Deeds
484. Peter’s Pentecost discourse began with:
“Men of Israel, listen to me! Jesus the Nazorean was a man whom God sent to you
with miracles, wonders, and signs as his credentials. These God worked through
him in your midst, as you well know” (Acts 2:22). But Jesus was not the
typical “wonder-worker” creating a big show to draw crowds of followers. Rather
he worked a healing ministry which constantly called to personal faith
and discipleship (cf. PCP II 84).
485. The direct connection between faith
and healing works is clearly affirmed by Christ in many of his signs.
For instance:
• when he cured the paralytic (cf. Mk
2:1-12), and the woman with the issue of blood (cf. Mk 5:25-34);
• when
he gave sight to the blind Bartimaeus (cf. Mk 10:46-52), and restored to
life Jairus’ daughter (cf. Mk 5:21-24,35-43);
• when he cured the centurion’s
servant boy at Capernaum
(cf. Mt 8:5-13), and the daughter of the persistent Canaanite woman (cf.
Mt 15:21-28);
• when he cleansed the ten lepers,
of whom only the one Samaritan returned to give thanks (cf. Lk 17:11-19).
In all
these cases, Christ’s message was the same: “Your faith has been your
salvation. Go in peace” (Lk 7:50). In contrast, in his own home town of Nazareth, Jesus could
work no miracle, “so much did their lack of faith distress him” (Mk 6:5-6).
486. The faith which Jesus praised throughout
his ministry was not the self-righteous, legalistic faith of the Scribes and
Pharisees. Rather, for those who knew their own helplessness, it was the open
acceptance of God’s free gift of loving, healing presence among them in Christ.
“Believing” meant reaching out beyond themselves and their need to embrace
the free gift of Christ’s life-giving and healing love. This is the faith that
“saves” because it shares in the very power of God, active within our daily
lives.
487. But beyond open acceptance, this faith
which Jesus praises also involves discipleship: an implicit commitment.
Each is called to live out the gift of life freely given, in all the
concrete circumstances of one’s daily life, by following Jesus’ way. This is
what coming to know Jesus Christ demands of every believer. Each has a mission
as Christ himself had, from the Father. To personally know Christ, then, is to
understand the meaning of one’s own concrete life in view of the larger
perspective of the Kingdom
of God: of our graced
union with God (cf. PCP II 62,67,79,85).
488. Besides his healing, Christ’s ministry was
noted for his celebration of the Kingdom in table-fellowship. He
not only forgave sinners and associated with tax collectors and outcasts (cf.
Mk 2:15-17); he even scandalized his pious contemporaries by dining with
them. Such table-fellowship symbolized Christ’s whole mission and message of
drawing all into his Father’s Kingdom. “I have come to call sinners, not the
self-righteous” (Mk 2:17). It prefigures the eternal banquet in the Kingdom of God in which “many will come from the
east and the west and will find a place, while the natural heirs will be driven
out into the dark” (Mt 8:11-12).
489. The importance of this table-fellowship in
Jesus’ ministry is confirmed by two things. The first is the special importance
among the early disciples of the “breaking of bread” (Lk 24:35; Acts 2:46).
This must have come from Jesus’ own mannerism. The second is the Lord’s
prayer which Christ taught his disciples. It summarizes the ministry of Christ
in terms of “Abba” (Father), the Kingdom, bread, forgiveness and the
final test. All of these refer in one way or another to table-fellowship and
more. Not just voluntary “coming together” but the koinonia, the
transforming communion we have in the Eucharistic celebration as members of
Christ’s Body.
Fate
490. Finally
we come to the third dimension of the prophet, to suffer a martyr’s
death. Jesus referred to such a fate (cf. Lk 13:33-34).
Moreover, he had the example of John the Baptist before him. Jesus himself was
accused of blasphemy because he proclaimed the forgiveness of sins, and of
casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub (cf. Mk 3:22).
