The Mystery We Call Jesus II

After yesterday’s reading which concentrated on practical matters, we are back to talking about mystery again this morning. As I mentioned on Monday, faith mysteries are not like the literary genre.  They are more like rosebuds that slowly open and present us with a new type of beauty each day.

In this respect, every human being is a mystery. When we were first pushed from our mother’s wombs, the possibilities were limitless. As life continued and we grew and matured, the possibilities began to narrow and focus us in a specific direction.  By choices made and options deleted, our life’s path has been set. 

St. Paul illustrates this point by writing about the mystery of Jesus, God in the flesh.  He lists the various stages of his development in poetic language which gradually reveals the person who is the God we now worship:

1. He had been living in eternity with the Father and the Spirit.

2. He was manifested in the flesh, so as to experience birth, life’s mission and sorrowful death.

3. He was vindicated by the Spirit when raised from the dead.

4. He was seen by angels as he took his place at God’s right hand.

5. He was preached among the Gentiles and believed in throughout the world, through the marvelous mission apostolate of the church.

6.  He was taken up in glory and will return at the end of time.

In each stage of Jesus’ life, he drew closer to the final goal of fulfilling God’s plan of salvation. That life continues through the Church and the preaching of those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Each of these six statements made in St. Paul’s Letter to Timothy could provide us with hours of contemplative thought and consideration.  The mystery of Christ in our world and in our personal lives continues to unfold each time we spend time with the mystery in prayer as we do here this morning.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator