Lesson 09: Heaven on Earth

Guide Questions

What is the relation of the Incarnation to the Blessed Trinity?
What do we mean by "Messiah"? "Christ?"
What is the three-fold mission or office of the Messiah?
What do we mean by Messianic types and figures?
Do Catholics worship Mary?
What is the greatest of the privileges of Mary?
How can the Immaculate Conception be explained while maintaining Mary as a descendant of Adam?
Explain the perpetual virginity of Mary.
When was Our Lady assumed into heaven? Did she die?
Why pray to Mary? Does she take away from the mediation of Christ?

In the previous lesson, we have seen how Jesus Christ is as a Person. We have examined His identity--we asked "Who is Jesus Christ? What is He?" In this lesson, we will take a look at what He did.

1.The Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation

We have seen in the lessons on God's perfections and inner life that God is sufficient to Himself. But He has wanted to communicate His life to others. This communication of God's life to others is called the Divine Economy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), no 236, explains:

The Fathers of the Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy (oikonomia). "Theology" refers to the mystery of God's inmost life within the Blessed Trinity and "economy" to all the works by which God reveals himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole oikonomia. God's works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works. So it is, analogously, among human persons. A person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.

We have also seen in a previous lesson how the Son and the Holy Spirit are sent (this sending is technically called "Divine Missions"--see Lesson 5, no 4). The Son is sent to redeem, and the Holy Spirit is sent to sanctify or make holy.

The CCC, no 258, teaches us:

The whole divine economy is the common work of the three divine persons. For as the Trinity has only one and the same natures so too does it have only one and the same operation: "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle" [Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331; cf. Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 421]. However, each divine person performs the common work according to his unique personal property. Thus the Church confesses, following the New Testament, "one God and Father from whom all things are, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are" [Council of Constantinople II: DS 421]. It is above all the divine missions of the Son's Incarnation and the gift of the Holy Spirit that show forth the properties of the divine persons.

When speaking of the Divine Economy, we appropriate certain activities to each of the Persons (we call these appropriations). To the Father, we approriate creation; to the Son, redemption; to the Holy Spirit, sanctification.

2. Messianic Types and Figures; Prophecies

2.1 Preparation of a people

We have seen that after the fall, God did not abandon our first parents and their offspring. Right away, He promised a way by which man can recover the privileges he had lost. Let us recall the "Protoevangelium", that passage of the book of Genesis 3:15, where God speaks to the devil:

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

God prepared man for the coming of the Messiah by establishing covenants with man in different stages. The Saviour would come from the people with whom He had established a covenant and whom He would form.

In Chapter 4 of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses instructs the Israelites:

7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? ... 20 But the LORD has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day. ... 32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35* To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. 36 Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

What were the different covenants that God made with man?

Our first parents (CCC 70): marriage covenant
Noah (CCC 71): family covenant
Abraham (CCC 72): tribal covenant
Moses (CCC 72): national covenant
David : covenant with the kingdom

2.2 Figures and Types of the Messiah

There are certain personages or things in the Old Testament which give a glimpse of how the Messiah would be like. These are called "types", "images", or "figures". Any person, event or thing described in the Old Testament that signifies a future reality is called by these terms. For example, the manna given by God to the Israelites in the desert is a type (image or figure) of the Holy Eucharist. In the Old Testament, we see a number of figures of Christ.

Abel: though innocent, was killed by his brother Cain
Melchisedech: priest and king with no known ancestors, offered bread and wine
Noah: saved the people from the deluge
Isaac: only son of Abraham whom he was asked to sacrifice
Joseph (son of Jacob): sold into slavery, but saved his whole family from starvation
Paschal Lamb: sacrificed in place of the people

3. The Names of Jesus

3.1 "Jesus"

The CCC, no 430, teaches us:

430 Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission [Cf Luke 1:31]. Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins" [Matthew 1:21; cf 2:7].

Does this have any importance to us, ordinary Christians? The CCC, no 435, says:

The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ". The Hail Mary reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." The Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as St. Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips.

3.2 "Christ", "Messiah", "Anointed"

The CCC, no 436, says:

The word "Christ" comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means "anointed". It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that "Christ" signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets [cf Exodus 29:7; Leviticus 8:12; 1 Samuel 9:16; 10:1; 16:1, 12-13; I Kings 1:39; 19:16]. This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively [cf Psalm 2:2; Acts 4:26-27]. It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet [cf Isaiah 11:2; 61:1; Zechariah 4:14; 6:13; Luke 4:16-21]. Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.

