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I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD
The Good News: God has sent his Son
§422
'But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as sons.'1 This is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God':2 God has visited his people. He has fulfilled the promise he
made to Abraham and his descendants. He acted far beyond all expectation - he
has sent his own 'beloved Son'.3
§423
We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a daughter of
Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar
Augustus, a carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the
procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, is the
eternal Son of God made man. He 'came from God',4 'descended from
heaven',5 and 'came in the flesh'.6 For 'the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as
of the only Son from the Father. . . and from his fullness have we all
received, grace upon grace.'7
§424
Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in
Jesus and confess: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'8 On
the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, Christ built his
Church.9
«To preach. . . the unsearchable riches of Christ» 10
§425
The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus
Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first
disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: «We cannot but speak
of what we have seen and heard.» 11 It and they invite people of
every era to enter into the joy of their communion with Christ:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life - the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us - that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. and we are writing this that our joy may be complete.12
At the heart of catechesis: Christ
§426
«At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of
Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father. . .who suffered and died for
us and who now, after rising, is living with us forever.» 13 To
catechize is «to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God's eternal
design reaching fulfilment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the
meaning of Christ's actions and words and of the signs worked by
him.» 14 Catechesis aims at putting «people . . . in communion
. . . with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the
Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.» 15
§427
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.'» 16
§428
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» .17
§429
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. To this end, following the order of the Creed, Jesus' principal
titles - «Christ» , «Son of God» , and «Lord"
(article 2) - will be presented. the Creed next confesses the chief mysteries
of his life - those of his Incarnation (article 3), Paschal mystery (articles 4
and 5) and glorification (articles 6 and 7).
ARTICLE 2
«AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD»
I. Jesus
§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.18 Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God
who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, «will save his people from their
sins» .19 in Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of
salvation on behalf of men.
§431
In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel «out of
the house of bondage» 20 by bringing them out of Egypt. He also
saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offence against God, only
he can forgive it.21 For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware
of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by
invoking the name of the Redeemer God.22
§432
The name «Jesus» signifies that the very name of God is present in
the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption
from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth
all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his
Incarnation,23 so that «there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.» 24
§433
The name of the Saviour God was invoked only once in the year by the high
priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy
seat in the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood. the mercy seat was the
place of God's presence.25 When St. Paul speaks of Jesus whom «God
put forward as an expiation by his blood» , he means that in Christ's
humanity «God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.» 26
§434
Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Saviour God, for from that time
on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the
«name which is above every name» .27 The evil spirits fear his
name; in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all
they ask in this name.28
§435
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.
II. Christ
§436
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.29 This had to be the case all the more
so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom
definitively.30 It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the
Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet.31
Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest,
prophet and king.
§437
To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah
promised to Israel: «To you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.» 32 From the beginning he was
«the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world» ,
conceived as «holy» in Mary's virginal womb.33 God called
Joseph to «take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Spirit» , so that Jesus, «who is called Christ» ,
should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of
David.34
§438
Jesus' messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, «for the name
'Christ' implies 'he who anointed', 'he who was anointed' and 'the very
anointing with which he was anointed'. the one who anointed is the Father, the
one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the
anointing.'» 35 His eternal messianic consecration was revealed
during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John, when
«God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power» ,
«that he might be revealed to Israel» 36 as its Messiah. His
works and words will manifest him as «the Holy One of God» .37
§439
Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus
the fundamental attributes of the messianic «Son of David» , promised
by God to Israel.38 Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah,
though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his
contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political.39
§440
Jesus accepted Peter's profession of faith, which acknowledged him to be the
Messiah, by announcing the imminent Passion of the Son of Man.40 He
unveiled the authentic content of his messianic kingship both in the
transcendent identity of the Son of Man «who came down from heaven» ,
and in his redemptive mission as the suffering Servant: «The Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many.» 41 Hence the true meaning of his kingship is revealed only when
he is raised high on the cross.42 Only after his Resurrection will
Peter be able to proclaim Jesus' messianic kingship to the People of God:
«Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made
him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.» 43
III. The Only Son of God
§441
In the Old Testament, «son of God» is a title given to the angels,
the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings.44 It
signifies an adoptive sonship that establishes a relationship of particular
intimacy between God and his creature. When the promised Messiah-King is called
«son of God» , it does not necessarily imply that he was more than
human, according to the literal meaning of these texts. Those who called Jesus
«son of God» , as the Messiah of Israel, perhaps meant nothing more
than this.45
§442
Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as «the
Christ, the Son of the living God» , for Jesus responds solemnly:
«Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in
heaven.» 46 Similarly Paul will write, regarding his conversion on
the road to Damascus, «When he who had set me apart before I was born, and
had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order
that I might preach him among the Gentiles...» 47 «and in the
synagogues immediately [Paul] proclaimed Jesus, saying, 'He is the Son of
God.'» 48 From the beginning this acknowledgment of Christ's divine
sonship will be the centre of the apostolic faith, first professed by Peter as
the Church's foundation.49
§443
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.» 50 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.51 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» .52
§444
The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the
Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his
«beloved Son» .53 Jesus calls himself the «only Son of
God» , and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence.54 He
asks for faith in «the name of the only Son of God» .55 In the
centurion's exclamation before the crucified Christ, «Truly this man was
the Son of God» ,56 that Christian confession is already heard.
