RCIA 11: The Incarnation 11: The Incarnation Our Lady of Guadalupe - PDF document

9/2/2019 RCIA 11: The Incarnation 11: The Incarnation Our Lady of Guadalupe • Feast day: December 12 • Culminated in conversion of entire culture – Idolatry and human sacrifice (Aztec Montezuma) • Cortés, the Conquistadors, and evangelization 2 11: The Incarnation Our Lady of Guadalupe • 12/9/1531: Mary appears to Juan Diego • Read her words in the handout • Bishop wants proof – 12/12 • Roses blooming in dead of winter • Tilma with the image of Our Lady • Millions converted – Almost all Aztecs baptized – Human sacrifice ceased 3 1

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14 4 11: The Incarnation Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord • Christmas celebrates Jesus’ birth & incarnation • Read Lk 2:4-11 • Read Lk 2:29-32 – Jesus came for all peoples – Became one of us so we might become children of God – Saved us from sin & reconciled Adoration of the Shepherds (1622) by Gerard van Honthorst us with the Father 5 11: The Incarnation Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord • Share the joy of Christ with others! 6 2

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God • January 1 • “Behold…[t]he Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” – Luke 1:31, 35 • Elizabeth’s greeting: “the mother of my Lord” – Luke 1:43 7 11: The Incarnation Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God • A mother gives her child the nature that she herself has – So Mary gave her human nature to Jesus – A mother gives birth to a person, not a nature – “What was not assumed cannot be redeemed.” – St. Athanasius The Madonna and Child by 8 Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609-1685) 11: The Incarnation Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God • Council of Ephesus (431 AD) – Christ is a divine person with two natures – Mary is Theotokos : God-bearer 9 3

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation The Incarnation • Incarnation: the coming to earth of the very Son of God, through the womb of the Virgin Mary – The coming together of God and humanity in the person of Jesus The Annunciation (Evangelismos) (1825) Orthodox style icon by anonymous 10 11: The Incarnation The Incarnation • Born in Bethlehem – Reign of King Herod – Reign of Caesar Augustus • Lived in Nazareth – Learned the carpenter’s trade from Joseph • Carried on public ministry • Suffered and died under a Pontius Pilate 11 11: The Incarnation The Incarnation • Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith 12 4

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation The Incarnation • Why assume a human nature? – To save all men from sin and to reconcile us to God – So that all persons will know God’s love – To model holiness and the Christian life – To make it possible for us to partake in the divine nature 13 Contemporary Jesus (2010) by Jerry Bacik 11: The Incarnation The Incarnation • The Incarnation is the crescendo of God’s whole creation – Creation comes to its full fruition through the Incarnation of Jesus in our universe 14 11: The Incarnation The Incarnation • The heart of the Catholic Faith is not an idea but a Person, who is true God and true man: Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary 15 5

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man The Witness of Scripture • “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, & the Word was God” – Jn 1:1 • “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – John 1:14 • “Lord” substitutes for unspoken “YHWH” – Used for both the Father and Jesus • Like us in all things but sin (see Hebrews 4:15) 16 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man The Witness of Scripture (cont.) • Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” – Matthew 16:16 • Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” – John 20:28 • Jesus: – “Before Abraham was, I am” – Jn 8:58 The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (1602) by Caravaggio – “The Father and I are one” – John 10:30 • Died and rose (many witnesses) 17 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Catholic Doctrines about Jesus’ Identity • Jesus has two complete natures, divine and human, each with an intellect and a will – Human soul – could grow and learn – He always knew He was God – Could penetrate secret thoughts of the heart Jesus in the Temple (1881) 18 by Heinrich Hofmann 6

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Catholic Doctrines about Jesus’ Identity (cont.) • Jesus is only one person, the divine Person – Son of God, coequal with the Father – Same nature as the Father and the Spirit 19 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Catholic Doctrines about Jesus’ Identity (cont.) • The human and divine natures of Jesus are inseparably joined in the one divine Person The oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator at Saint Catherine's Monastery. The two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's dual nature as both divine 20 and human. 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Catholic Doctrines about Jesus’ Identity (cont.) • Second person of the Trinity begotten, not made – Not a creature or a lesser God 21 7

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man First Type of Heresy: Jesus is Not Human • Gnosticism (1 st c.) and Docetism & Manichaeism (2 nd and 3 rd c.) – Jesus’ body an illusion since matter is evil • Monophysitism (5 th c.) – Divine nature absorbed Jesus’ human nature 22 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Second Type of Heresy: Jesus is Not Fully Human • Apolinarianism (4 th c.) – Jesus’ human mind replaced by the divine mind • Monothelitism (7 th c.) – Jesus had only a divine will, not a human will 23 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Third Type of Heresy: Jesus is Not Divine • Ebionism (1st c.) – Only a man who received the Spirit at baptism • Monarchianism (2 nd & 3 rd c.) – Jesus became Christ at baptism – Adopted by Father after His death • Modalism/Sabellianism (2 nd & 3 rd c.) – God adopted the roles of Father, Son, Holy Spirit • Arianism (4 th c.) – Jesus was the first created being – Not of the same substance as the Father 24 8

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Fourth Type of Heresy: Jesus is Not Fully Divine • Semi-Arianism (4 th c.) – Similar essence but subordinate to the Father • Nestorianism (5 th c.) – Jesus was two persons with two natures – Second person of the Trinity “indwelt” in the person of Jesus (i.e., a God-bearing man) 25 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Triumph of the True Doctrine: Church Councils • Six universal Church councils needed to determine true doctrine • Nicaea (325): Jesus consubstantial and coeternal • Constantinople I (381): Jesus fully human • Ephesus (431): two natures, one person • Chalcedon (451): two natures unmixed, inseparable • Constantinople II (680): Jesus has two wills 26 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Modern Manifestations of these Heresies • “Jesus in not human” – New Age, some fundamentalist Protestants, some original communities • “Jesus is not divine” – Jehovah’s Witnesses (Jesus angelic being) – Christian Scientists (modern Ebionites) – Unitarians (deny Trinity and the divinity of Jesus) – Other variations as well 27 9

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Modern Manifestations of these Heresies (cont.) • “Jesus in not fully divine” – Nestorian Christian communities from old still exist – Unification Church (Sun Myung Moon) – Mormonism (can achieve divinity as God did) 28 11: The Incarnation True God and True Man Why Does Correct Understanding of Jesus Matter? • Denial of Jesus’ humanity – Impossible for us to see him as our model of holiness or one who can understand, sympathize, console • Denial of Jesus’ divinity – Undermines His entire life and message – Understanding of need for a divine Savior collapses – No Trinity then • Families cannot be modeled on Trinitarian life 29 11: The Incarnation The Touch of Jesus • We can die without touch • When Jesus walked the earth, “all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all”-- Luke 6:19 – His touch healed the sick, revived the senses, raised the dead, showed His humility – Touching Him healed the soul, cast away doubts 30 10

9/2/2019 11: The Incarnation The Touch of Jesus • Through Holy Communion we touch Jesus and He touches us – In His Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity 31 11: The Incarnation The Touch of Jesus • Our bodies will be embraced by Jesus when we receive our glorified bodies in Heaven 32 11: The Incarnation 33 11