Jesus was
constantly under attack by the Jewish religious authorities. This was because
he overturned the priorities of their religious practice, especially in regard
to the Sabbath Law and the Temple.
He claimed authority over the Sabbath Law (cf. Mk 2:28; Lk 6:5), and
challenged the legalistic approach to its observance (cf. Lk 13:10-17;
14:1-6). Likewise, by his symbolic cleansing of the Temple, he exercised a similar command over
it (cf. Jn 2:13-22).
B. Jesus
as Savior/Redeemer
491. More than being a “prophet,” Jesus was
proclaimed Savior/Redeemer even before his birth. “You are to
name him “Jesus” because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).
The very name “Jesus” means “God is salvation.” Today many Filipinos are
strongly attracted to Jesus as their personal Savior “who gave himself up for
me” (Gal 2:20). In one Eucharistic acclamation we proclaim: “Lord,
by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free. You are the Savior of the
world!” Thus both Scripture and the liturgy invite us to see Christ our Lord in
terms of his saving work.
492. But with all the injustice, violence and
senseless suffering rampant throughout the
world today, how can we honestly acclaim Jesus as Savior? What does
Christ save us from? To reply effectively, two basic insights are
essential. First, Christ “saves” by touching the spiritual root of all these
evils experienced today, namely, SIN __ people’s
proud, self-seeking moral attitudes and acts before God and with one another.
Selfishness enslaves. “Everyone who lives in sin is the slave of sin. . . .
That is why, if the Son frees you, you will really be free” (Jn 8:34-36).
493. Second,
the salvation which Christ has already won for all is not yet complete. It
must be accepted, embraced and acted out in the free lives of believers today.
For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do
not submit again to the yoke of slavery. . . . For you were called for freedom __
but not a freedom that gives free rein to the flesh; rather, serve
one another through love (Gal 5:1,13; cf. 1 Pt 5:6-10).
494. Christ’s saving work in his Paschal
Mystery is taken up in detail in the two following chapters. Here we only
sketch briefly the work of Jesus as Savior by indicating three basic
dimensions of Christian salvation as presented in Scripture. As
throughout salvation history, Filipinos today seek salvation: 1) from the cosmic
demonic powers of evil; 2) from enslaving, oppressive forces in the
economic, socio-political areas; and 3) from the absurdity and meaninglessness
of personal life. In each area Christ has worked his unique salvation.
Saving from Cosmic Evil
495. In his public ministry Jesus was noted for
casting out evil spirits. “What do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
come to destroy us? I know who you are __ the Holy One of
God!” (Mk 1:24) “To be saved” here means to be a “new creation” in
Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17).
God gave you new life in company with Christ. He
cancelled the bond that stood against us with all its claims, snatching it up
and nailing it to the cross. Thus did God disarm the principalities and powers.
He made a public show of them, and leading them off captive, triumphed in the
person of Christ (Col
2:14-15).
Yet the fight versus evil spirits continues as St.
Peter warns us:
Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is
prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him,
steadfast in your faith . . . The God of all grace who called you to his
everlasting glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and
establish those who have suffered for a little while (1 Pt 5:8-10).
Saving from Socio-Political Oppression
496. The Exodus liberation of the Old Testament
is the background for Jesus’ saving work as the new Moses. He teaches a new
hierarchy of values that undermined the oppressive social structures of his day
(cf. Lk 16:14-15). But how did Jesus actually liberate? First, he
exposed the enslaving, corrupting power of riches. Jesus showed that giving
was better than taking, sharing more liberating than hoarding (cf. Lk
6:29-30; 14:13-14; Acts 20:35).
For Jesus,
the key to economic liberation was twofold: 1) to free
human hearts from their greed and self-seeking; and 2) to inspire them
with respect for others, sensitivity and compassion for the needy, and a
generous, outgoing love for those in want.
497. Second,
Jesus taught that any power not rooted in mutual service was enslaving
and oppressive. “Whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of
all” (Mk 10:42-45). Love is ultimately the only
power that sets people free.
