1 Samuel, Chapter 12, Verse 14
These were the word of the Priest
Samuel at the coronation of King Saul and just like Eli Saul and his family did
not listen to the voice of the Lord and rebelled. Our only king was crowned not
with gold but with thorns. It was His afflictions which prepared us for an
eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. Hear His voice.
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials—Chinese proverb.”
Let
Freedom Ring-Day 2 “Freedom from Despair”
(See Character is
Destiny for opposing virtue: HOPE)
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, at
a word from you the devil and his minions flee in terror. You are the source of
all truth. You are the source of all strength. By the power of your Cross and
Resurrection, we beseech you, O Lord. To extend your saving arm and to send
your holy angels. To defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic
forces. Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses your Bride, The Church, So that
within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation. We
may turn fully back to you in all fidelity and trust. Lord, we know if you will
it, it will be done. Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.
Amen
Our Lady of the Immaculate
Conception ... pray for us
St. Joseph ... pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel ... pray
for us
(the patron of your parish) ...
pray for us
(your confirmation saint) ... pray
for us
"Freedom from Despair"
by
Fr. Rick Heilman
There is a stirring scene in the
6th chapter of John's Gospel, a chapter referred to as the "Bread of Life
Discourse." Jesus had just told the crowd, " Whoever eats
my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life." The
response by nearly all was, "This
is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" Jesus returns
with, "The Spirit gives
life; the flesh counts for nothing." And then, in the
66th verse of chapter 6 of John's Gospel, or rather John 6:66, almost everyone
leaves: "From this time
many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."
The crowd who abandoned Jesus had
abandoned hope. They despaired. So, what did they do? They "turned
back" to the emptiness of "merely existing" in the flesh. This
emptiness or "desolation" is the place the devil wants us to be. It
is Satan's kingdom.
I believe it is no accident that
the chapter and verse of this act of despair in John's Gospel is 666. We are
given free will. We can choose God or not. In the Book of Revelation, 666 is the number of the beast, or the
number of man. Once separated from God, Satan wants us to believe we are merely
one animal (beast) among many; just part of the herd. So, like animals, we are
left to scramble to fill this void with worldly wants and lusts; works of the
flesh.
Make no mistake about it, the
influencers of our culture (media, Hollywood, TV, universities, public schools,
etc.) are, by and large, godless propagandists who are determined to instill in
us the notion that we are "merely animals." Therefore, women are
objectified, men are just vulgar beasts, pre-born babies are a clump of cells,
and the nuclear family - the bedrock of civilization - is outdated. As the
Satanic bible proclaims: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the
law." Just be animals.
After the crowd abandoned Jesus in
despair, He then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter
answered him, "Master, to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
The Apostles were not buying the
lie of the devil. No, we are not just animals, we are precious children of God,
created in His image. Therefore, life in the Spirit is filled with the hope of a joyful
and amazing journey of striving to please God in every way, especially by
striving to become the very best version of ourselves we can possibly be. And,
just as Jesus demonstrated on the cross, we are called to a total selfless love
of neighbor.
The crowd abandoned Him in
despair, but the Apostles stayed with Him in hope. If we want the hope of all
meaning and purpose in life as a child of God, we simply must get near to Him,
because "the Spirit gives
life." We must combat the temptation of allowing our
faith to devolve into merely "punching the clock" by fulfilling
basic obligations. Many avoid an intimate relationship with the Lord because,
like the crowd, they believe, "This
is a hard teaching." In other words, if they "let
God in," He will ask "too much" from us. It's better to keep God
at arm's length, a manageable distance.
It's time to "make it personal." It's
time to "get near" to
Him before the Blessed Sacrament. Spend time Adoring Our Lord. This can be done
by scheduling an hour at a local Adoration Chapel, or you can simply come early
or stay after Mass. Be careful, though, because you may just find yourself
crying out, "My Lord and
my God!" ... and then everything will change. Your life,
filled with hope, will rise to new and exciting heights!
"Those
who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like
eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be
faint." - Isaiah 40:31
Prayer of Reparation
My Lord and my God, We have
allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts to despair in Your
Presence and Power.
