The Catholic Calendar for Friday, March 18, 2004
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop and doctor of the Church

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Psalm 18:2-7
John 10:31-42

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

The Father is in me and I am in the Father. . . .

Jesus reveals yet again the absolute unity of Father and Son. Jesus is not the father, but the Father and the Son are mutually interpenetrating.

St. Thomas Aquinas taught a very difficult doctrine, which does not sound so complex as it is. God is simple. That means that God is of one pure substance. Further, nothing that is not of the same pure substance can join with God. That is what God's simplicity means. Here Jesus defines it practically. He tells us, as we recite in The Creed, that He is of the same substance as God.

Why is this important? In part, because His redemptive act brings us into the one Body of Christ. This is the mystical body of Christ but it is no less real. And just as with Christ's real body it is of the same substance as God. That is why the work of confession and reconciliation are so crucial. Because in these we once again become the one pure substance and our union with God is once again possible. Without it, we cannot become one with God as the pure will not mix with the impure.

This simple line spells out so many things in our faith. By Jesus' sacrifice we are redeemed and become sons of God just as He is the Son of God. In a mysterious way we become divinized and capable of communication and being with the Father. By Christ's sacrifice, which we memorialize in the coming days, we are made whole, made pure, made of the same substance of God, and made capable of union with Him. Jesus opened the way of prayer and of unity with the Father. When He says, "I and the Father are one" he speaks of Himself and of the Body of which He is the Head. By His precious blood and unrivaled sacrifice He brought us back to the Father in a way unknown since Eden. It helps us to understand why Good Friday is indeed "Good." Not only Good, but Heavenly. . . literally.

May God bless us all with a special understanding of His Holy sacrifice as we enter into the Holy Triduum next week.

- JuandelaCruz
(sriddle415 at yahoo dot com)

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posted by joachim at 4:14 AM