Third, Jesus liberated his followers from the common social prejudices that
bound them. These were the customary ways of honoring the wise and the rich
while discriminating against foreigners, women, public sinners and outcasts. He
taught concern for “the little ones” of the Kingdom (cf. Mt 18:10).
498. Finally,
Jesus freed his contemporaries from mere external, lega1istic religious
obedience to the Law by interiorizing and prioritizing its obligations.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
pay tithes on mint and herbs and seeds, while neglecting the weight, matters of
the law: justice and mercy and good faith. It is these you should have practiced,
without neglecting the others. Blind guides, you strain out the gnat and
swallow the camel! (Mt 23:23f)
Saving from Life’s Meaninglessness
499. Christ saved by being the revelation
of the Father. To his followers Jesus promised: “If you live according
to my teaching, you are truly my disciples; then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31f). His teachings set us free
because they offer meaning and purpose in life, dispelling the darkness of
ignorance and despair. Jesus taught: “I am the light of the world. No follower
of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall posses the light of life” (Jn
8:12). “I have come
into the world as its light, to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining
in the dark” (Jn 12:46).
III.
THE PERSON OF JESUS
500. From this biblical sketch of Jesus as
Prophet and Savior, what can we answer to Jesus’ own question: “Who do you
say that I am?” (Mk 8:29). We could begin by answering with Peter: “You
are the Christ.” We thus affirm that the historical Jesus of Nazareth
is the Messiah, foretold by the prophets (cf. Acts 2:29-32), anointed by the Holy Spirit as
prophet, priest and king. (cf. Acts 10:38).
He was sent by God to bring salvation to the world and fulfill all history (cf.
CCC 436-40).
But to
fulfill that mission, who must Jesus BE? From what he has done, can we
discover who he IS? The Scriptures ground three fundamental truths about
the Person of Jesus: Jesus is true man, true God, and one.
(cf. CCC 480; NCDP 189).
A. Jesus
Our Brother: True Man
501. The Scriptures and constant
teaching of the Church are one in asserting that Jesus is truly a
man. So the Creed proclaims: “He was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary” (cf. CCC
484-87). To be our Savior, Jesus “had to become like his brothers in every
way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God on their
behalf, to expiate the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17). “Born of a
woman, born under the law” (Gal 4:4). Jesus “progressed steadily in
wisdom and age and grace before God and men” (Lk 2:52). He experienced
hunger (cf. Lk 4:2), thirst (cf. Jn 4:7), temptation (cf. Mt
4:1-11), deep emotions (cf. Jn 11:33), and great pity for the people
(cf. Mt 15:32). In brief, Scripture presents Jesus as fully human.
502. In a
memorable passage, Vatican II has stressed Christ’s humanity:
He who is ‘the image of the invisible God’ is himself
the perfect man . . . For by his incarnation, the Son of God has united himself
in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands, he thought with a
human mind, acted by human choice, and loved with a human heart. Born of the
Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like us in all things, except
sin (GS 22).
503. There can be no doubt, therefore, about the
Catholic Faith’s insistence on Jesus’ true humanity. But for many Filipinos,
Jesus as truly human is not a familiar image (cf. NCDP 182). The actual
problem is not with the truth of Jesus as man, but with translating this truth
into an ever-deepening personal relation with Jesus, in our thinking, doing and
praying.
B. “One
Lord, Jesus, the Only Son of God”
504. The Christian Faith stands or falls on the
confession of Jesus as the only Son of God, our Lord (cf. CCC 441-50).
Scripture grounds this confession in two ways. First, Jesus as God’s
Eternal Word coming down to take on human nature in the Incarnation.
“The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his
glory, the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring
love” (Jn 1:14; cf. CCC 461-63).
Second, Jesus as “lifted up” at the Resurrection. “This is the Jesus God has
raised up, and we are his witnesses. Exalted at God’s right hand, . . . know
beyond any doubt that God has made both Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you
crucified” (Acts 2:32f,36).