We have kept ourselves distanced from You, so that we may be safe from Your
plan for our lives. We have been too fearful to trust in a personal
relationship that may ask too much from us. In our doubt and despair, we have
allowed the ancient foe to advance. We turn to You Lord, in our emptiness, and
beg Your forgiveness for our despairing lack of trust. We beg for the grace to
draw near to You, even as we watch, as did the Apostles, so many who abandon
You. We know, Lord, if You will it, it will be done. Trusting in You, we offer
our prayer to You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of Exorcism
Lord God of Heaven and Earth, in
your power and goodness, you created all things. You set a path for us to walk
on and a way to an eternal relationship. By the strength of your arm and Word
of your mouth Cast from your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil. Drive
from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us from
faithlessness and fear. Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so
that we may act freely and faithfully to your will. Send your holy angels to
cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of fear have planted
in your church. Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country
from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions. Trusting
in your goodness Lord, we know if you will it, it will be done in unity with
Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen.
Litany of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.
Response to the following: Pray for
us.
Heart of Mary
Heart of Mary, after God's own Heart
Heart of Mary, in union with the Heart of Jesus
Heart of Mary, the vessel of the Holy Spirit
Heart of Mary, shrine of the Trinity
Heart of Mary, home of the Word
Heart of Mary, immaculate in your creation
Heart of Mary, flooded with grace
Heart of Mary, blessed of all hearts
Heart of Mary, Throne of glory
Heart of Mary, Abyss of humbleness,
Heart of Mary, Victim of love
Heart of Mary, nailed to the cross
Heart of Mary, comfort of the sad
Heart of Mary, refuge of the sinner
Heart of Mary, hope of the dying
Heart of Mary, seat of mercy
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of
the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of
the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of
the world,
Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Immaculate Mary, meek and humble of
heart.
Conform our hearts to the heart of Jesus.
Let us pray:
O most merciful God, who for the salvation of sinners and
the refuge of the wretched, has made the Immaculate Heart of Mary most like in
tenderness and pity to the Heart of Jesus, grant that we, who now commemorate
her most sweet and loving heart, may by her merits and intercession, ever live
in the fellowship of the hearts of both Mother and Son, through the same Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Source: Blessed Cardinal
John Henry Newman. Published in From Parochial and Plain Sermons. c
1997, San Francisco: Ignatius Press
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION
OF FAITH
SECTION
TWO-I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER TWO
I
BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD
Article 3-"HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY"
Paragraph 3. THE
MYSTERIES OF CHRIST'S LIFE
512 Concerning Christ's life the
Creed speaks only about the mysteries of the Incarnation (conception and birth)
and Paschal mystery (passion, crucifixion, death, burial, descent into hell,
resurrection and ascension). It says nothing explicitly about the mysteries of
Jesus' hidden or public life, but the articles of faith concerning his
Incarnation and Passover do shed light on the whole of his earthly life.
"All that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning until the day when he
was taken up to heaven", is to be seen in the light of the mysteries
of Christmas and Easter.
513 According to circumstances
catechesis will make use of all the richness of the mysteries of Jesus. Here it
is enough merely to indicate some elements common to all the mysteries of
Christ's life (I), in order then to sketch the principal mysteries of Jesus'
hidden (II) and public (III) life.
I. CHRIST'S WHOLE LIFE IS MYSTERY
514 Many things about Jesus of
interest to human curiosity do not figure in the Gospels. Almost nothing is
said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and even a great part of his public
life is not recounted. What is written in the Gospels was set down there
"so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing you may have life in his name."
515 The Gospels were written by men
who were among the first to have the faith and wanted to share it with
others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see
the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes
of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection,
everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery. His deeds, miracles
and words all revealed that "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells
bodily." His humanity appeared as "sacrament", that is, the
sign and instrument, of his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was
visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine
sonship and redemptive mission
Characteristics common to Jesus'
mysteries
516 Christ's whole earthly life -
his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being
and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has
seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my
Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Because our Lord became man in order
to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries
manifest "God's love. . . among us".
517 Christ's whole life is a
mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above all through the blood of
his cross, but this mystery is at work throughout Christ's entire life:
-already in his Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with
his poverty; - in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our
disobedience; - in his word which purifies its hearers; - in his healings
and exorcisms by which "he took our infirmities and bore our
diseases"; - and in his Resurrection by which he justifies us.