3.3 The Only Son of God

The CCC, no 443, teaches us:

Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah's divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accusers' question before the Sanhedrin, "Are you the Son of God, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am."[Luke 22:70; cf Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:61-62] Well before this, Jesus referred to himself as "the Son" who knows the Father, as distinct from the "servants" God had earlier sent to his people; he is superior even to the angels [cf Matthew 11:27; 21:34-38; 24:36]. He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying "our Father", except to command them: "You, then, pray like this: 'Our Father'", and he emphasized this distinction, saying "my Father and your Father" [Matthew 5:48; 6:8-9; 7:21; Luke 11:13; John 20:17]

3.4 "Lord"

The CCC, no 446 (see also nos 447-449) says:

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses [cf Exodus 3:14], is rendered as "Kyrios", "Lord". From then on, "Lord" becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel's God. The New Testament uses this full sense of the title "Lord" both for the Father and - what is new - for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself [cf I Cor 2:8].

3.5 "New Adam"

The CCC, no 504, tells us:

Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven" [I Corinthians 15:45,47]. From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God "gives him the Spirit without measure" [John 3:34]. From "his fullness" as the head of redeemed humanity "we have all received, grace upon grace" [John 1:16; cf Colossians 1:18].

4. The Only Mediator: Priest, Prophet and King

4.1 Priest

The Letter to the Hebrews (5:1-4) summarises the role of a priest:

1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.

The priest is an offerer of sacrifice. The New Covenant or Testament, there is a new Priest. The Letter to the Hebrews (5:5-6; 6:20) explains that this is Jesus Christ:

5* So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"; 6* as he says also in another place, "Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek." ...

20* ... Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Letter to the Hebrews then proceeds to describe in chapter 7 the difference between the priests of the Old Law and the Priest of the New Law:

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever. 25 Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28* Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever.

Consequently, the sacrifice offered by the priests of the Old Law were far inferior to the one single Sacrifice offered by the Priest of the New Law. The Letter to the Hebrews (10:11-14) explains:

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12* But when Christ * had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Thus, the CCC, no 662, explains:

Jesus Christ, the one priest of the new and eternal Covenant, "entered, not into a sanctuary made by human hands. . . but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf" [Hebrews 9:24]. There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he "always lives to make intercession" for "those who draw near to God through him" [Hebrews 7:25]. As "high priest of the good things to come" he is the centre and the principal actor of the liturgy that honours the Father in heaven [Hebrews 9:11; cf Revelation 4:6-11].

4.2 Prophet

The role of a prophet is to teach. That is exactly what Jesus did, not only with His words, but with His actions as well. Everything in the life of Jesus is a lesson for us. This is why we should get to know His life, especially as it is recorded in the Gospels. If we habitually make use of the Gospels for prayer, we will discover that we are learning to think with Christ's mind, speak with His words, and behave in the same way He behaved. The CCC, nos 427 to 429, affirms:

In catechesis "Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God,. . . is taught - everything else is taught with reference to him - and it is Christ alone who teaches - anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ's spokesman, enabling Christ to teach with his lips. . . Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus: 'My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me '"[Catechesi tradendae 6; cf John 7:16].

Whoever is called "to teach Christ" must first seek "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus"; he must suffer "the loss of all things. . ." in order to "gain Christ and be found in him", and "to know him and the power of his resurrection, and [to] share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible [he] may attain the resurrection from the dead" [Philippians 3:8-11].

From this loving knowledge of Christ springs the desire to proclaim him, to "evangelize", and to lead others to the "yes" of faith in Jesus Christ. But at the same time the need to know this faith better makes itself felt.

St Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, stressed the significance of the hidden life of the Saviour. In the homily "Christ Triumphs Through Humility" (in Christ is Passsing By, no 20), he said:

Let me go back again to the openness and simplicity of Jesus' life, which I have brought to your attention so many times. His hidden years are not without significance, nor were they simply a preparation for the years which were to come after - those of his public life. Since 1928 I have understood clearly that God wants our Lord's whole life to be an example for Christians. I saw this with special reference to his hidden life, the years he spent working side by side with ordinary men. Our Lord wants many people to ratify their vocation during years of quiet, unspectacular living. Obeying God's will always means leaving our selfishness behind, but there is no reason why it should entail cutting ourselves off from the normal life of ordinary men who share the same status, work and social position as we.

I dream - and the dream has come true - of multitudes of God's children, sanctifying themselves as ordinary citizens, sharing the ambitions and endeavours of their colleagues and friends. I want to shout to them about this divine truth: if you are there in the middle of ordinary life, it doesn't mean Christ has forgotten about you or hasn't called you. He has invited you to stay among the activities and concerns of the world. He wants you to know that your human vocation, your profession, your talents, are not omitted from his divine plans. He has sanctified them and made them a most acceptable offering to his Father.