But both
approaches lead to Jesus Christ, one person who is truly
man and truly God.
505. Two great
hymns of the New Testament proclaim Christ’s divinity for all time. The first
is in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, where he quotes a Baptismal hymn
already in use in the early Church. The hymn covers three states of Jesus. First,
his prior heavenly existence: “Though he was in the form of God, he did
not deem equality with God something to be grasped at” (Phil
2:6).
Second, his earthly status: “He emptied himself and
took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men, . . . he humbled
himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross!” (Phil 2: 7-8)
And third,
his exaltation: “Because of this, God highly exalted him and bestowed on
him the name above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee
should bend, in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every
tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father, that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!”
(Phil 2:9-11).
506. The second hymn (Col 1:15-20)
synthesizes the growing awareness in New Testament times of the Person of
Christ. First, He is the “new Adam”, “the image of the invisible God,
the first born of all creatures” (Col
1:15). Second, he is divine, “For in him everything in heaven
and on earth was created . . . all were created through him and for
him. He is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being” (Col 1:16-17). Third,
Christ possesses the primacy and fullness: “It pleased God to
make absolute fullness reside in him and, by means of him, to reconcile
everything in his person, both on earth and in the heavens” (Col 1:19-20).
507. This New Testament assertion of Christ’s
divinity underwent a turbulent history in post-apostolic times. Through the
centuries the Church gradually came to greater clarity and precision in
proclaiming the divinity of Christ, and created the Creeds which we use to the
present day. The Council of Nicea (325) rejected the heresy of Arius
and proclaimed faith in “one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only
begotten generated from the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God
from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father” (ND 7).
508. St. Augustine comments on the Nicean Creed’s “Light from Light”:
Just as the Father is ageless,
so the Son does not grow; the Father has not grown old, nor has the Son
increased. Rather Equal begot Equal; the Eternal begot the Eternal. Like a
temporal flame generates temporal light: the flame which generates the light is
coterminous with the light which it generates. From the moment the flame
begins, there is light. Show me a flame without light, and I will
show you the Father without the Son (Tracts on the Gospel of John, 20:8).
509. But controversies continued through the
following century as various heresies regarding Christ appeared. An orthodox
consensus was finally reached at the Council of Chalcedon (451) which defined
the person of Christ as:
One and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . the
same truly God and truly man, . . . the same one in being with the Father as to
the divinity and one in being with us as to the humanity, like us in all things
but sin. The same begotten from the Father before the ages as to the divinity,
and in the latter days for us and our salvation was born as to his humanity
from Mary, the Virgin Mother of God (ND 614).
C. Jesus
is One Person
510. The Scriptures clearly affirm “there is only one mediator between God
and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all” (1 Tim
2:5). Easter shows how Jesus is both God’s own Self-gift to us, and the
perfect human response to God. For it is precisely Jesus the Crucified one who
is risen (cf. Mt 28:5-6). Paul writes of the wonderful exchange:
“You are well acquainted with the favor shown you by our Lord Jesus Christ: how for your sake he made
himself poor, though he was rich, so that you might become rich by his
poverty” (2 Cor 8:9).
511. The basic reasoning here is straightforward:
• Unless Jesus was truly man, he
could not save us. “He had to become like his brothers in every way, that he
might. . . expiate the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17).
• Unless he was God, he could not
redeem us, for only an all holy, immortal God can:
1) free the whole human race from sin and
death, and
2) give us a share in the fullness of divine
life.
512. Jesus, then, cannot be divided. He is
one Person, for this man Jesus is the Eternal Son of God made
man. This is the “Good News” which the Catholic Faith proclaims. This
man Jesus is the Son of God who knows us and loves us. We can adore the man
Jesus, and promote devotion to his Sacred Heart, precisely because he is not
separated from God. Before him with Thomas we pray: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn
20:28).
