Fragments of Catholic Truth: Jesus Christ: How is he true God and true man?

What are the sources or inspiration for these subjects?Basically they are inspired by the documents of the Holy See, and in particular by the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium. This was a deliberate choice so as to create an awareness of the vast richness, completeness and beauty of these documents which are, in some circles, hardly known at all. In this way, it is possible to present the essential and fundamental contents of the faith which are professed, not just by the individual Catholic, but by the Catholic Church throughout the world as it adheres to the Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops. It is this teaching that was willed by Christ himself in order to confirm the faith of individual believers, so that, through the centuries and in various different parts of the world, everyone should profess the one true Catholic and Apostolic Faith.

Why are the topics treated in this work presented in a dialogical way?From an editorial point of view, the arguments are presented in a dialogical manner, that is to say with questions, each of which is followed by a brief response. This dialogical format, while inviting us to continue reading, is born of and remains faithful to a constant and noble catechetical tradition in the history of the Church. It is well known that many catechisms responsible for the faith formation of entire generations used – and in a very fruitful way – this kind of pedagogical tool. It should not be forgotten that the same Christian faith, a special gift of God, can itself also be described as a continuous dialogue between God with man, and between man and God.
I am also convinced that this approach can help to meet the needs of the today’s world, which certainly has an appetite for interviews of a journalistic type, let alone a taste for synthetic sound bites and catchphrases. This may be due in part to the fact that many people nowadays have little time and, even though they say they are Catholics, need to deepen their faith. This lack of time, unfortunately, often leads to religious ignorance, which in turn, results in a widespread relativism, an arbitrary subjectivism and, last but not least, an impressive reduction in mnemonic capacity regarding the contents of faith. This is not only the case in children and young people but also in adults, both in their catechetical journey and in their various and demanding activities and profession.

Why was the sub-title “Fragments of Catholic Truth” chosen?

The word Fragments was inserted as a sub-title in order to underline the fact that only some of the contents which form the rich and mysterious tapestry of the Catholic Faith, as well some of the challenges that grip the present world, were being presented in this volume. At the same time I would like to stress that, in dealing with each single topic, I do not intend to present all its aspects and contents. For this reason I do not wish – due to a lack of space and time – to give each subject a comprehensive and complete treatment but merely to offer some suggestions, fragments of reflections.

What is the purpose of this work?It is hoped that it may help people to know the beauty and the importance of the Christian faith that is offered to all in a better way by discussing certain of the issues that characterize our society at this point in time.
For this reason it is aimed at Christians in order to give them the opportunity to know and to deepen certain contents of their faith, and to every person who wishes to know what the Catholic Church, through some of her official documents, believes and lives, with the Lord’s help.

Rome, 8 April 2009
Anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood

The Primicerio
of the Basilica of Saints Ambrose and Charles in Rome
Monsignor Raffaello Martinelli

Jesus Christ: How is he true God and true man?

In what way is Jesus Christ true God and true man? He is true God and true man in a unique and singular way.

The Catholic faith underlines with great insistence the admirable union of the divine and human nature in the one divine person, the Word of God: "The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it" (CCC, 464).
The Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) gave expression to this truth: Jesus Christ is "the sole and identical Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in his divinity and perfect in his humanity; true God and true man, composed of a rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father in his divinity, consubstantial with us in his humanity, "one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin" (Heb 4, 15); generated from the Father before all time according to his divinity and, in these last times, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in his humanity".
The titles that are given to Jesus Christ show forth his divine and human aspects:
- Jesus means "God saves" mankind and the universe;
- Christ the anointed one, the Messiah whom "God has consecrated with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10, 38) and "he who is to come" (Lk 7,14) into the world;
- The Son of God expresses the filial relationship, characteristic of the unique and eternal relationship Christ has with his Father;
- Lord indicates his lordship, divine sovereignty over mankind and the universe (cfr. CCC, 430-455).

How does this mysterious union take place in the Incarnation? "Everything that Christ is and does in this nature derives from "one of the Trinity". The Son of God, therefore, communicates to his humanity his own personal mode of existence in the Trinity. In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of the Trinity" ( CCC, 470). His own body is a truly human body by which the "invisible Word was made visible in flesh like ours" (Preface of Christmas, II: Roman Missal). "The Son of God [...] 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). (CCC, 470).

