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Paragraph 3. THE MYSTERIES OF CHRIST'S LIFE
§512
Concerning Christ's life the Creed speaks only about the mysteries of the
Incarnation (conception and birth) and Paschal mystery (passion, crucifixion,
death, burial, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension). It says nothing
explicitly about the mysteries of Jesus' hidden or public life, but the
articles of faith concerning his Incarnation and Passover do shed light on the
whole of his earthly life. «All that Jesus did and taught, from the beginning
until the day when he was taken up to heaven» ,171 is to be seen in
the light of the mysteries of Christmas and Easter.
§513
According to circumstances catechesis will make use of all the richness of the
mysteries of Jesus. Here it is enough merely to indicate some elements common
to all the mysteries of Christ's life (I), in order then to sketch the
principal mysteries of Jesus' hidden (II) and public (III) life.
I. CHRIST'S WHOLE LIFE IS MYSTERY
§514
Many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure in the
Gospels. Almost nothing is said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and even a
great part of his public life is not recounted.172 What is written in
the Gospels was set down there «so that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his
name.» 173
§515
The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the
faith174 and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who
Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all
his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his
Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a
sign of his mystery.175 His deeds, miracles and words all revealed that
«in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.» 176 His
humanity appeared as «sacrament» , that is, the sign and instrument,
of his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly
life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive
mission
Characteristics common to Jesus' mysteries
§516
Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings,
indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus
can say: «Whoever has seen me has seen the Father» , and the Father
can say: «This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!» 177 Because
our Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least
characteristics of his mysteries manifest «God's love. . . among
us» .178
§517
Christ's whole life is a mystery of redemption. Redemption comes to us above
all through the blood of his cross,179 but this mystery is at work
throughout Christ's entire life: -already in his Incarnation through which by
becoming poor he enriches us with his poverty;180 - in his hidden life
which by his submission atones for our disobedience;181 - in his word
which purifies its hearers;182- in his healings and exorcisms by which
«he took our infirmities and bore our diseases»;183 - and in
his Resurrection by which he justifies us.184
§518
Christ's whole life is a mystery of recapitulation. All Jesus did, said and
suffered had for its aim restoring fallen man to his original vocation:
When Christ became incarnate and was made man, he recapitulated in himself the long history of mankind and procured for us a «short cut" to salvation, so that what we had lost in Adam, that is, being in the image and likeness of God, we might recover in Christ Jesus.185 For this reason Christ experienced all the stages of life, thereby giving communion with God to all men.186
Our communion in the mysteries of Jesus
§519
All Christ's riches «are for every individual and are everybody's
property.» 187 Christ did not live his life for himself but for us,
from his Incarnation «for us men and for our salvation» to his death
«for our sins» and Resurrection «for our
justification» .188 He is still «our advocate with the
Father» , who «always lives to make intercession» for us.189
He remains ever «in the presence of God on our behalf, bringing before him
all that he lived and suffered for us.» 190
§520
In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is «the perfect
man» ,191 who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In
humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he
draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation
and persecutions that may come our way.192
§521
Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in
us. «By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united
himself with each man.» 193 We are called only to become one with
him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he lived for
us in his flesh as our model:
We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus' life and his mysteries and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and in his whole Church. . . For it is the plan of the Son of God to make us and the whole Church partake in his mysteries and to extend them to and continue them in us and in his whole Church. This is his plan for fulfilling his mysteries in us.194
II. THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' INFANCY AND HIDDEN LIFE
The preparations
§522
The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed
to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all
the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the «First
Covenant» .195 He announces him through the mouths of the prophets
who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the
pagans a dim expectation of this coming.
§523
St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to
prepare his way.196 «Prophet of the Most High» , John
surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last.197 He inaugurates
the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and
rejoices in being «the friend of the bridegroom» , whom he points out
as «the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world» .198
Going before Jesus «in the spirit and power of Elijah» , John bears
witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through
his martyrdom.199
§524
When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present
this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation
for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his
second coming.200 By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom,
the Church unites herself to his desire: «He must increase, but I must
decrease.» 201
The Christmas mystery
§525
Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family.202 Simple
shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's
glory was made manifest.203 The Church never tires of singing the glory
of this night:
The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
and the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
and the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!204
§526
To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the
kingdom.205 For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even
more: to become «children of God» we must be «born from
above» or «born of God» .206 Only when Christ is formed
in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us.207 Christmas is
the mystery of this «marvellous exchange":
O marvellous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.208
The mysteries of Jesus' infancy
§527
Jesus' circumcision, on the eighth day after his birth,209 is the sign
of his incorporation into Abraham's descendants, into the people of the
covenant. It is the sign of his submission to the Law210 and his
deputation to Israel's worship, in which he will participate throughout his
life. This sign prefigures that «circumcision of Christ» which is
Baptism.211
§528
The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and
Saviour of the world. the great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of
Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the
Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee.212 In the magi,
representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the
first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the
Incarnation. the magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king
of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star
of David, the one who will be king of the nations.213 Their coming
means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour
of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the
messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament.214 The Epiphany
shows that «the full number of the nations» now takes its «place
in the family of the patriarchs» , and acquires Israelitica
dignitas215 (is made «worthy of the heritage of Israel»).
§529
The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who
belongs to the Lord.216 With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its
encounter with the Saviour - the name given to this event in the Byzantine
tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the «light to
the nations» and the «glory of Israel» , but also «a sign
that is spoken against» . the sword of sorrow predicted for Mary announces
Christ's perfect and unique oblation on the cross that will impart the
salvation God had «prepared in the presence of all peoples» .
§530
The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents217 make
manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: «He came to his own
home, and his own people received him not.» 218 Christ's whole life
was lived under the sign of persecution. His own share it with him.219
Jesus' departure from Egypt recalls the exodus and presents him as the
definitive liberator of God's people.220
The mysteries of Jesus' hidden life
§531
During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast
majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life
of manual labour. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of
God,221 a life in the community. From this whole period it is revealed
to us that Jesus was «obedient» to his parents and that he
«increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and
man.» 222
§532
Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfils the fourth commandment
perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in
heaven. the everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and
anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: «Not my will. .
.» 223 The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life
was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam
had destroyed.224
§533
The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus
by the most ordinary events of daily life:
The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus - the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us. . . A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the «Carpenter's Son» , in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work. . . To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them their great pattern their brother who is God.225
§534
The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of
the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus.226 Here Jesus lets us
catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that
flows from his divine sonship: «Did you not know that I must be about my
Father's work?» 227 Mary and Joseph did not understand these words,
but they accepted them in faith. Mary «kept all these things in her
heart» during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an
ordinary life.
III. THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS' PUBLIC LIFE
The baptism of Jesus
§535
Jesus' public life begins with his baptism by John in the Jordan.228
John preaches «a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins» .229 A crowd of sinners230 - tax collectors and soldiers,
Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes - come to be baptized by him.
«Then Jesus appears.» the Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and
receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus
and a voice from heaven proclaims, «This is my beloved
Son.» 231 This is the manifestation ("Epiphany») of Jesus
as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.
§536
The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his
mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among
sinners; he is already «the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world» .232 Already he is anticipating the «baptism» of
his bloody death.233 Already he is coming to «fulfil all
righteousness» , that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's
will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our
sins.234 The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance,
proclaiming his entire delight in his Son.235 The Spirit whom Jesus
possessed in fullness from his conception comes to «rest on
him» .236 Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind.
At his baptism «the heavens were opened» 237 - the heavens
that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of
Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.
§537
Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his
own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. the Christian must enter
into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the
water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit
so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and «walk in newness
of life":238
Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him.239
Everything that happened to Christ lets us know that, after the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us from high heaven and that, adopted by the Father's voice, we become sons of God.240
Jesus' temptations
§538
The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after
his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there
for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts, and angels minister
to him.241 At the end of this time Satan tempts him three times,
seeking to compromise his filial attitude toward God. Jesus rebuffs these
attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel
in the desert, and the devil leaves him «until an opportune
time» .242
§539
The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus
is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to
temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who
had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself
as God's Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the
devil's conqueror: he «binds the strong man» to take back his
plunder.243 Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates
victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the
Father.