Only in the Paschal mystery can the believer give the title «Son of
God» its full meaning.
§445
After his Resurrection, Jesus' divine sonship becomes manifest in the power of
his glorified humanity. He was «designated Son of God in power according
to the Spirit of holiness by his Resurrection from the dead» .57
The apostles can confess: «We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only
Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.» 58
IV. Lord
§446
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH,
by which God revealed himself to Moses,59 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.60
§447
Jesus ascribes this title to himself in a veiled way when he disputes with the
Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110, but also in an explicit way when he
addresses his apostles.61 Throughout his public life, he demonstrated his
divine sovereignty by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death and
sin.
§448
Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as «Lord» . This title
testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing.62
At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, «Lord» expresses the recognition
of the divine mystery of Jesus.63 In the encounter with the risen
Jesus, this title becomes adoration: «My Lord and my God!» It thus
takes on a connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the
Christian tradition: «It is the Lord!» 64
§449
By attributing to Jesus the divine title «Lord» , the first
confessions of the Church's faith affirm from the beginning that the power,
honour and glory due to God the Father are due also to Jesus, because «he
was in the form of God» ,65 and the Father manifested the
sovereignty of Jesus by raising him from the dead and exalting him into his
glory.66
§450
From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ's lordship
over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not
submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but
only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not «the
Lord» .67 «The Church. . . believes that the key, the centre
and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and
Master.» 68
§451
Christian prayer is characterized by the title «Lord» , whether in the
invitation to prayer ("The Lord be with you»), its conclusion
("through Christ our Lord») or the exclamation full of trust and
hope: Maranatha ("Our Lord, come!») or Maranatha ("Come,
Lord!») - «Amen Come Lord Jesus!» 69
IN BRIEF
§452
The name Jesus means
«God saves» . the child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus,
«for he will save his people from their sins"
(⇒ Mt 1:21): «there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved"
(⇒ Acts 4:12).
§453
The title
«Christ» means «Anointed One» (Messiah).Jesus is the
Christ, for «God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with
power» (⇒ Acts 10:38). He was the one
«who is to come» (⇒ Lk 7:19), the
object of «the hope of Israel» (⇒ Acts
28:20).
§454
The title «Son of
God» signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God
his Father: he is the only Son of the Father (cf ⇒ Jn
1:14, ⇒ 18; ⇒ 3:16,
⇒ 18); he is God himself (cf
⇒ Jn 1:1). To be a Christian, one must believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf ⇒ Acts
8:37; ⇒ 1 Jn 2:23).
§455
The title
«Lord» indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as
Lord is to believe in his divinity. «No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except
by the Holy Spirit'» (⇒ I Cor 12:3).
«HE WAS CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND WAS BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY»
Paragraph 1. THE SON OF GOD BECAME MAN
I. WHY DID THE WORD BECOME FLESH?
§456
With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: «For us men and for our
salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became
incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.»
