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October 5, 2010

Song: The summons Gather #700

Song: We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder #693

Matthew 9: 20-22

Then suddenly from behind him came a woman, who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was thinking, 'If only I can touch his cloak I shall be saved.' Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, 'Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.' And from that moment the woman was saved.

Love is in our hearts

The ocean — so beautiful

The sunset —

Let Love touch your heart —

Love, Love, Love

The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are
attentive to the voice of
our supplication

Act of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, I consecrate myself to Your most Sacred Heart. From Your pierced Heart the Church was born, the Church You have called me, as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, to serve in a most special way. You reveal Your Heart as a symbol of Your love in all its aspects, including Your most special love for me, whom You have chosen as Your companion in this most important work. Help me to always love You in return. Help me to give myself entirely to You. Help me always to pour out my life in love of God and neighbor! Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

"Dear Blessed Virgin Mary, I consecrate myself to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, this Heart which is symbol of your life of love. You are the Mother of my Savior. You are also my Mother. You love me with a most special love as a member of Shepherds of Christ Associates, a movement created by your Son as a powerful instrument for the renewal of the Church and the world. In a return of love, I give myself entirely to your motherly love and protection. You followed Jesus perfectly. You are His first and perfect disciple. Teach me to imitate you in the putting on of Christ. Be my motherly intercessor so that, through your Immaculate Heart, I may be guided to an ever closer union with the pierced Heart of Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock."

                Jesus has told us in the Blue Books
                    in His letters how He
                    loves us —

Song: You Are the Voice Gather #549

Speech —

Blue Book I

Blue Book II

Blue Book III

Blue Book IV

Blue Book V

Blue Book VI

                The live messages from Jesus and Mary
                    You hear His infliction
                    You hear that Heart behind His
                        message

God speaks to us in the live
rosaries

Jesus speaks in His songs
of His Personal love union

Song: A Song from Jesus

Jesus speaks to us in His Word

Jesus is the Word

Like a two-edged sword penetrating
heart and soul —

Hearing God speaking to us in love —

Psalm 40: 7-8, 9-10, 17

    then I said, ‘Here I am, I am coming.’

In the scroll of the book it is written of me,
    my delight is to do your will;
your law, my God,
    is deep in my heart.

I proclaimed the saving justice of Yahweh
    in the great assembly.
See, I will not hold my tongue,
    as you well know.

I have not kept your saving justice locked in the depths of my heart,
    but have spoken of your constancy and saving help.
I have made no secret of your faithful and steadfast love,
    in the great assembly.

Poor and needy as I am,
    the Lord has me in mind.
You, my helper, my Saviour,
    my God, do not delay.

Romans 5: 12, 15, 17-21

Well then; it was through one man that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned.

There is no comparison between the free gift and the offence. If death came to many through the offence of one man, how much greater an effect the grace of God has had, coming to so many and so plentifully as a free gift through the one man Jesus Christ!

It was by one man’s offence that death came to reign over all, but how much greater the reign in life of those who receive the fullness of grace and the gift of saving justice, through the one man, Jesus Christ. One man’s offence brought condemnation on all humanity; and one man’s good act has brought justification and life to all humanity. Just as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience are many to be made upright. When law came on the scene, it was to multiply the offences. But however much sin increased, grace was always greater; so that as sin’s reign brought death, so grace was to rule through saving justice that leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 12: 35-38

‘See that you have your belts done up and your lamps lit. Be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. In truth I tell you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch that he comes, or in the third, but blessed are those servants if he finds them ready.

Romans 6: 12-18

That is why you must not allow sin to reign over your mortal bodies and make you obey their desires; or give any parts of your bodies over to sin to be used as instruments of evil. Instead, give yourselves to God, as people brought to life from the dead, and give every part of your bodies to God to be instruments of uprightness; and then sin will no longer have any power over you—you are living not under law, but under grace.

What is the implication? That we are free to sin, now that we are not under law but under grace? Out of the question! You know well that if you undertake to be somebody’s slave and obey him, you are the slave of him you obey: you can be the slave either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to saving justice. Once you were slaves of sin, but thank God you have given whole–hearted obedience to the pattern of teaching to which you were introduced; and so, being freed from serving sin, you took uprightness as your master.