518 Christ's whole life is a
mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did, said and suffered had for its aim
restoring fallen man to his original vocation:
When Christ became incarnate and
was made man, he recapitulated in himself the long history of mankind and
procured for us a "short cut" to salvation, so that what we had lost
in Adam, that is, being in the image and likeness of God, we might recover in
Christ Jesus. For this reason Christ experienced all the stages of life,
thereby giving communion with God to all men.
Our communion in the mysteries of
Jesus
519 All Christ's riches "are
for every individual and are everybody's property." Christ did not
live his life for himself but for us, from his Incarnation "for us men and
for our salvation" to his death "for our sins" and Resurrection
"for our justification". He is still "our advocate with the
Father", who "always lives to make intercession" for us. He
remains ever "in the presence of God on our behalf, bringing before him
all that he lived and suffered for us."
520 In all of his life Jesus
presents himself as our model. He is "the perfect man", who
invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has
given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he draws us to pray, and by
his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation and persecutions that
may come our way.
521 Christ enables us to live in
him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. "By his Incarnation,
he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man." We
are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as the members of his
Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model:
We must continue to accomplish in
ourselves the stages of Jesus' life and his mysteries and often to beg him to
perfect and realize them in us and in his whole Church. . . For it is the plan
of the Son of God to make us and the whole Church partake in his mysteries and
to extend them to and continue them in us and in his whole Church. This is his
plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us.
II. THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' INFANCY
AND HIDDEN LIFE
The preparations
522 The coming of God's Son to
earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over
centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and
sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant". He
announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in
Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of
this coming.
523 St. John the Baptist is the
Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way. "Prophet
of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the
last. He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes
the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the
bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world". Going before Jesus "in the spirit and
power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his
Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.
524 When the Church celebrates the
liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the
Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour's first coming,
the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By
celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to
his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
The Christmas mystery
525 Jesus was born in a humble
stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to
this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest. The Church
never tires of singing the glory of this night:
The Virgin today brings into the
world the Eternal
and the earth offers a cave to the
Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
and the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!
526 To become a child in relation
to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble
ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God"
we must be "born from above" or "born of God". Only
when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas
is the mystery of this "marvellous exchange":
O marvellous exchange! Man's
Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the
divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.
The mysteries of Jesus' infancy
527 Jesus' circumcision, on the
eighth day after his birth, is the sign of his incorporation into
Abraham's descendants, into the people of the covenant. It is the sign of his
submission to the Law and his deputation to Israel's worship, in which he
will participate throughout his life. This sign prefigures that
"circumcision of Christ" which is Baptism.
528 The Epiphany is the
manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Saviour of the
world. the great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the
wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the
wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. In the magi, representatives of the
neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations,
who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. the magi's
coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that
they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who
will be king of the nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover
Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning
towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in
the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the
nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs",
and acquires Israelitica dignitas (is made "worthy of the heritage of
Israel").
529 The presentation of Jesus in
the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. With
Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Saviour - the name
given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the
long-expected Messiah, the "light to the nations" and the "glory
of Israel", but also "a sign that is spoken against". the sword
of sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and unique oblation on
the cross that will impart the salvation God had "prepared in the presence
of all peoples".
530 The flight into Egypt and the
massacre of the innocents make manifest the opposition of darkness to the
light: "He came to his own home, and his own people received him
not." Christ's whole life was lived under the sign of persecution.
His own share it with him. Jesus' departure from Egypt recalls the exodus
and presents him as the definitive liberator of God's people.
The mysteries of Jesus' hidden life
531 During the greater part of his
life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily
life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labour. His religious
life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, a life in the
community. From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was
"obedient" to his parents and that he "increased in wisdom and
in stature, and in favour with God and man."
532 Jesus' obedience to his mother
and legal father fulfils the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal
image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. the everyday obedience
of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of
Holy Thursday: "Not my will. . ." The obedience of Christ in the
daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring
what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed.
533 The hidden life at Nazareth
allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events
of daily life:
The home of Nazareth is the school
where we begin to understand the life of Jesus - the school of the Gospel.
First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and
indispensable condition of mind, revive in us. . . A lesson on family life. May
Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and
simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work.
Nazareth, home of the "Carpenter's Son", in you I would choose to
understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work. . . To
conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them
their great pattern their brother who is God.
534 The finding of Jesus in the
temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the
hidden years of Jesus. Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery
of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine sonship:
"Did you not know that I must be about my Father's work?" Mary
and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith.