IV.
MARY, MOTHER OF THE SON OF GOD
513. For many Filipino Catholics, Jesus Christ
has become a real Person in their lives through their devotion to Mary
his mother, who knows him best. Chapter 1 described how we Filipinos approach
Christ with and through our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ang Mahal
na Birhen. Recently, our Catholic devotion to Mary has come under
increasing attack. We are therefore called upon to deepen our understanding of
the solid biblical, doctrinal and liturgical foundations which ground our
traditional Marian piety (cf. AMB 78). Here we shall briefly take up
Mary as presented: in Scripture, and in the doctrinal teaching of the Church,
regarding her relation to Christ.
A. Mary
in Scripture
514. Both Matthew and Luke present Mary with
many allusions to great figures in the Old
Testament. Matthew recounts Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus as
fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy (cf. Mt 1:23; Is 7:14). Luke
describes God’s call to the Virgin Mary to become, through the Holy Spirit, the
power of the Most High, the mother of Jesus, Son of God (cf. Lk 1:26-38; CCC
487, 495). The angel’s greeting to Mary relates her to the “Daughter
of Zion”
(Zep 3:14-17). The coming of the Holy Spirit upon her, and her
carrying the Child in her womb, pictures Mary as the living Ark of the New Covenant
in Christ her Son.
515. Luke’s account inspired the Fathers to
compare Mary with Eve. As Eve accepted the word of the serpent
and gave birth to disobedience and
death, the Virgin Mary, the New Eve, obediently received the word of the
angel, and through the power of the Holy Spirit gave birth to the living
salvation of all through the Son of God (cf. LG 56; CCC 411,726; AMB 55).
Mary’s faith in accepting her virginal conception of Jesus relates her to Abraham,
our father in faith, and the birth of his son Isaac, the child of the promise (cf.
CCC 165). Luke confirms this by relating Mary to the perfect disciple who
hears the word of God and keeps it (cf. Lk 8:21; 11:27-28).
516. Early in John’s Gospel, Mary is
described as “the Mother of Jesus.” Her request prompted the
first of the ‘Signs’ of Jesus and the “manifestation of his glory” so that his
disciples “believed in him” (cf. Jn 2:1-11). Jesus replied, addressing
her as ‘Woman’, that his “Hour” had not yet come. But
Mary, in great faith, already assumed her future role as sharing in her Son’s
saving mission. She asked for a sign of the messianic benefits, at that
“wedding feast.” Jesus complied.
Late in John’s
Gospel, Jesus’ “Hour” had come. Mary, standing at the foot of the Cross,
is again addressed as ‘Woman,’ and given as “Mother to the
beloved disciple” by the crucified Jesus (cf. Jn 19:25-27).
517.
Thus Mary, the physical mother of Jesus our Savior, becomes the spiritual
mother in the order of grace of all, particularly of the disciples of Christ (LG
54, 61). “She is clearly the mother of the members of Christ . . . since
she cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the
faithful who are members of Christ their Head” (LG 53, quoting St. Augustine; cf. CCC
963).
The
conclusion of this brief Scriptural overview of Mary is that there is solid
biblical foundation for our traditional Catholic Marian piety.
B. Mary
in Catholic Doctrine
518. Our
Filipino Marian piety is also solidly grounded on the doctrinal teaching
of the Church. Vatican II presents the Blessed Virgin Mary in the final chapter
of its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium). The Church’s
teaching on Mary is presented in four sections:
• the Role of the Blessed Virgin in the
Plan of Salvation;
• the Blessed Virgin and the Church;
• Devotion to the Blessed Virgin in the
Church; and
• Mary, a Sign of Sure Hope and Solace for
the Pilgrim People of God.
Here we
shall briefly develop only Mary’s role with Christ in God’s Plan of Salvation.
Chapter 23 will take up her role in the Church, and chapter 24, devotion to
Mary and source of hope for the pilgrim
Church.
Mother of God
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