§457
The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God,
who «loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins":
«the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world» , and
«he was revealed to take away sins":70
Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Saviour; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?71
§458
The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: «In this the
love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the
world, so that we might live through him.» 72 «For God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life.» 73
§459
The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: «Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me.» «I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father, but by me.» 74 On the mountain of the
Transfiguration, the Father commands: «Listen to him!» 75
Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: «Love
one another as I have loved you.» 76 This love implies an effective
offering of oneself, after his example.77
§460
The Word became flesh to make us «partakers of the divine
nature":78 «For this is why the Word became man, and the Son
of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the
Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of
God.» 79 «For the Son of God became man so that we might
become God.» 80 «The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make
us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might
make men gods.» 81
II. THE INCARNATION
§461
Taking up St. John's expression, «The Word became flesh» ,82
The Church calls «Incarnation» the fact that the Son of God assumed a
human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St.
Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. and being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.83
§462
The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery:
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, «Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.» 84
§463
Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of
Christian faith: «By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.» 85
Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she
sings «the mystery of our religion": «He was manifested in the
flesh.» 86
III. TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN
§464
The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God
does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply
that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He
became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true
man.
During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of
faith against the heresies that falsified it.
§465
The first heresies denied not so much Christ's divinity as his true humanity
(Gnostic Docetism). From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on
the true incarnation of God's Son «come in the flesh» .87 But
already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm
against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by
adoption. the first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 confessed in its Creed
that the Son of God is «begotten, not made, of the same substance
(homoousios) as the Father» , and condemned Arius, who had affirmed that
the Son of God «came to be from things that were not» and that he was
«from another substance» than that of the Father.88
§466
The Nestorian heresy regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine
person of God's Son. Opposing this heresy, St. Cyril of Alexandria and the
third ecumenical council, at Ephesus in 431, confessed «that the Word,
uniting to himself in his person the flesh animated by a rational soul, became
man.» 89 Christ's humanity has no other subject than the divine
person of the Son of God, who assumed it and made it his own, from his
conception. For this reason the Council of Ephesus proclaimed in 431 that Mary
truly became the Mother of God by the human conception of the Son of God in her
womb: «Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity
received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since
the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to
himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be
born according to the flesh.» 90
467 The Monophysites affirmed
that the human nature had ceased to exist as such in Christ when the divine
person of God's Son assumed it. Faced with this heresy, the fourth ecumenical
council, at Chalcedon in 451, confessed:
Following
the holy Fathers, we unanimously teach and confess one and the same Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the
same truly God and truly man, composed of rational soul and body;
consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity and consubstantial with us as
to his humanity; «like us in all things but sin» . He was begotten
from the Father before all ages as to his divinity and in these last days, for
us and for our salvation, was born as to his humanity of the virgin Mary, the
Mother of God.91
We confess that one and the same Christ, Lord, and only-begotten Son, is to be acknowledged in two natures without confusion, change, division or separation. the distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union, but rather the character proper to each of the two natures was preserved as they came together in one person (prosopon) and one hypostasis.92
§468
After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ's human nature a kind of
personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople
in 553, confessed that «there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is
our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity.» 93 Thus everything in
Christ's human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper
subject, not only his miracles but also his sufferings and even his death:
«He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God,
Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity.» 94
§469
The Church thus confesses that Jesus is inseparably true God and true man. He
is truly the Son of God who, without ceasing to be God and Lord, became a man
and our brother: «What he was, he remained and what he was not, he
assumed» , sings the Roman Liturgy.95 and the liturgy of St. John
Chrysostom proclaims and sings: «O only-begotten Son and Word of God,
immortal being, you who deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the
holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, you who without change became man and
were crucified, O Christ our God, you who by your death have crushed death, you
who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
save us!» 96
IV. HOW IS THE SON OF GOD MAN?
§470
Because «human nature was assumed, not absorbed» ,97 in the
mysterious union of the Incarnation, the Church was led over the course of
centuries to confess the full reality of Christ's human soul, with its
operations of intellect and will, and of his human body. In parallel fashion,
she had to recall on each occasion that Christ's human nature belongs, as his
own, to the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it. Everything that
Christ is and does in this nature derives from «one of the Trinity» .