Mary "kept all these things in her heart" during the years Jesus
remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life.
III. THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' PUBLIC
LIFE
The baptism of Jesus
535 Jesus' public life begins with
his baptism by John in the Jordan. John preaches "a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins". A crowd of sinners -
tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes - come to
be baptized by him. "Then Jesus appears." the Baptist hesitates, but
Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a
dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my
beloved Son." This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of
Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.
536 The baptism of Jesus is on his
part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant.
He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already "the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world". Already he is anticipating
the "baptism" of his bloody death. Already he is coming to
"fulfil all righteousness", that is, he is submitting himself
entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death
for the remission of our sins. The Father's voice responds to the Son's
acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The Spirit whom
Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to "rest on
him". Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his
baptism "the heavens were opened" - the heavens that Adam's sin
had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the
Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.
537 Through Baptism the Christian
is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his
death and resurrection. the Christian must enter into this mystery of humble
self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to
rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's
beloved son in the Son and "walk in newness of life":
Let us be buried with Christ by
Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and
let us rise with him to be glorified with him.
Everything that happened to Christ
lets us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us
from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of
God.
Jesus' temptations
538 The Gospels speak of a time of
solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven
by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without
eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him. At the end
of this time Satan tempts him three times, seeking to compromise his filial
attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these attacks, which recapitulate the
temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel in the desert, and the devil
leaves him "until an opportune time".
539 The evangelists indicate the
salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained
faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils
Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God
during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant,
totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror:
he "binds the strong man" to take back his plunder. Jesus'
victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the
supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father.
540 Jesus' temptation reveals the
way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to
him and the way men wish to attribute to him. This is why Christ
vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we have not a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been
tested as we are, yet without sinning." By the solemn forty days of
Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.
"The kingdom of God is at
hand"
541 "Now after John was
arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying:
'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe
in the gospel.'" "To carry out the will of the Father Christ
inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth." Now the Father's will is
"to raise up men to share in his own divine life". He does this
by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church,
"on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms".
542 Christ stands at the heart of
this gathering of men into the "family of God". By his word, through
signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus
calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great
Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his Resurrection - he would accomplish
the coming of his kingdom. "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to myself." Into this union with Christ all men are
called.
The proclamation of the kingdom of
God
543 Everyone is called to enter the
kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is
intended to accept men of all nations. To enter it, one must first accept
Jesus' word:
The word of the Lord is compared to
a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered
among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its
own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.
544 The kingdom belongs to the poor
and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is
sent to "preach good news to the poor"; he declares them
blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To them - the
"little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from
the wise and the learned. Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the
cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation. Jesus
identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward
them the condition for entering his kingdom.
545 Jesus invites sinners to the
table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners." He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot
enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy
for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents". The
supreme proof of his love will be the sacrifice of his own life "for the
forgiveness of sins".
546 Jesus' invitation to enter his
kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his
teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the
kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must
give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are required. The
parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the
word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and
the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the
parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in
order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven". For those
who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic.
The signs of the kingdom of God
547 Jesus accompanies his words
with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that
the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah.
548 The signs worked by Jesus
attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those
who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen
faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the
Son of God. But his miracles can also be occasions for
"offence"; they are not intended to satisfy people's curiosity
or desire for magic Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he
is even accused of acting by the power of demons.
549 By freeing some individuals
from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, Jesus
performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils
here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts
them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage.
550 The coming of God's kingdom
means the defeat of Satan's: "If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast
out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Jesus'
exorcisms free some individuals from the domination of demons. They anticipate
Jesus' great victory over "the ruler of this world". The kingdom
of God will be definitively established through Christ's cross: "God
reigned from the wood."
"The keys of the kingdom"
551 From the beginning of his
public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in number, to be with him and to
participate in his mission. He gives the Twelve a share in his authority
and 'sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal." They
remain associated for ever with Christ's kingdom, for through them he directs
the Church:
As my Father appointed a kingdom
for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my
kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
552 Simon Peter holds the first
place in the college of the Twelve; Jesus entrusted a unique mission to
him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: "You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Lord then declared to him:
"You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of
Hades will not prevail against it." Christ, the "living
Stone", thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the
powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the
unshakeable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from
every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it.
