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This is Day 68!!
We’ve been following this part of the Creed
That is talking about what it is for JESUS to be Human and Divine
OH MAN!!
And so we talked about the Incarnation
Why did the Word become flesh?
Remember those four reasons a couple of days ago
One, to save us by reconciling us with God
Secondly, so that thus we might know God’s love
Thirdly, to be our model of holiness
Fourth, to make us partakers in the Divine Nature
And so then we talked about the Incarnation
This INCREDIBLE MYSTERY
The central mystery is the Trinity
Beyond that though
Is the INCREDIBLE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION
That God became one of us
Jesus is a DIVINE PERSON
The Second Person of the Trinity
Divine person with TWO NATURES
A Human Nature
A Divine Nature
We talked about that he didn’t ABSORB human nature
That he ASSUMED human nature
He wasn’t half God, and half man
He was FULLY God and FULLY man in the Divine Person of the Second Person of the Trinity
Jesus took on a TRULY HUMAN soul with the functions of intellect and will
Operations of intellect and will
His intellect had to grow
But also as such
All the way along, every moment of his life on earth the Son of God in his human knowledge also showed the divine penetration he had into the secret thoughts of human hearts
He had a truly human knowledge
And at the same time
This human soul, will, and intellect was UNITED to the divine intellect, and divine will
Now we’ll talk about that today
Only one paragraph when it comes to Christ’s human will
That’s Paragraph 475
And then we’re going to talk about Christ’s True Body
We talked about yesterday, how in assuming our human nature, there is not one aspect of humanity and not one aspect of human life that Jesus didn’t enter in to
He thought with the human mind
He loved with the human heart
He moved around with a human body
But there’s two paragraphs here about Christ’s human body
His true body
That are relevant to us
Not just in this,
That in suffering, and loving, and dying, and rising from the dead in his body
He’s redeemed that
BUT ALSO…
That because he had a human body
We can actually PORTRAY the human face of Jesus
We can PORTRAY the body of Christ in art
In images
IN FACT…
There was a heresy back in the day called the Iconoclast Heresy
That said, “No, you couldn’t have ANY images whatsoever!”
And the Church really faced that really honestly
And strenuously wrestled with this question
Because in the Old Testament one of the great Commandments of God in the Ten Commandments is You shall have no graven image
You shall worship no graven image
What do we do when it comes to images of God?
AND YET…
The Church concluded that, BECAUSE the Word became flesh
And BECAUSE God assumed a true humanity, a body that was finite
Therefore, the human face of Jesus can be portrayed
And so that’s in the 700’s and thereabouts, is where the Church really wrestled with that and came to the conclusion that we can
We actually can even VENERATE the image
You can VENERATE the icon
And in doing that, we’re venerating the PERSON of the one depicted
So we’re not WORSHIPING the icon
There was the Second Council of Nicaea that made that very, very clear
We’re going to conclude with some MCNUGGETS
But before the mcnuggets we’re going to look at The Heart of the Incarnate Word
So we have three parts of Jesus
Human will
His true body
His heart, The heart of the incarnate will
But these three aspects of the human nature that the Second Person of the Trinity ASSUMED in becoming one of us
His will
His true body
And His heart
And there is this reflection in this last paragraph Paragraph 478 which says, “He has loved us all with a human heart.”
Yes, the heart of the second person of the Trinity
The Divine heart of God that just IS LOVE
GOD IS LOVE!!
Paragraph 478 continues, “For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, ‘is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that…love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings’ without exception.”
Tomorrow, we’re going to talk about how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit
And talk about the Annunciation and Mary’s role tomorrow
BUT…
Christ’s human will
Christ’s true body
The heart of the incarnate Word
And this In Brief
Before we do this, let us pray
Let’s actually ask God the Father to be with us now
OH MAN!!
Here we go!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in heaven, I thank you. I thank you so much for every person who’s joined us, every person who pressed play today. This is their Day 68. This is our Day 68 together, whether this is the actual Day 68, or whether we’re struggling to press play every single day. Lord God, this is the day you want us to hear these words.This is the day that you want us to reflect on this truth. This is the day that you want to reveal to our minds the power of knowing you more deeply, so we can love you more truly. Help us to do both. Help us to follow you. Help us to belong to you. Help us to be yours, this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen”
IT IS SO GOOD!!
But since we already talked about Christ’s human will
He doesn’t OPPOSE or RESIST the Father
But rather SUBMITS to his Divine and Almighty will
There is a little line here in Paragraph 475 that highlights this
It says that Christ had two wills
And two natural operations
Divine and Human, right?
Paragraph 475 says, “...Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations, divine and human. They’re not opposed to each other, but cooperate in such a way that the Word made flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy spirit for our salvation.”
So think about what that means
Well, it means many things
One of the many things that it means is there are times when some people will say, “How evil, how wicked of the Father to give his son up to death.”
