Who is Jesus Christ?

“Who is Jesus Christ?”

He is ‘The Messiah’. That word means ‘The Anointed One’ in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. In those days they didn’t crown kings, they anointed them with Holy Oil. ‘Christ’ means the same thing in Greek, the language of the New Testament.

Jesus Christ, Messiah, is the King who will grant us salvation by carrying His Cross.

Carrying Our Cross

“If any one would come after Me, let him take up his Cross each day and follow Me”. Our Lord was born in a stable, endured hardships, rejection, even crucifixion: and do we think we will get to Heaven on a life of ease and selfishness? Yet the Cross is our Way to God: our Way to Heaven. Our Lord says, ‘I will give you joy, that no man can take from you. If our happiness is tied fully to ease and wealth, how precarious our happiness will be!

The Imitation of Christ: “If you travel across the furthest ocean and climb the highest mountain, you will find your cross awaiting you there. And if you accept it as your path to Heaven, it will be your comfort, even your joy. Yet if you refuse to embrace the cross, refuse to accept it in this spirit, you will have to carry it anyway. Except that now you must carry it in bitterness: for the Cross in this life is our portion, one way or the other. The Cross we carry is: whatever difficulty we are called to face. God has a special Plan for each one of us, a special Path: but each Path is our personal way to the Place God has prepared for us in Heaven.

And the next aspect is:

Christ is true God and True Man.

When He was agonising in the Garden of Gethsemane, enduring the Scourges, the Crown of Thorns, when He was carrying the Cross to Calvary, when He was on the Cross itself: because He is true Man, He endured all the human agony; but because He is God, He could look down the ages and see each and every one of us who offered Him a prayer of consolation. There on the Cross, in the year 33AD, He can see you and me whenever we come to Mass. And it is firm Catholic teaching that our prayers actually give Him consolation; not only in 33AD, but today. To our way of thinking, He hears our prayers not just on Calvary but here, today. This is a deep mystery of the Faith, and to be able to do these things is a privilege that is not given to everyone. It is the kind of thought that has sent people around the world as Missionaries. It is not just to save peoples from their errors for their own sakes: but to console Our Saviour Himself.

And the final thought:

What to tell our children?

Keeping the Faith is not just about getting a Heavenly Reward at the End; it is about actually, personally, pleasing God. God will forgive anybody; but only those in a State of Grace can actually please Him. We must tell the truth: it is Catholic teaching that God has compassion on all, but only those within the Catholic Church, who are in a State of Grace, can actually please Him completely. And receiving the Sacraments does please Him. It helps make up for the ingratitude of those who have rejected Him. When we go to Mass, we are going to Calvary, and He can see us there, alongside John, His one faithful disciple who never left the Cross, and His own Mother.

And if we can get into the frame of mind of offering up our little trials in union with His Passion, it gives a meaning to our whole life: and nothing can really make us unhappy in this passing life. These are the secrets of our indestructible Faith, that yet is open to all.