To the person much has been given,
much will be expected —

                We will be held accountable for our
                    gifts and how we used them
                    to build God's Kingdom

Luke 12: 39-48

You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

Peter said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord replied, ‘Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy steward whom the master will place over his household to give them at the proper time their allowance of food? Blessed that servant if his master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that. I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of everything that he owns. But if the servant says to himself, "My master is taking his time coming," and sets about beating the menservants and the servant–girls, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.

‘The servant who knows what his master wants, but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with those wishes, will be given a great many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but has acted in such a way that he deserves a beating, will be given fewer strokes. When someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be expected.

Romans 6: 19-23

I am putting it in human terms because you are still weak human beings: as once you surrendered yourselves as servants to immorality and to a lawlessness which results in more lawlessness, now you have to surrender yourselves to uprightness which is to result in sanctification.

When you were the servants of sin, you felt no obligation to uprightness, and what did you gain from living like that? Experiences of which you are now ashamed, for that sort of behaviour ends in death. But, now you are set free from sin and bound to the service of God, your gain will be sanctification and the end will be eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 1: 1-2, 3, 4, 6

How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked
and does not take a stand in the path that sinners tread,
nor a seat in company with cynics,
but who delights in the law of Yahweh
and murmurs his law day and night.

Such a one is like a tree planted near streams;
it bears fruit in season
and its leaves never wither,
and every project succeeds.
How different the wicked, how different!

Just like chaff blown around by the wind

For Yahweh watches over the path of the upright,
but the path of the wicked is doomed.

We have a struggle in us between
life and death —

                    We can see in the Old Testament how the
                people worshipped false gods and
                how they suffered for doing so —

What about worshipping false
gods in our own self —

                    Willfulness, disobedience, addicted to
                anger, addicted to violence,
                putting ourselves pridefully over God,
                like Eve in the garden —

                    These are false gods we worship —
                Putting an addiction to control on
                a throne — like worshipping a
                false god — An addiction to anger —
                where one puts anger on a throne
                as their god and acts to make
                a family, an institution, a parish
                fail because of their false god —
                their angry feelings — that is their
                god and it rules — they see only
                with their distorted vision and
                can punish others because of
                their anger, pride, envy — as
                they make those doing God's work —
                suffer their anger punishment
                because THEY WORSHIP A
                False god — their feelings, their
                anger, envy, etc. —

They worship their impurities over
God —

Look at the folly of idolatry
in the Old Testament

                God's justice is there
                    He will reward or punish
                        according to our deeds —

God's justice is vindicated —

Song: I Am a God of Justice

                    The world has suppressed
                what God wants — The world wants to
                operate like they are equal or
                above God —
                Or even deny God and His existence

Eve wanted to be equal
to God —

Excerpt from Response in Christ by Fr. Edward J. Carter, S.J.

e) Relationship with Members of the Church

There is but one true Church of Christ. Yet this one Church has three different states of existence. There is the pilgrim Church, the Church of this world, composed of members who have received the grace of Christ and strive for its development. They have not yet obtained the goal of their efforts, as have the members of the heavenly Church, who enjoy God in eternal happiness. The Church suffering is an intermediate state of existence necessary for those who had not achieved the required purification as members of the pilgrim Church. Although there are these three phases of the Church’s existence, there is a profound union existing between all the members. All these members possess the same basic life of grace in Christ, and this common life establishes the most intimate bonds of love. In our preceding chapter, we discussed the pilgrim Church. Let us now consider the Church suffering and the heavenly Church.

The members of the Church suffering are those who have departed from this life in an incomplete state of Christian development. Their development is incomplete in the sense that grace has not fully taken possession of them, and, as a result, they are yet closed in upon themselves to a greater or lesser degree. They as yet cannot open themselves out in complete love to the Triune God in the beatific vision. They must undergo a further purification, a purification which could have been achieved upon earth with merit. Now the purification must be achieved with no merit attached. The pain of this purification is mixed with the certain expectation of achieving the vision of God. We can hasten the advent of this vision for this people by the offering of prayers and other good works. Scripture itself refers to our action on behalf of those in purgatory in Chapter 12 of the Second Book of Maccabees beginning with verse 38.

The members of the heavenly Church are those in whom the life of grace has taken full possession and has reached its completion in the life of glory. Faith now is unnecessary, as the light of glory gives the human intellect a new strength and capacity for seeing God face-to-face. While the Christian was a wayfarer, he received the imprint of the indwelling Trinity as he shared in God’s own life. Now in heaven that grace-life and possession of God reaches its completion—the absolute completion is not achieved, however, until the resurrection of the body. The divine persons give Themselves to the beatified in a profound union far surpassing that of the indwelling of the Trinity experienced here below.

This life of heaven is still the Christ-life, for just as we possess a share in Trinitarian life here below as mediated by Christ, and exercise this grace-life as structured by Him, so also in heaven is the mediation of Christ present. In the words of Rahner, "One always sees the Father through Jesus. Just as immediately as this, for the directness of the vision of God is not a denial of the mediatorship of Christ as man."¹⁴ And not only does the humanity of Christ unite the blessed to God, but also, in some way, to the whole of creation. This is merely a completion of what is begun here below, namely, the union with Christ in His humanity establishing the Christian in a special relationship with God, with other men, and with the whole of creation. We have a glimpse, therefore, of the fullness of life which members of the heavenly Church possess.

The heavenly Church, as St. Thomas says, is the true Church.¹⁵ The Church of this earth and the Church of purgatory are, each in its own way, reaching out in loving hope for the heavenly Jerusalem. Vatican II puts it very simply: "The Church, to which we are called in Christ Jesus, and in which we acquire sanctity through the grace of God, will attain her full perfection only in the glory of heaven."¹⁶

The members of the heavenly Church can help us in living our life of grace until we too share its fullness with them. Their power of intercession on our behalf is but another ramification of the communal aspect of Christianity. We are meant to help others grow in Christ. We, in turn, are intended by God to receive aid from others—yes, from members of the heavenly Church, as well as from those with whom we dwell here below.

Not only can we be aided by the saints’ intercession, but the example of the canonized saints can also be of great value to us. They have concretely proved that full holiness is possible. Such an inspiration is of real worth when we are tempted to think that Christian sanctity in its higher degrees is impossible of attainment. Moreover, the canonized saints, in their diversity, teach us that there are many authentic versions of Christian holiness. They can be innovators in showing us that there are numerous possibilities in assimilating the mystery of Christ, although the basic assimilation remains the same for all Christians of all times. In the opinion of Rahner this is one of the chief roles the canonized saints exert in the life of the Church.¹⁷

NOTES:

¹⁴Karl Rahner, Theological Investigations, Vol. III (Baltimore: Helicon, 1967), p. 44.¹⁵Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, In Ad Ephes., c. 3, Lect. 3.
¹⁶Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Church, No. 48.
¹⁷Cf. Karl Rahner, Op. cit., pp. 100-101.

1 Corinthians 15: 29-58

    Otherwise, what are people up to who have themselves baptised on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, what is the point of being baptised on their behalf? And what about us? Why should we endanger ourselves every hour of our lives? I swear by the pride that I take in you, in Christ Jesus our Lord, that I face death every day. If I fought wild animals at Ephesus in a purely human perspective, what had I to gain by it? If the dead are not going to be raised, then Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall be dead. So do not let anyone lead you astray, ‘Bad company corrupts good ways.’ Wake up from your stupor as you should and leave sin alone; some of you have no understanding of God; I tell you this to instil some shame in you.

Someone may ask: How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come? How foolish! What you sow must die before it is given new life; and what you sow is not the body that is to be, but only a bare grain, of wheat I dare say, or some other kind; it is God who gives it the sort of body that he has chosen for it, and for each kind of seed its own kind of body.

    Not all flesh is the same flesh: there is human flesh; animals have another kind of flesh, birds another and fish yet another. Then there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the heavenly have a splendour of their own, and the earthly a different splendour. The sun has its own splendour, the moon another splendour, and the stars yet another splendour; and the stars differ among themselves in splendour. It is the same too with the resurrection of the dead: what is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body.