That seems so cruel, seems so heartless, that the Father would be willing to sacrifice his Son
Think about this
Paragraph 475 continues, “He willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation.”
So this is not the Father on his own sending the Son to die for the sins of humanity
THIS IS THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT UNITED!!
UNITED in this purpose
UNITED in this mission
That the Father is sending the Son, of course
John 3:16, “He so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”
But there is the Son who goes forth WILLINGLY
Here is the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit who decided divinely with each other for our salvation
Again, so just keep that in mind
THAT IS POWERFUL!!
In his human will and his human intellect Christ SUBMITTED not only to his Father
But to EVERYTHING that he had decided divinely with the Father, and the Holy Spirit for our salvation
WHICH IS REMARKABLE!!
INCREDIBLE!!
We also talked about Christ’s true body, right?
So that in assuming a true humanity, Christ’s body was finite
Therefore, the human face of Jesus can be portrayed
And in this last line here of Paragraph 477, “He has made the features of His human body his own, to the point that they can be venerated when portrayed in a holy image, for the believer who venerates the icon is venerating in it the person of the one depicted.”
So look at an image
A statue
An Icon
Or a painting, of a Saint
Or in this case, of Jesus
If we were to light a candle in front of that kind of thing, we’re not worshiping the image
We’re not bowing down before the image
It’s venerating the icon
Or venerating the image
In OUR human bodies
In OUR time
To venerate in it the person of the one depicted
We’re not worshiping a STATUE of Jesus
Or we’re not worshiping an IMAGE, ICON, PAINTING of Jesus
BUT…
It expresses a DEEPER AND MORE PROFOUND REALITY
Have you ever done this?
Maybe you have photograph of your child
Or a photograph of your sweetheart
Someone you have a lot of affection for
And there might be times when you miss them
You’re praying for them
Maybe you just give that image a kiss
Now, again, If you’ve never done that, you’d be like, "Wait, so weird.”
It’s not weird
It’s very normal
You know you’re not kissing the person
And you’re not saying as you’re kissing this photograph, as you’re kissing this image, “This is them.”
IT IS A REMINDER!!
It’s an expression of something in time, of the one your heart loves
The one your heart longs for
Similarly, that last paragraph, or last little section here
Paragraph 478, about the heart of the Incarnate Word
The one your heart longs for
Paragraph 478 says, “Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony, and his Passion and gave himself up for each one of us.”
Think about this
Isn’t that incredible?
Again, this MASSIVE MYSTERY of the Divine Intellect of God with the Human Intellect of God
But Jesus KNEW and LOVED us each and all during his life, his agony, and his Passion
“Without exception”
That’s the last line of this paragraph
His heart “is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that love with which the Divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father, and all human beIngs without exception.”
YOU ARE NOT DISQUALIFIED!!
God loves the Father, the Son of God
JESUS CHRIST LOVES THE FATHER AND ALL HUMAN BEINGS WITHOUT EXCEPTION!!
HE HAS LOVED US ALL WITH A HUMAN HEART!!
And to think about this..
He knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony, and his Passion
And gave himself up for each one of us, that BEFORE WE EVEN CAME INTO BEING!!
Jesus LOVED YOU as he walked this earth.
Jesus LOVED YOU in his suffering, his agony
Jesus LOVED YOU in the midst of his Passion
And he gave himself up for YOU
Galatians 2:20, “The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.”
Remember, Paul never met Jesus during Christ’s earthly life
Paul did not encounter Jesus, that we know of, until his road to Damascus
AND YET…
Paul can say, “The Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me.”
When we encounter this love, it becomes INTENSELY PERSONAL
When we encounter this love, it is not something we just read about in a book, “Yeah God kinda sorta loves all of us.”
NO!!
St Paul was able to say, “Actually what he did in his passion, his agony, what he did on the cross, he did for me.”
“Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony, and his passion and gave himself up for each one of us. He has loved us all with a human heart.”
IT IS JUST INCREDIBLE!!
The question, of course, is NOT whether or not God loves US
HOW DO WE LOVE HIM BACK?
BUT…
The first question is, DOES HE HAVE PERMISSION TO LOVE YOU?
HE ALREADY LOVES YOU!!
Does he have YOUR permission that you LET HIM LOVE YOU TODAY
DOES GOD HAVE PERMISSION TO LOVE YOU?
HE HAS LOVED US ALL WITH A HUMAN HEART, WITHOUT EXCEPTION
MAN!!
THAT’S JUST INCREDIBLE!!
Go pray with this
And just ask, “Jesus, Help me. Help me to let you love me, because you have loved me. And you gave yourself up for me and for everyone listening. You love them and you have given yourself up for them. So Father, I pray for them right now. Jesus, I pray for them right now.”
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
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