The Son of God therefore communicates to his humanity his own personal mode of existence in the Trinity. In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of the Trinity:98
The Son of God. . . worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all things except sin.99
Christ's soul and his human knowledge
§471
Apollinarius of Laodicaea asserted that in Christ the divine Word had replaced
the soul or spirit. Against this error the Church confessed that the eternal Son
also assumed a rational, human soul.100
§472
This human soul that the Son of God assumed is endowed with a true human
knowledge. As such, this knowledge could not in itself be unlimited: it was
exercised in the historical conditions of his existence in space and time. This
is why the Son of God could, when he became man, «increase in wisdom and
in stature, and in favour with God and man» ,101 and would even
have to inquire for himself about what one in the human condition can learn
only from experience.102 This corresponded to the reality of his
voluntary emptying of himself, taking «the form of a
slave» .103
§473
But at the same time, this truly human knowledge of God's Son expressed the divine
life of his person.104 «The human nature of God's Son, not by
itself but by its union with the Word, knew and showed forth in itself
everything that pertains to God.» 105 Such is first of all the case
with the intimate and immediate knowledge that the Son of God made man has of
his Father.106 The Son in his human knowledge also showed the divine
penetration he had into the secret thoughts of human hearts.107
§474
By its union to the divine wisdom in the person of the Word incarnate, Christ
enjoyed in his human knowledge the fullness of understanding of the eternal
plans he had come to reveal.108 What he admitted to not knowing in this
area, he elsewhere declared himself not sent to reveal.109
Christ's human will
§475
Similarly, at the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 681, the
Church confessed that Christ possesses two wills and two natural operations,
divine and human. They are not opposed to each other, but co-operate in such a
way that the Word made flesh willed humanly in obedience to his Father all that
he had decided divinely with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our
salvation.110 Christ's human will «does not resist or oppose but
rather submits to his divine and almighty will.» 111
Christ's true body
§476
Since the Word became flesh in assuming a true humanity, Christ's body was
finite.112 Therefore the human face of Jesus can be portrayed; at the
seventh ecumenical council (Nicaea II in 787) the Church recognized its
representation in holy images to be legitimate.113
§477
At the same time the Church has always acknowledged that in the body of Jesus
«we see our God made visible and so are caught up in love of the God we
cannot see.» 114 The individual characteristics of Christ's body
express the divine person of God's Son. He has made the features of his human
body his own, to the point that they can be venerated when portrayed in a holy
image, for the believer «who venerates the icon is venerating in it the
person of the one depicted» .115
The heart of the Incarnate Word
§478
Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his
Passion, and gave himself up for each one of us: «The Son of God. . .
loved me and gave himself for me.» 116 He has loved us all with a
human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins
and for our salvation,117 «is quite rightly considered the chief
sign and symbol of that. . . love with which the divine Redeemer continually
loves the eternal Father and all human beings» without
exception.118
IN BRIEF
§479
At the time appointed by
God, the only Son of the Father, the eternal Word, that is, the Word and
substantial Image of the Father, became incarnate; without losing his divine
nature he has assumed human nature.
§480
Jesus Christ is true God
and true man, in the unity of his divine person; for this reason he is the one
and only mediator between God and men.
§481
Jesus Christ possesses
two natures, one divine and the other human, not confused, but united in the
one person of God's Son.
§482
Christ, being true God
and true man, has a human intellect and will, perfectly attuned and subject to
his divine intellect and divine will, which he has in common with the Father
and the Holy Spirit.
§483
The Incarnation is
therefore the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures in
the one person of the Word.
Paragraph 2. «CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY»
I. CONCEIVED BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. . .
§484
The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates «the fullness of
time» ,119 The time of the fulfilment of God's promises and
preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the «whole fullness
of deity» would dwell «bodily» .120 The divine response
to her question, «How can this be, since I know not man?» , was given
by the power of the Spirit: «The Holy Spirit will come upon
you.» 121
§485
The mission of the Holy Spirit is always conjoined and ordered to that of the
Son.122 The Holy Spirit, «the Lord, the giver of Life» , is
sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and divinely fecundate it, causing
her to conceive the eternal Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own.
§486
The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is
«Christ» , that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the
beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes
place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist,
to the disciples.123 Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make
manifest «how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with
power.» 124
II.... BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY
§487
What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about
Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.
Mary's predestination
§488
«God sent forth his Son» , but to prepare a body for him,125
he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God
chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of
Nazareth in Galilee, «a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":126
The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.127
§489
Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of
Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives
the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well
as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.128 By
virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old
age.129 Against all human expectation God chooses those who were
considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises:
Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other
women.130 Mary «stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord,
who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of
waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the
new plan of salvation is established.» 131
The Immaculate Conception
§490
To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary «was enriched by God with gifts
appropriate to such a role.» 132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of
the annunciation salutes her as «full of grace» .133 In fact,
in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the
announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by
God's grace.
