", was therefore entrusted by his Creator with the mission of saving the spirituality of mankind and spreading great love.

After his birth, Jesus grew up slowly under the upbringing of his mother Mary. He gradually became a mischievous, loving child, and as a child Jesus especially loved to show off his divine powers in front of other children. When Jesus was five years old, he was playing by a stream with the children and, on a whim, he grabbed some mud from the stream and, with the idea of sparrows in mind, he made twelve live sparrows out of the mud by hand. Afterwards, many of the children thought it was amazing, but one child didn't believe him at all and laughed at him, saying, "A sparrow made of mud is not a real sparrow, you didn't pinch the insides of a sparrow, the sparrow you made is just a lump of mud and can't fly!"

Jesus clapped his hands together, deliberately startling the sparrows, and said with a smile, "Look! They have flown away!"

The child rubbed his eyes, incredulous, and asked Jesus, "Was I dreaming just now? I seem to have seen sparrows made of clay flying away from me."

Jesus said to him with a naughty smile, "Yes, you were probably dreaming just now, so wake up! If you want to have divine powers like me, then hurry up and practice them in life and in death!"

The child then asked, "How do I practice?"

Jesus said, "My mother Mary told me that the most basic discipline is to learn to be a useful person to society, to try to put yourself in the place of others, to try to be selfless, to try to give of yourself to others, to respect others, to honour your parents and elders, to be friendly and faithful to your friends, to be full of love in your heart, to help others!"

"I am thirsty, but I don't have a cup with me, how can I drink, can you help me?" The boy seemed to want to test Jesus.

Jesus picked a very large leaf from the stream and washed it with water, then rolled it into a spoon made of leaves, scooped a spoon full of water in the stream and handed it to him to drink.

The child happily took a sip of the water from the leaf spoon Jesus handed him. Afterwards he praised, "The water is so sweet! Thank you, Jesus, I hope to be your friend from now on!"

In this way, as a child, Jesus listened to his mother Mary's teaching to help others and gradually won the trust and affection of many friends.