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Lectionary: 435
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, / the firstborn of all creation. / For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible…
Brother Bob tells me he is planning a weekend retreat this coming Advent, based on the Carols of Christmas. What a wonderful idea! Good luck.
I have found Christian songs so rich with meaning no brief homily can do them justice.
I run against that truth again as we hear the song of Jesus Christ from Saint Paul's Letter to the Colossians. The first four phrases stagger the commentator. Here goes....
First, we should notice it is a song of Jesus Christ and of the Church and of the intimate connection between them. To belong to one is to belong to the other. To disown one is to lose the other. Can one love the body of her husband and not his head? Or vice versa? Don't be absurd. They come as a package.
We first learn who Jesus is. Let there be no mistake about it: He is "the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation." Centuries will pass with millions and billions of words written in comment on this passage, but few will surpass its succinctness.
Here is the first relationship of the Holy Trinity centuries before the Church will define the doctrine. The Father's word is the Son, who is the perfect expression of everything the Father is. Because a perfect representation of the Father must be exactly like the Father -- of the same substance, that is consubtantial -- they must be equal in dignity. And yet the Father is not the Son.
The song elaborates about the phrase, "first born of all creation" by enumerating the invisible creatures: thrones, dominions, principalities and powers. He doesn't even attempt to list the visible creatures;
Are you exhausted yet?
He is the head of the Body, the Church. Here is where we come in. Remember Saint Paul is writing to a small group of disciples in Colossae. The Roman Empire has not even noticed the presence of Christians. We have yet to build a church, cathedral or basilica. We have yet to swing a vote toward one candidate or another. We cannot be called a demographic. Yet we are the Body of the Firstborn of all Creation. If he weren't right we would be astonished at the hubris of this doctrine.
Finally, Saint Paul -- or the author of this song which Saint Paul faithfully transcribed -- will look toward the end and purpose of all creation:
We are destined for reconciliation. Even as the human and divine are reconciled in the person of Jesus, and the male and female are reconciled in the Sacrament of Matrimony, so will all disparities -- visible and invisible, beautiful and hideous, good and bad -- be reconciled (harmonized, integrated, peaceful) in Jesus.
It is too much. I'm worn out.
I have found Christian songs so rich with meaning no brief homily can do them justice.
I run against that truth again as we hear the song of Jesus Christ from Saint Paul's Letter to the Colossians. The first four phrases stagger the commentator. Here goes....
First, we should notice it is a song of Jesus Christ and of the Church and of the intimate connection between them. To belong to one is to belong to the other. To disown one is to lose the other. Can one love the body of her husband and not his head? Or vice versa? Don't be absurd. They come as a package.
We first learn who Jesus is. Let there be no mistake about it: He is "the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation." Centuries will pass with millions and billions of words written in comment on this passage, but few will surpass its succinctness.
Here is the first relationship of the Holy Trinity centuries before the Church will define the doctrine. The Father's word is the Son, who is the perfect expression of everything the Father is. Because a perfect representation of the Father must be exactly like the Father -- of the same substance, that is consubtantial -- they must be equal in dignity. And yet the Father is not the Son.
The song elaborates about the phrase, "first born of all creation" by enumerating the invisible creatures: thrones, dominions, principalities and powers. He doesn't even attempt to list the visible creatures;
all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.Blessed John duns Scotus would point to this passage to demonstrate the primacy of Jesus' mission. Even before Adam's sin, God intended Jesus to appear in creation to fulfill and complete it. We could not be fully human without loving God in and through Jesus. The Universe and our little planet lost within the vastness of the Universe would not be satisfied until the Most Blessed Virgin gave birth to the Son of God.
Are you exhausted yet?
He is the head of the Body, the Church. Here is where we come in. Remember Saint Paul is writing to a small group of disciples in Colossae. The Roman Empire has not even noticed the presence of Christians. We have yet to build a church, cathedral or basilica. We have yet to swing a vote toward one candidate or another. We cannot be called a demographic. Yet we are the Body of the Firstborn of all Creation. If he weren't right we would be astonished at the hubris of this doctrine.
Finally, Saint Paul -- or the author of this song which Saint Paul faithfully transcribed -- will look toward the end and purpose of all creation:
and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the Blood of his cross through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
It is too much. I'm worn out.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.