What does the Church teach about Jesus Christ? Part Twelve

Tonight, we wrap up this series on what the Church teaches about Jesus Christ.   Here again is the part of the Nicene Creed, that we say every Sunday, that deals with the person of Jesus Christ, and that this series was based on.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

In this series, we touched on both the person of Jesus Christ, and the life he lived before he came to Earth, while on Earth, and now living in glory reigning with the Father in the Kingdom.

I think the most beautiful thing about Christ is that he is both fully God, and fully man.   He can sympathize with us in our weakness, not because he is weak himself, but because he endured all that we suffer.   Yet, at the same time, by uniting ourselves with him, we can share in his divine power that helped him endure and ultimately triumph over all that life brings our way.

But it goes beyond just the good of having him alongside us during our life journey.  He also points us heavenly to a life beyond all our imagining.  He not only is our guide and companion in life: he is, with the Father and the Spirit, the end or goal of our life.  Just as the world was created through him, so we were created through him and we live our lives in him.   To be with him where he is now is to be the goal we all strive for.  He both accompanies us on the journey, while at the same time, since he is God, he is the end of the journey itself.   Christ is truly all in all, and that must apply to each of us, as well.

So it is very important that we all develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.  In the Catholic understanding, that relationship begins at Baptism where we bury ourselves with him, so we can rise with him.  It is then nurtured with the other Sacraments that we receive throughout the course of life, especially the Eucharist, where Christ is present in his fullness, and we receive him in that fullness.  Outside the Sacraments, the other prominent way of getting to know Christ is to hear the New Testament proclaimed, and read it for ourselves.  Listening to what it says about Christ through the stories it tells about him will help us grow in our knowledge and love of him.   Finally, through others who are close to Christ themselves, like the holy people we know, or people who seem to have a dramatic sharing in the sufferings of Christ, like the poor and the sick, will likewise bring us close to Jesus.

It is very sad to hear of people who leave the Catholic Church and say it was because they never knew Christ.   Christ founded the Catholic Church, and is wedded to her.  She is his bride.  Christ is closer to the Catholic Church than anything or anyone else in this world.  It is truly tragic that so many are seemingly not able to see the Bridegroom when they see the Bride.  We must seek to change that.  Getting to know Jesus more ourselves, through more frequent reception of the Sacraments, more frequent listening to and reading the Scriptures, and encounter with him present in the holy, the poor, and the sick, is a good first step that can go a long way to making us better equipped to stop this exodus of people from the Church to other churches, or out of Christianity all together.  We must all become better at showing people the face of Jesus Christ, who is truly the joy of all man’s desiring.

Thank you for joining me in this series.

Joseph, foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.