§491
Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary,
«full of grace» through God,134 was redeemed from the moment
of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception
confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.135
§492
The «splendour of an entirely unique holiness» by which Mary is
«enriched from the first instant of her conception» comes wholly from
Christ: she is «redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the
merits of her Son» .136 The Father blessed Mary more than any other
created person «in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places» and chose her «in Christ before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and blameless before him in love» .137
§493
The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God «the
All-Holy» (Panagia), and celebrate her as «free from any stain of
sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new
creature» .138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every
personal sin her whole life long.
«Let it be done to me according to your word. . .»
§494
At the announcement that she would give birth to «the Son of the Most
High» without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded
with the obedience of faith, certain that «with God nothing will be impossible":
«Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according
to your word.» 139 Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary
becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation
wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely
to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the
mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's grace:140
As St. Irenaeus says, «Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.» 141 Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: «The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.» 142 Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary «the Mother of the living» and frequently claim: «Death through Eve, life through Mary.» 143
Mary's divine motherhood
§495
Called in the Gospels «the mother of Jesus» , Mary is acclaimed by
Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son,
as «the mother of my Lord» .144 In fact, the One whom she
conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the
flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the
Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly «Mother of
God» (Theotokos).145
Mary's virginity
§496
From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus
was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived
«by the Holy Spirit without human seed» .146 The Fathers see
in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came
in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of
the second century says:
You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according
to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of
a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius
Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.147
§497
The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine
work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:148
«That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit» , said the
angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee.149 The Church sees here the
fulfilment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah:
«Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.» 150
§498
People
are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark's Gospel and the New
Testament Epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might wonder if we
were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be
history. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met
with the lively opposition, mockery or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews
and pagans alike;151 so it could hardly have been motivated by pagan
mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. the meaning of this
event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the «connection
of these mysteries with one another» 152 in the totality of
Christ's mysteries, from his Incarnation to his Passover. St. Ignatius of
Antioch already bears witness to this connection: «Mary's virginity and
giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the notice of the prince of
this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in
God's silence.» 153
Mary - «ever-virgin»
§499
The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess
Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son
of God made man.154 In fact, Christ's birth «did not diminish his
mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it.» 155 and so the
liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the
«Ever-virgin» .156
§500
Against
this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions
brothers and sisters of Jesus.157 The Church has always understood
these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact
James and Joseph, «brothers of Jesus» , are the sons of another Mary,
a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls «the other
Mary» .158 They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old
Testament expression.159
§501
Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom
indeed he came to save: «The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God
placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose
generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love.» 160
Mary's virginal motherhood in God's plan
§502
The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the
mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a
virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive
mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.
§503
Mary's
virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has
only God as Father. «He was never estranged from the Father because of the
human nature which he assumed. . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity
and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the
Father in both natures.» 161
§504
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.» 162 From his
conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God
«gives him the Spirit without measure.» 163 From «his
fullness» as the head of redeemed humanity «we have all received,
grace upon grace.» 164
§505
By his
virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children
adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. «How can this be?» 165
Participation in the divine life arises «not of blood nor of the will of
the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God» .166 The acceptance
of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit's gift to man. the
spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God167 is
fulfilled perfectly in Mary's virginal motherhood.
§506
Mary
is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith «unadulterated
by any doubt» , and of her undivided gift of herself to God's
will.168 It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the
Saviour: «Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than
because she conceives the flesh of Christ.» 169
§507
At
once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of
the Church: «the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith
becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who
are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life.
She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she
pledged to her spouse.» 170
IN BRIEF
§508
From among the
descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son.
«Full of grace» , Mary is «the most excellent fruit of
redemption» (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was
totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all
personal sin throughout her life.
§509
Mary is truly
«Mother of God» since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God
made man, who is God himself.
§510
Mary «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» (St.
Augustine, Serm. 186, 1: PL 38, 999): with her whole being she is «the
handmaid of the Lord» (⇒ Lk 1:38).
§511
The Virgin Mary
«co-operated through free faith and obedience in human salvation» (LG
56). She uttered her yes «in the name of all human nature» (St.
Thomas Aquinas, S Th III, 30, 1). By her obedience she became the new Eve,
mother of the living.