553 Jesus entrusted a specific
authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the
keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the
Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his
Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." The power to "bind and
loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal
judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted
this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in
particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically
entrusted the keys of the kingdom.
A foretaste of the kingdom: the
Transfiguration
554 From the day Peter confessed
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to
show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and
be killed, and on the third day be raised." Peter scorns this
prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this
context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high
mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John.
Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah
appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish at
Jerusalem". A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says:
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
555 For a moment Jesus discloses
his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will
have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to "enter into
his glory".
Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets
had announced the Messiah's sufferings. Christ's Passion is the will of
the Father: the Son acts as God's servant; The cloud indicates the
presence of the Holy Spirit. "The whole Trinity appeared: the Father in
the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining cloud."
You were transfigured on the
mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your
glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would
understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you
truly are the splendour of the Father.
556 On the threshold of the public
life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration.
Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery of the first regeneration",
namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second
regeneration": our own Resurrection. From now on we share in the
Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body
of Christ. the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious
coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious
body." But it also recalls that "it is through many persecutions
that we must enter the kingdom of God":
Peter did not yet understand this
when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for
you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: "Go down to toil on
earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down
to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be
exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse
to suffer?"
Jesus' ascent to Jerusalem
557 "When the days drew near
for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go to Jerusalem." By
this decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die
there. Three times he had announced his Passion and Resurrection; now, heading
toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: "It cannot be that a prophet should perish
away from Jerusalem."
558 Jesus recalls the martyrdom of
the prophets who had been put to death in Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists
in calling Jerusalem to gather around him: "How often would I have
gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and
you would not!" When Jerusalem comes into view he weeps over her and
expresses once again his heart's desire: "Would that even today you knew
the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes."
Jesus' messianic entrance into
Jerusalem
559 How will Jerusalem welcome her
Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king,
he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the
city of "his father David". Acclaimed as son of David, as the
one who brings salvation (Hosanna means "Save!" or "Give
salvation!"), the "King of glory" enters his City "riding
on an ass". Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his
Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness
to the truth. and so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children
and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to
the shepherds. Their acclamation, "Blessed be he who comes in the
name of the Lord", is taken up by the Church in the Sanctus of the
Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover.
560 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to
accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection. It is with the
celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the Church's liturgy solemnly
opens Holy Week.
IN BRIEF
561 "The whole of Christ's
life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his
prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor,
his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the
world, and his Resurrection are the actualization of his word and the
fulfilment of Revelation" John Paul II, CT 9).
562 Christ's disciples are to
conform themselves to him until he is formed in them (cf Gal 4:19). "For
this reason we, who have been made like to him, who have died with him and
risen with him, are taken up into the mysteries of his life, until we reign
together with him" (LG 7 # 4).
563 No one, whether shepherd or
wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at
Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child.
564 By his obedience to Mary and
Joseph, as well as by his humble work during the long years in Nazareth, Jesus
gives us the example of holiness in the daily life of family and work.
565 From the beginning of his
public life, at his baptism, Jesus is the "Servant", wholly
consecrated to the redemptive work that he will accomplish by the
"baptism" of his Passion.
566 The temptation in the desert
shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total adherence
to the plan of salvation willed by the Father.
567 The kingdom of heaven was
inaugurated on earth by Christ. "This kingdom shone out before men in the
word, in the works and in the presence of Christ" (LG 5). the Church is
the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter.
568 Christ's Transfiguration
aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion: the
ascent on to the "high mountain" prepares for the ascent to Calvary.
Christ, Head of the Church, manifests what his Body contains and radiates in
the sacraments: "the hope of glory" (Col 1:27; cf.: St. Leo the
Great, Sermo 51, 3: PL 54, 310C).
569 Jesus went up to Jerusalem
voluntarily, knowing well that there he would die a violent death because of
the opposition of sinners (cf Heb 12:3).
570 Jesus' entry into Jerusalem
manifests the coming of the kingdom that the Messiah-King, welcomed into his
city by children and the humble of heart, is going to accomplish by the
Passover of his Death and Resurrection.
Daily Devotions
·
The
first public reading of the Declaration of Independence didn't occur until July
8, 1776. It was sent to the printers on July 4th. Pray we now live it.
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Protection
of Traditional Marriage
· Saturday Litany of the Hours
Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
·
Novena
to Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Day 2
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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