How did Jesus Christ come to the knowledge that that he was God and man? "But at the same time, this truly human knowledge of God's Son expressed the divine life of his person" (CCC, 473). "The Son of God knew all things; he knew this through the very humanity that he assumed, not by its human nature but because of the fact that this humanity was united with the Word" (Saint Maximus the Confessor, Quaestiones et dubia, Q. I, 67). In a parallel way "Jesus had a divine will and a human will. In his earthly life the Son of God humanly willed all that he had divinely decided with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. The human will of Christ followed without opposition or reluctance the divine will or, in other words, it was subject to it" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 91).

Is the motherhood of the Virgin Mary also a sign of this marvellous union of the divine and human in Christ? Certainly it is.
"In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly Mother of God (CCC, 495).
&This is also the significance of the virginal conception of Jesus: "Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin solely by the power of the Holy Spirit without the intervention of a man. He is the Son of the heavenly Father according to his divine nature and the Son of Mary according to his human nature. He is, however, truly the Son of God in both natures since there is in him only one Person who is divine" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 98).

How does Christ's paschal mystery show the marvellous unity of his humanity and divinity?

If the Son of God was able to suffer, be crucified, die and be buried…this was because he was the truly a man. On the other hand, if his death was to have a redemptive, salvific and justificatory significance for all men and women, and especially in the light of the resurrection event, it was because he was truly the Son of God.
The same accusation was made by some of the religious leaders in Israel against Jesus and for this reason they handed him over to Pilate in order to be condemned to death. This was because he, as a man like any other, had dared to call himself the Son of God. He had called God his Father and had taken to himself those attributes that were reserved strictly to God. "Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. But it was most especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in consternation, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name" (CCC, 589).
His suffering and death showed how his humanity was the free and perfect instrument of that divine love which desires the salvation of all people. (…) The human will of the Son of God remained faithful to the will of the Father for our salvation. Jesus accepted the duty to carry our sins in his Body "becoming obedient unto death". This demonstration of "the full extent” (Jn 13,1) of the love" of the Son of God reconciled all of humanity with the Father. The paschal sacrifice of Christ, therefore, redeems humanity in a way that is unique, perfect, and definitive; and it opens up for them communion with God" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 119.121.122).
Christ's Resurrection shows that he was truly God and man in the following four ways:
a) The Resurrection, insofar as it is the entrance of Christ's humanity into the glory of God, transcends and surpasses history as a mystery of faith";
b) "His risen body is that which was crucified and bears the marks of his passion. However it also participates in the divine life, with the characteristics of a glorified body"; ;
c) "The Resurrection of Christ is a transcendent work of God. The three Persons act together according to what is proper to them: the Father manifests his power; the Son "takes up again" the life which he freely offered” (John 10:17), reuniting his soul and his body which the Spirit brings to life and glorifies";
d) The Resurrection is the climax of the Incarnation. It confirms the divinity of Christ and all the things which he did and taught. It fulfils all the divine promises made for us" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 128-131). For this reason "The truth of Jesus' divinity is confirmed by his Resurrection. He had said: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he” (Jn 8:28). The Resurrection of the one who was crucified shows that he was truly "I AM", the Son of God and God himself. It was on this basis that Saint Paul could declare to the Jews: "What God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you'" (Acts 13, 32-33)" (CCC, 653). g His Ascension into heaven "stays closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation. Only the one who "came from the Father" can return to the Father: Christ Jesus. "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man". Left to its own natural powers humanity does not have access to the "Father's house", to God's life and happiness. Only Christ can open to man such access that we, his members, might have confidence that we too shall go where he, our Head and our Source, has preceded us" (CCC, 661).

