Friday, June 20, 2014

Archbishop Chaput on Corpus Christi

The following comes from Archbishop Chaput:
This week the Church leads us from one great solemnity, Trinity Sunday last weekend, to another, Corpus Christi Sunday, on June 22.  Both feasts teach us something beautiful about the God we profess and the life he invites us to lead.
Like Jews and Muslims, Christians believe that God is one.  There is no other god but God, who made all things from nothing; who is infinitely greater than and different from us; and who is utterly independent of his creation.  When we call God holy we mean what the Latin word sanctus or the Hebrew word kadosh means – God is “other than” us, and our human understanding, unaided by God himself, can never fully grasp his essence.
But Christians also believe that God speaks to us through Scripture and the wisdom of the Church, and that the words from the First Letter of John – “God is love” (4:8,16) — are quite literally true.  God’s nature, his “oneness,” is a communion of love among Father, Son and Holy Spirit; one God in three divine persons, whose love creates and sustains all things.  Thus, while the nature of God is a mystery, it’s not an entirely foreign one:  Every loving human family – the unity of father, mother and child — reflects, in a small and partial way, the nature of God himself.
There’s more.  Christians believe that God is not merely transcendent but also immanent.  God became man in Jesus Christ.  He took on our flesh.  Therefore Christianity is incarnational.  God created the human race, but then he also entered it out of love to redeem us.  He loves each of us not only as a maker, but also as a father and brother.  This constant, tangible presence of God personally in our midst is renewed in every Mass.  The Eucharist is more than a symbol or a metaphor or a commemorative meal, although it’s all those things, as well.  Rather, it’s the living flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.

No comments: