The Christological formulas - God, Savior, Messiah, Lord, King, High Priest - often run the risk of obliterating Jesus' humanity. Joseph, Mary, Jesus, concentrating on the years of Jesus' childhood, sets into full relief his humanity. Jesus appears here "familiarly" as a child. Mary is presented in her relationship to the child Jesus and in her role as initiator of Jesus' piety. The themes of her Magnificat are developed in Jesus' preaching. Joseph is nearly forgotten in salvation history. Here he appears for what he was in the tradition of the time, the head of the Holy Family and the one responsible for the formation - including the religious formation - of his child.