4.3 King

The role of a king is obviously to rule and govern. But it also includes the responsibility of being a shepherd. In the 18th chapter of John, Jesus replied to Pilate:

36* Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world." 37* Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice."

In John, chapter 10, Jesus says:

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, 15* as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16* And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.

4.4 The Church, Body of Christ: A Priestly, Prophetic, and Kingly/Royal People

When we are baptised, we become members of Christ's Mystical Body. And because Christ is Priest, Prophet, and King, we share in these three-fold function. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCCC), no 155, asks:

In what way does the people of God share in the three functions of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King?

It replies as follows:

The people of God participate in Christ's priestly office insofar as the baptized are consecrated by the Holy Spirit to offer spiritual sacrifices.
They share in Christ’s prophetic office when with a supernatural sense of faith they adhere unfailingly to that faith and deepen their understanding and witness to it.
The people of God share in his kingly office by means of service, imitating Jesus Christ who as King of the universe made himself the servant of all, especially the poor and the suffering.

Let us read more in detail what the CCC says (points 783 to 786):

Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king. The whole People of God participates in these three offices of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission and service that flow from them [Cf. John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, 18-21].

On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique, priestly vocation: "Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men, has made this new people 'a kingdom of priests to God, his Father.' The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood" [Lumen Gentium 10; Cf Hebrews 5:1-5; Revelation 1:6]

"The holy People of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office," above all in the supernatural sense of faith that belongs to the whole People, lay and clergy, when it "unfailingly adheres to this faith . . . once for all delivered to the saints," [Lumen Gentium 12; Cf Jude 3] and when it deepens its understanding and becomes Christ's witness in the midst of this world.

Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection [cf John 12:32]. Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" [Matthew 20:28]. For the Christian, "to reign is to serve him," particularly when serving "the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder" [Lumen Gentium 8; Cf 36] The People of God fulfills its royal dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ.

The sign of the cross makes kings of all those reborn in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them as priests, so that, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal race and sharers in Christ's priestly office. What, indeed, is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God? And what is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord and to offer the spotless offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart? [St Leo the Great, Sermo 4, 1: PL 54, 149]

5. The Blessed Virgin Mary--Mother of the Word Made Man

5.1 Mother of God

Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. As such, she is regarded as the Mother of God. The CCCC, no 95 (cf CCC495, 509) says:

Mary is truly the Mother of God because she is the Mother of Jesus (John 2:1, John 19:25). The One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became truly her Son is actually the eternal Son of God the Father. He is God himself.

5.2 Immaculately conceived

God's rescue plan involved not only Jesus Christ. There was another important character that God foretold when He announced His plan. In Genesis 3:15, we read about the Woman who was not going to be under the devil's influence:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Thus, the CCCC, no 96 (cf CCC 487-492, 508) tells us:

God freely chose Mary from all eternity to be the Mother of his Son. In order to carry out her mission she herself was conceived immaculate. This means that, thanks to the grace of God and in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the first instant of her conception.

5.3 Ever-virgin

Furthermore, we are told that this woman is a virgin. Isaiah 7:14 says:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. (New American Bible version)

And Matthew 1:22-23 confirms that what Isaiah had foretold actually happened:

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means 'God is with us.' (NAB)

The CCCC, no 99 (cf CCC499-507, 510-511) explains:

Mary is ever virgin in the sense that she “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (Saint Augustine). Therefore, when the Gospels speak of the “brothers and sisters of Jesus”, they are talking about the close relations of Jesus, according to the way of speaking used in Sacred Scripture.

5.4 Assumed into heaven

We do not know if Mary died or not. Some believe that she just fell asleep before being taken up to heaven. But many, including Pope John Paul II, say that she probably died, thus sharing also in the death of Christ. What the Church confirms is that she was taken body and soul into heaven after her earthly life. In CCC, no 966, it says:

966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death" [Lumen Gentium 59; cf Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950): DS 3903; cf Revelation 19:16] The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians

5.5 Mother of all

As Jesus hung on the cross, He entrusted all men, represented by Saint John, to His Mother. John records the scene in chapter 19:

26* When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" 27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

She thus becomes the mother of all. Her spiritual motherhood is universal. In CCCC, no 100 (cf CCC501-507, 511), it says:

Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but in him her spiritual motherhood extends to all whom he came to save. Obediently standing at the side of the new Adam, Jesus Christ, the Virgin is the new Eve, the true mother of all the living, who with a mother's love cooperates in their birth and their formation in the order of grace. Virgin and Mother, Mary is the figure of the Church, its most perfect realization.