Last week's homily.
(This homily is a synthesis
of some of the first questions of
the 1914 Catechismo della dottrina cristiana,
of Pope Saint Pius X.,
in some of the prefaces of the Roman Missal [Ordinary Form] )
"Who is this Lamb of God,
Who is really Present
in the Most Holy Eucharist?"
The Lord Jesus Christ
is the Only Begotten Son,
He is Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. He is seated
at the right hand of the Father
He alone is the Holy One,
He alone is the Lord
He alone is the Most High, Jesus Christ,
With the Holy Spirit,
In the glory of God the Father.
So we have prayed already today.
Jesus Christ is God.
Jesus, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, created us.
As God, Jesus is the all perfect Being,
Creator and Lord of Heaven and Earth.
He is "all perfect", that is
every perfection is found in Him,
without defect and without limit;
Jesus Christ is infinite power,
wisdom and goodness.
Jesus is our "Creator".
He made all things out of nothing.
He is "Lord", that is, Christ our God is the absolute master, the absolute boss
and owner of all things.
The Son of God has always existed.
He always has been and always will be.
He knows all things, even our thoughts:
And in His human, Sacred Heart
are all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge.
Christ our God can do all that He wills to do. He is the Almighty.
He God cannot do evil,
because He cannot will evil,
for He is infinite goodness.
But he tolerates evil
in order to leave us creatures free,
and he knows how to bring good
even out of evil.
Christ our Lord and God
takes care of created things
and exercises providence over them;
He preserves them in existence
and directs all of them toward their own proper purposes with infinite wisdom, goodness and justice.
He, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
He created us to know him, to love him
and to serve him in this life,
and then to enjoy him in the next life,
in heaven.
Jesus Christ, Who will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead, rewards the good and punishes the wicked
because He is infinite justice.
Jesus Christ is true God and true man.
He became man to save us, that is,
to redeem us from sin
and to regain heaven for us.
To save us, Jesus Christ made satisfaction
for our sins by suffering
and sacrificing himself on the cross,
and he taught us how to live
according to God.
Two thousand and twenty years ago,
Christ the Lord
assumed the lowliness of human flesh,
and fulfilled the design
formed by God long ago,
He opened for us the way to eternal salvation,
so that, when He comes again
in glory and majesty
and all is at last made manifest,
we may be gathered at His right hand.
All the oracles of the prophets foretold him,
the Virgin Mother longed for him
with love beyond all telling,
John the Baptist sang of his coming
and proclaimed his presence when he came.
In the mystery of the Word made flesh
Jesus Christ is God made visible.
He is invisible in his own divine nature,
he has appeared visibly in ours;
and begotten before all ages,
He now exists in time;
By His saving Passion
and glorious Resurrection,
the pride of the ancient foe is vanquished.
He is the true Lamb
who has taken away the sins of the world;
by dying he has destroyed our death,
and by rising, restored our life.
His Death is our ransom from death,
and in his rising the life of all has risen.
He never ceases to offer himself for us
but defends us and ever pleads our cause before the Almighty Father:
Jesus is the sacrificial Victim
who dies no more,
the Lamb, once slain, who lives for ever.
He is the Mediator between God and man,
judge of the world and Lord of hosts,
After his Resurrection
he plainly appeared to all his disciples
and was taken up to heaven in their sight,
that he might make us sharers in his divinity.
Christ is the eternal Priest and King of all creation.
September 20, a.d. 2020