    If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body too. So the first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; and the last Adam has become a life–giving spirit. But first came the natural body, not the spiritual one; that came only afterwards. The first man, being made of earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. The earthly man is the pattern for earthly people, the heavenly man for heavenly ones. And as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly one.

    What I am saying, brothers, is that mere human nature cannot inherit the kingdom of God: what is perishable cannot inherit what is imperishable. Now I am going to tell you a mystery: we are not all going to fall asleep, but we are all going to be changed, instantly, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. The trumpet is going to sound, and then the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed, because this perishable nature of ours must put on imperishability, this mortal nature must put on immortality.

And after this perishable nature has put on imperishability and this mortal nature has put on immortality, then will the words of scripture come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin comes from the Law. Thank God, then, for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.

    So, my dear brothers, keep firm and immovable, always abounding in energy for the Lord’s work, being sure that in the Lord none of your labours is wasted.

God will rule we see in
1 Corinthians 15 —

1 Corinthians 15: 20-28

In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all of them in their proper order: Christ the first-fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under his feet. But when it is said everything is subjected, this obviously cannot include the One who subjected everything to him. When everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the One who has subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

We need to beg God to increase
our faith, hope and love —

Romans 8: 12-17

So then, my brothers, we have no obligation to human nature to be dominated by it. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the habits originating in the body, you will have life.

All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons of God; for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself joins with our spirit to bear witness that we are children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and joint–heirs with Christ, provided that we share his suffering, so as to share his glory.

Romans 8: 18-25

In my estimation, all that we suffer in the present time is nothing in comparison with the glory which is destined to be disclosed for us, for the whole creation is waiting with eagerness for the children of God to be revealed. It was not for its own purposes that creation had frustration imposed on it, but for the purposes of him who imposed it—with the intention that the whole creation itself might be freed from its slavery to corruption and brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God. We are well aware that the whole creation, until this time, has been groaning in labour pains. And not only that: we too, who have the first–fruits of the Spirit, even we are groaning inside ourselves, waiting with eagerness for our bodies to be set free. In hope, we already have salvation; in hope, not visibly present, or we should not be hoping—nobody goes on hoping for something which is already visible. But having this hope for what we cannot yet see, we are able to wait for it with persevering confidence.

Luke 13: 18-21

He went on to say, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.’

Again he said, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God with? It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’

Romans 11: 29-36

There is no change of mind on God's part about the gifts he has made or of his choice.

Just as you were in the past disobedient to God but now you have been shown mercy, through their disobedience; so in the same way they are disobedient now, so that through the mercy shown to you they too will receive mercy. God has imprisoned all human beings in their own disobedience only to show mercy to them all.

How rich and deep are the wisdom and the knowledge of God! We cannot reach to the root of his decisions or his ways. Who has ever known the mind of the Lord? Who has ever been his adviser? Who has given anything to him, so that his presents come only as a debt returned? Everything there is comes from him and is caused by him and exists for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.

Romans 13: 8-10

The only thing you should owe to anyone is love for one another, for to love the other person is to fulfil the law. All these: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and all the other commandments that there are, are summed up in this single phrase: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love can cause no harm to your neighbour, and so love is the fulfilment of the Law.

Hebrews Chapter 11

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen. It is for their faith that our ancestors are acknowledged.

    It is by faith that we understand that the ages were created by a word from God, so that from the invisible the visible world came to be.

    It was because of his faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and for that he was acknowledged as upright when God himself made acknowledgement of his offerings. Though he is dead, he still speaks by faith.

    It was because of his faith that Enoch was taken up and did not experience death: he was no more, because God took him; because before his assumption he was acknowledged to have pleased God. Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him.

    It was through his faith that Noah, when he had been warned by God of something that had never been seen before, took care to build an ark to save his family. His faith was a judgement on the world, and he was able to claim the uprightness which comes from faith.

    It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he sojourned in the Promised Land as though it were not his, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. He looked forward to the well–founded city, designed and built by God.

    It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise was faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who already had the mark of death on him, descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the seashore which cannot be counted.

    All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of a homeland. If they had meant the country they came from, they would have had the opportunity to return to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

    It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though he had yet to receive what had been promised, and he had been told: Isaac is the one through whom your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

    It was by faith that this same Isaac gave his blessing to Jacob and Esau for the still distant future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, bowed in reverence, as he leant on his staff. It was by faith that, when he was about to die, Joseph mentioned the Exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his own remains.

    It was by faith that Moses, when he was born, was kept hidden by his parents for three months; because they saw that he was a fine child; they were not afraid of the royal edict. It was by faith that, when he was grown up, Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and chose to be ill–treated in company with God’s people rather than to enjoy the transitory pleasures of sin. He considered that the humiliations offered to the Anointed were something more precious than all the treasures of Egypt, because he had his eyes fixed on the reward. It was by faith that he left Egypt without fear of the king’s anger; he held to his purpose like someone who could see the Invisible. It was by faith that he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood to prevent the Destroyer from touching any of their first–born sons. It was by faith they crossed the Red Sea as easily as dry land, while the Egyptians, trying to do the same, were drowned.

    It was through faith that the walls of Jericho fell down when the people had marched round them for seven days. It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies and so was not killed with the unbelievers.

    What more shall I say? There is not time for me to give an account of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, or of David, Samuel and the prophets. These were men who through faith conquered kingdoms, did what was upright and earned the promises. They could keep a lion’s mouth shut, put out blazing fires and emerge unscathed from battle. They were weak people who were given strength to be brave in war and drive back foreign invaders. Some returned to their wives from the dead by resurrection; and others submitted to torture, refusing release so that they would rise again to a better life. Some had to bear being pilloried and flogged, or even chained up in prison. They were stoned, or sawn in half, or killed by the sword; they were homeless, and wore only the skins of sheep and goats; they were in want and hardship, and maltreated. They were too good for the world and they wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and ravines. These all won acknowledgement through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us.

Song: God It Was Gather #701

No human voice from another
person can satisfy us —

It is God that makes us
happy —

                    We want to have this oneness
                with others — wanting to see others
                are responding to us — I speak —
                you see me here — you know I
                am here — A mother looks at the
                baby — her face is important
                that the baby sees the face before
                them when they first see —

Giving of ourselves — the presence
of ourselves —

                    God — the Divine God, the
                Father sent His only begotten Son
                to be with us — "God with us"
                Jesus took a human body — to
                walk here among us — so we
                could see Jesus, we could see
                'God with us' —

                    It is because man was
                created by God to be united —
                It is the Plan of the Father that
                there is union among us and
                so it will be as we live for all
                eternity if we go to heaven in
                the embrace of love in the beatific vision —

                The Divine Almighty God came to
                earth — born in a stable —
                walked the earth — talked to the
                people — Look at the film Jesus of
                Nazareth — see Him teaching the
                people — telling them His Word —
                the Apostles seeing Him as He
                taught them — His presence with
                a human body on this earth — He was
                whipped before men to show His love —
                died on a cross a spectacle before the people

From the Priestly Newsletter 1999 - Issue 4

God With Us

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. (Jn 10:11-15¹)

The Son of God became Man for our salvation. Yes, He became incarnate. He took to Himself a real human nature. Because Jesus possessed a real human nature, He could die for us. As the Good Shepherd, He has laid down His life for us, His sheep.

There are indeed many thoughts which come to mind when we reflect upon the truth that the Son of God took to Himself a human nature and dwelt among us.

St. John puts it very simply in his Gospel: The Word was made flesh, he lived among us... (Jn 1:14) Yes, John states it so succinctly, yet these few words contain a wealth of meaning. We should expect nothing else, since this brief statement of the fourth Gospel points out the central event of all human history. These words sum up God’s creative and redemptive activity. They sum up God’s process of self-communication to us.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

Look! the virgin is with child
and will give birth to a son
whom they will call Immanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’. {Mt 1:18-23}¹

Yes, Jesus is Emmanuel: "God is with us." How tremendously more approachable God is to us because we have Jesus. The more the mind dwells on the meaning of the Incarnation, the more one is stricken with wonder at this unfathomable mystery of love.