In what sense does the Church, in its visible and spiritual aspects, find its justification in its founder being true God and true man?
- "The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates truth and grace to all men". The Church is at the same time:
  - «a society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ»;
  - «the visible society and the spiritual community»";
  - «the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches» .
    These dimensions together constitute "one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element".
- The Church "is essentially both human and divine, visible but endowed with invisible realities, zealous in action and dedicated to contemplation, present in the world, but as a pilgrim, so constituted that in her the human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, the object of our quest" (CCC, 771).
In what way does the marvellous union of Christ's divine and human natures form the basis of the whole sacramental economy of the Church?
- "Seated at the right hand of the Father" and pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace. The sacraments are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature" (CCC, 1084). And it is fitting in this context that the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church repeats the beautiful quotation from Saint Leo the Great: "What was visible in our Saviour has been transmitted to the sacraments".
- "UA sacramental celebration is woven from signs and symbols. In keeping with the divine pedagogy of salvation, their meaning is rooted in the work of creation and in human culture, specified by the events of the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the person and work of Christ" (CCC, 1145).
- In relation to the sacramental signs: "Some come from created things (light, water, fire, bread, wine, oil); while others come from social life (washing, anointing, breaking of bread). Still others again come from the history of salvation in the Old Covenant (the Passover rites, the sacrifices, the laying on of hands and the consecrations). These signs, some of which are normative and unchangeable, were taken up by Christ and are made the bearers of his saving and sanctifying action" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 237).
- The holy images that proclaim the same Gospel message that Sacred Scripture communicates by the word refer to Christ. In fact the image of Christ is the liturgical icon par excellence. Other images, representations of Our Lady and of the Saints, signify Christ who is glorified in them" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, , 240).
- "Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ (it is "mystagogy" ) by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the "sacraments" to the "mysteries" (CCC, 1075).
How is the Christian's moral life a life in Christ, God and man? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this in various ways:
- For example it introduces the third part by recalling the beautiful testimony of Saint John EUDES: "I beg you to consider that [...] Jesus Christ our Lord is your Head and you are one of his members. [...] He is to you as the head is to the members; everything that is his belongs to you, his Spirit, his heart, his body, his soul and all his faculties, [...] and you must use them as if they were your own, to serve, praise, love and glorify God. You belong to him, as the members belong to the head. In the same way he desires ardently to use everything that is in you, for the service and the glory of the Father, as if these things belonged to him" (The admirable Heart of the Most Sacred Mother of God, 1, 5: Complete works, v. 6 (Paris 1908) p. 113-114.)
- In presenting man as created in God's image there is an immediate relationship created between man and Christ. This is pointed out in GS: "Christ,( . . .) in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, makes man fully manifest to himself and brings to light his exalted vocation". It is in Christ, "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1,15) that man has been created "in the image and likeness" of the Creator. It is in Christ, Redeemer and Saviour, that the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty and ennobled by the grace of God" (CCC, 1701). A few paragraphs later we read: "He who believes in Christ becomes a son of God. This filial adoption transforms him by giving him the ability to follow the example of Christ. It makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good. In union with his Saviour, the disciple attains the perfection of charity which is holiness. Having matured in grace, the moral life blossoms into eternal life in the glory of heaven" (CCC, 1709).
- The Beatitudes point out to man the path that will bring him to a full and true answer to his most innate longings for happiness "depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection" (CCC, 1717).
- In presenting the Decalogue which constitutes the structure of the second section of the third part of the Catechism, this is set directly in relation to Jesus: "To follow Jesus involves keeping the commandments. The law has not been abolished but man is invited to rediscover it in the Person of the divine Master who realized it perfectly in himself, revealed its full meaning and attested to its permanent validity" (Compendio del CCC, 434).
  Christ is, therefore, the one who, during his earthly life was like any man among men, gave, in virtue of that special and unique authority which was his as the Son of God, both confirmation to the Old Law as well as a just and full interpretation and realisation of it.
Does the prayer offered by the Christian have the same basis in Jesus Christ who is God and Man? Certainly it does. In fact:
- Christian prayer is first and foremost a "covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man" (CCC, 2564).
  In fact "The drama of prayer is fully revealed to us in the Word who became flesh and dwells among us. To seek to understand his prayer through what his witnesses proclaim to us in the Gospel is to approach the holy Lord Jesus as Moses approached the burning bush: first to contemplate him in prayer, then to hear how he teaches us to pray, in order to know how he hears our prayer (CCC, 2598).
- In this way Christian prayer is revealed fully and realised in Jesus who "with his human heart, learned how to pray from his mother and from the Jewish tradition. But his prayer sprang from a more secret source because he is the eternal Son of God who in his holy humanity offers his perfect filial prayer to his Father" (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 541).
- The Church's prayer par excellence is the Our Father, the Lord's prayer. It is thus called because Jesus himself taught us how to pray it. "The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him: he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer (CCC, 2765).
The Primicerio
of the Basilica of Saints Ambrose and Charles, Rome
Monsignor Raffaello Martinelli

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