Faith of Our Fathers

New Zealand Tablet, 27 October 1921, Page 33

Faith of Our Fathers

[A Weekly Instruction for'. Young and Old.] THE INCARNATION— (Continued.) Fourth Article: The Worship due to Jesus Christ. 21. Jesus Christ, being at once the great King and benefactor of the human race, has a right to our homage and our gratitude. Man is bound to worship Him as much on account of His Person as His benefits. 22. (1) On account of His Person, we owe Him the supreme worship of latria or adoration, as He is true God and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. This adoration must be given to everything belonging to Him, because all in Him is divine and adorable. We must, .therefore, not only adore His divinity, but His humanity also. 'His flesh, because it is the Flesh of a God; His Blood, because it is the Blood of a God; His Heart, because it is the Heart of a God. A child honors his father's person in this manner when he kisses his hand, because it is the hand of his father. 23. (2) On account of His benefits the human race owes eternal gratitude the Jesus Christ. We show this gratitude (1) by honoring with a special worship the blessed Wounds and the Sacred Heart of our Saviour (2) by celebrating His glorious titles, which form a compendium of His greatness and His benefits. In worshipping the Wounds of Jesus Christ we adore His divine members, wounded for our salvation; in worshipping His Sacred Heart we adore that divine Heart wounded by the spear, and still more so by His love for us. This act of adoration contains at the same time an act of gratitude,: s by the special worship rendered to the Wounds of our Lord and to His Sacred Heart, we intend to thank Him for all the benefits which they represent. 24. As the names and titles of our Saviour bring to mind the greatness and the mysteries of His Person, whether it be the sublime function He fulfilled, or His works and benefits, they comprise all the glory of Jesus Christ; and to recognise and celebrate these titles is to glorify and render Him thanks. The principal of these are: (1) Names which relate to His person and His nature —He is called God, Son of God, Son of Man, Man-God, Emmanuel, or God with us. (2) Names which relate to His properties.— Saviour is called Lamb, because of His gentleness Lion, because of His strength; Star, because of His light'; Flower, because of His beauty; Branch and Root, because of His vita! influence; Mountain, because of His elevation; Stone or Bock, because of His firmness; Door, because He open* Heaven; Way, because He leads to Heaven; light, on account of His doctrine; Vine, because.of His far-spreading and His fruitfulness; Spouse, on account of His love' tor the Church. (3) Names which relate to His office and His supreme functions.—From this point of view the Man-God is called Messiah or Christ, Jesus, Mediator, Priest, Prophet, King, Saviour, Doctor and Master, Pontiff, Angel, Apostle, Lawgiver, Pastor, Supreme and Sovereign Lord, Judge of the living and the dead, Head of the' Church, of angels, and of men. This last title indicates that the Man-God is the head of the universal society formed by all reasonable creatures —angels and men, the only exception being the reprobate. These latter are totally separated from Him, though under the dominion of His justice and His power. Jesus Christ is the head of creatures, as a king is the head of his people and a father of his family. He governs and influences them, as the head governs and influences the body and all its members. This intimate and vivifying influence consists especially in grace, of which Jesus Christ is the author and source: divine grace is diffused through Him into His mystical»members, like sap in the vine, like life in an animated body. This divine influence of grace will form the subject of the following chapter. Fifth Article: Effects produced by Jesus Christ on Man. 25. The mystery of Ehe Incarnation has produced on man two great effectsan effect of glory and an effect of ; felicity. ._.,' *;>•'• .- ' s -..,; -. ." The Son of God, by becoming the Son of Man and a member of the great human family, has raised man, His ... brother, to the highest degree of glory and happiness, to

the glory and happiness of the children of God. The ManGod is the glory and happiness of man. (1) Glory of man.—By appearing in the world Christ, like a divine star, has illuminated the whole of the human race, and has communicated to it the snlendor of His divinity.. "The Son of God," say the Fathers, "became man, that man" might become God"; that i's to say, that man might participate in the sanctity and glory of God. ■ This glory belongs to the human race in general, and to each one of us in particular. 26. (1) It is the glory of the human race to have produced Christ', and to possess Him. When a member of a family especially distinguishes himself his glory is reflected upon his brethren, and the house that has produced a hero is rendered for ever illustrious by the name and deeds of this member. Now the great human family has 'produced a divine member; it counts a God among its children; we count a God among our brethren—namely, Christ—like us of the race of Adam; truly our brother, our flesh and blood, but at the same time the only Son of'God. Oh, what a parentage! What a brotherhood! What a glory for man! The splendor of this glory is reflected on the very earth itself, the dwelling-place of man here below. If an obscure hamlet becomes famous by being the birthplace of a great man, how great must have been the glory shed over our earth, on which Christ was born! The earth has produced not a great man, but a Man-God hand this divine fruit constitutes its greatest glory. Terra dedit fructum suum,. The earth has been sanctified and glorified by the dwelling thereon of the Man-Qpd, and the traces of His divine footsteps. • ' """—■" The earth, therefore, and human nature shine in the sight of God the Father with all the splendor of His only Son. This only Son, the object of His divine complacency, lias united Himself to the human family by the most intimate union: as the Scripture expresses it, He has espoused human nature. For this reason the Heavenly Father no longer looks upon our earth and our race except as in their union with His Son. In His sight the earth is the cherished abode of His Son ; and He regards mankind as a multitude of brethren united,, to their elder Brother, who is no other than that beloved Son in whom He is well pleased: Tit sit ipse primogenitus in multis fratribus (Rom. viii. 29). —, : <X*> . .

Oamaru

(From, our own correspondent.) October* 17. The devotions of the Forty Hours' Adoration which commenced here on "Friday morning, concluded on Sunday evening with the usual procession of the Blessed Sacrament, in which the Children of Mary, Hibernians, and school children took part. Although the weather was very inclement throughout, large numbers attended the devotions, and .the general Communion on Sunday was one of the largest seen in the parish. The altar, as usual, was tastefully decorated and illuminated. On Friday evening Rev. Father Herring, S.M., of Waimate preached the occasional sermon. Another well known parishioner in the person of Mr. Eugene Counihan, passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. Sympathy is also extended to the relatives of Mrs. Swan and Mrs. O'Brien, who died recently.—R.l.P. A sale of work is being promoted to provide funds for painting the convent school buildings.