Vatican II speaks to us about Christ’s presence in His Church: "... Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister... but especially under the Eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the church. He is present, finally, when the Church prays and sings..."²

Pope Paul VI tells us: "All things, all history converges in Christ. A man of sorrow and hope, he knows us and loves us. As our friend he stays by us throughout our lives; at the end of time he will come to be our judge; but we also know that he will be the complete fulfillment of our lives and our great happiness for all eternity.

"I can never cease to speak of Christ for he is our truth and our light; he is the way, the truth and the life. He is our bread, our source of living water who allays our hunger and satisfies our thirst. He is our shepherd, our leader, our ideal, our comforter and our brother.

"He is like us but more perfectly human, simple, poor, humble, and yet, while burdened with work, he is more patient. He spoke on our behalf; he worked miracles; and he founded a new kingdom: in it the poor are happy; peace is the foundation of a life in common... the hungry find justice; sinners are forgiven; and all discover that they are brothers.

"The image I present to you is the image of Jesus Christ. As Christians you share his name... So once again I repeat his name to you Christians and I proclaim to all men: Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, Lord of the new universe, the great hidden key to human history and the part we play in it. He is the mediator--the bridge, if you will--between heaven and earth. ...he is the Son of man, more perfect than any man, being also the Son of God, eternal and infinite. He is the son of Mary his mother on earth, more blessed than any woman. She is also our mother in the spiritual communion of the mystical body.

"Remember: (it) is Jesus Christ I preach day in and day out. His name I would see echo and reecho for all time even to the ends of the earth."³

And we see a pillar against a dark sky. We see Jesus against the darkened sky and the Woman beneath and the scene cries out to earth, "Not my will, but Thine be done", not as spoken words, but the very vivid scene of the New Adam, the Pillar of Light, and the New Eve says this. What do you see as you look at the scene of the New Adam and the New Eve, the New Adam hanging from the tree in the place with a garden?

Do you not see the words as if they are almost written across the sky, "Thy will be done"? See her underneath the cross as she holds Him across her knees. His arms lay limp. And the words go across the sky again, "Not My will, but Thine be done". For He did the Father’s will to His death on the cross. He is placed in the tomb as she cries outside. Behold the most sorrowful Mother. Within her Heart is an understanding of the divine mysteries that far exceeds that of any human person. In her sorrow, in her tears, she knew so deeply the great gift that God sent--Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, the Savior of the world. She knew that her Son had to suffer these things in order to enter into the glory of His resurrection.

And on the day of His resurrection, Mary’s tears were now tears of joy. The victory of her Son has now been accomplished, and the victory will last forever. And on that first Easter morning Mary also knew that all of us, her children, are called to share in her Son’s victory-- His resurrection--now, and especially in eternal life. She is ever pleading with us that with the help of God’s grace we will do all that is necessary to share as fully as possible in the life of Jesus’ resurrection--here and hereafter. She wants Emmanuel to be with us to the greatest degree possible, now and in eternal life

Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., tells us: "Christ is God among men, and the Son of Man before God. He is the bridge that spans all chasms and therefore He is the only mediator. He is the sacrament of God in the world and therefore he is our justification. He is the Word that comes from the Father and returns to Him, and therefore He is the key to all creation. His Incarnation and his revelation have made it possible for us to answer the question "Who do men say I am?". But it is necessary to accept and live his word about Himself if it is to grow in us, reproducing the Trinitarian love that confounds all logic: the miracle of love that is a scandal to the Jews, madness to the Gentiles and a thing of no account to the unbelievers of our times".⁴

John Henry Cardinal Newman observes: "This is what it is to be one of Christ’s little ones... to be possessed by His presence as our life, our strength, our merit, our hope, our crown; to become in a wonderful way His members, the instruments, or visible form, or sacramental sign, of the One Invisible Ever-Present Son of God, mystically reiterating in each of us all the acts of His earthly life, His birth, consecration, fasting, temptation, conflicts, victories, sufferings, agony, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension..."⁵

Jesus is with us. He gives us various signs of His love for us. He watches us grow in faith and trust. He is with us as we suffer, knowing that suffering embraced according to the Father’s will, leads us closer to Himself.

Jesus watches us surrender, watches us turn our wills over to Him more and more. He sees us let go of that which He does not want in our lives. As we die more to the false self, He draws us closer to Himself. He is with us as our love for Him grows, and He is overjoyed as this deeper love brings us closer to His Heart.

Jesus is with us as we endure trials that at times seem as though they will never end. He knows that these trials, properly encountered, lead us to greater union with Himself. He is with us as we learn lessons through these trials.

He is with us in each pain and joy, loving us silently, always so much closer to us than we can ever realize.

From the day we were born, Jesus has watched us. He is forever by our side, guarding us, loving us, knowing the most secret desires of our hearts far better than we ourselves. He knows the Father’s plan for us. He knows the Father’s love for us. He knows the intimate workings of the Holy Spirit and, in a subordinate way, of Mary upon us to fashion us more and more according to the image of Himself.

Jesus is with us, oh, so intimately. He helps us grow in the awareness that He has come to give us abundant life. He helps us grow in the awareness that through His Heart, Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwell in a most special way within all those who are in the state of grace.

Jesus is Emmanuel: "God is with us". He is with us to lead us ever closer to the Father, in the Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.

____________

1. Scripture quotations are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, Doubleday.

1. The Documents of Vatican II, "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy", America Press Edition, No.7.

2. The Liturgy of the Hours, Catholic Book Publishing Co., Vol III, pp. 418-419.

3. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., In Him Alone Is Our Hope, Institute of Jesuit Sources, p. 88.

4. The Heart of Newman: A Synthesis Arranged by Erich Prywara, S.J., Ignatius Press, p. 174.

5. Pope John Paul II, as in Celebrate 2000!, Servant Publications, pp 158-159.

                    Jesus remains with us truly
                present today in His Divinity
                and humanity — through the hands
                of His consecrated priests.

                    We can go to the Eucharist and He
                comes to us in His Divinity and humanity.
                The Divine God — truly present in the
                Eucharist comes to me — God wants
                us to know Him, to know His
                presence, to know love that He
                is truly with us —

                    God the Father who loved us so much
                sent His only begotten Son to walk among
                us — to know His presence —
                Today He remains with us —
                In the Mass Book I wrote —
                "You touched me God"
                Open yourself to God —

                When I received ecstasies how
                deeply God touched me — I knew
                His presence in me, in such a
                way — I felt as if I grabbed a 'hot
                wire' — the world around me would
                seem to fade and I was so deeply one
                with Him in my heart —

                    God has given us our senses
                to see and to hear — He has given
                our hands to touch, our arms
                to hug.

                    Fr. Carter always hugged —
                He showed us how much he loved
                us by hugging us and we all
                hugged —

God uses touch — holding hands at
the Our Father —

                    God has given us such a gift
                with the consecrated host — the
                precious blood — God is with us —
                This is a sign how personal God
                is with us and that He wants this
                love affair with us —

Satan has driven out gentle touch
because of the sex crisis

Jesus liked His feet perfumed and touched —

Others nailed His feet to the cross

Song: God's Love

                God has given us this sharing in His
                    life through baptism —
                    The Father, Son and Holy Spirit remain
                    with us in a special way when
                    we are baptized and remain in the
                    state of grace

Excerpt from Response to God's Love by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J., p. 1

        . . . In reference to Christianity, God himself is the ultimate mystery. Radically, God is completely other and transcendent, hidden from man in his inner life, unless he chooses to reveal himself. Let us briefly look at this inner life of God.

    The Father, in a perfect act of self-expression, in a perfect act of knowing, generates his son. The Son, the Word, is, then, the immanent expression of God's fullness, the reflection of the Father. Likewise, from all eternity, the Father and the Son bring forth the Holy Spirit in a perfect act of loving.

    At the destined moment in human history, God's self-expression, the Word, immersed himself into man's world. God's inner self-expression now had also become God's outer self-expression. Consequently, the mystery of God becomes the mystery of Christ. In Christ, God tells us about himself, about his inner life, about his plan of creation and redemption. He tells us how Father, Son, and Holy Spirit desire to dwell within us in the most intimate fashion, how they wish to share with us their own life through grace. All this he has accomplished and does accomplish through Christ.

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