§540
Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary
to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to
him.244 This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: «For we
have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one
who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning.» 245
By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the
mystery of Jesus in the desert.
«The kingdom of God is at hand»
§541
«Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at
hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'» 246 «To carry out
the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on
earth.» 247 Now the Father's will is «to raise up men to share
in his own divine life» .248 He does this by gathering men around
his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church, «on earth the seed and
beginning of that kingdoms» .249
§542
Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the «family of
God» . By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by
sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him.
But above all in the great Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his
Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. «and I, when
I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.» Into this
union with Christ all men are called.250
The proclamation of the kingdom of God
§543
Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of
Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all
nations.251 To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word:
The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest.252
§544
The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted
it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to «preach good news to the
poor»;253 he declares them blessed, for «theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.» 254 To them - the «little ones» the Father
is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the
learned.255 Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the
cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation.256 Jesus identifies
himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the
condition for entering his kingdom.257
§545
Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: «I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners.» 258 He invites them to that conversion
without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his
Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast «joy in heaven over one
sinner who repents» .259 The supreme proof of his love will be the
sacrifice of his own life «for the forgiveness of sins» .260
§546
Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a
characteristic feature of his teaching.261 Through his parables he
invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical
choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything.262 Words are not
enough, deeds are required.263 The parables are like mirrors for man:
will he be hard soil or good earth for the word?264 What use has he
made of the talents he has received?265 Jesus and the presence of the
kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter
the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to «know the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven» .266 For those who stay
«outside» , everything remains enigmatic.267
The signs of the kingdom of God
§547
Jesus accompanies his words with many «mighty works and wonders and
signs» , which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that
he was the promised Messiah.268
§548
The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite
belief in him.269 To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what
they ask.270 So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his
Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God.271 But his
miracles can also be occasions for «offence»;272 they are not
intended to satisfy people's curiosity or desire for magic Despite his evident
miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of
demons.273
§549
By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice,
illness and death,274 Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he
did not come to abolish all evils here below,275 but to free men from
the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons
and causes all forms of human bondage.276
§550
The coming of God's kingdom means the defeat of Satan's: «If it is by the
Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you.» 277 Jesus' exorcisms free some individuals from the domination
of demons. They anticipate Jesus' great victory over «the ruler of this
world» .278 The kingdom of God will be definitively established
through Christ's cross: «God reigned from the wood.» 279
«The keys of the kingdom»
§551
From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain men, twelve in
number, to be with him and to participate in his mission.280 He gives
the Twelve a share in his authority and 'sent them out to preach the kingdom of
God and to heal.» 281 They remain associated for ever with Christ's
kingdom, for through them he directs the Church:
As my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.282
§552
Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve;283
Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father,
Peter had confessed: «You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Our Lord then declared to him: «You are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against
it.» 284 Christ, the «living Stone» ,285 thus
assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death.
Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the
Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to
strengthen his brothers in it.286
§553
Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: «I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven.» 287 The «power of the keys» designates authority
to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: «Feed my
sheep.» 288 The power to «bind and loose» connotes the
authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make
disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the
Church through the ministry of the apostles289 and in particular
through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted
the keys of the kingdom.
A foretaste of the kingdom: the Transfiguration
§554
From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God, the Master «began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be
raised.» 290 Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others
understand it any better than he.291 In this context the mysterious
episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain,292
before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face
and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking
«of his departure, which he was to accomplish at
Jerusalem» .293 A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says:
«This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!» 294
§555
For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession.
He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in
order to «enter into his glory» .295
Moses and Elijah had seen God's glory on the Mountain; the Law and the Prophets
had announced the Messiah's sufferings.296 Christ's Passion is the will
of the Father: the Son acts as God's servant;297 The cloud indicates
the presence of the Holy Spirit. «The whole Trinity appeared: the Father
in the voice; the Son in the man; the Spirit in the shining
cloud.» 298
You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendour of the Father.299
§556
On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the
Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed «the mystery of
the first regeneration» , namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration «is
the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own
Resurrection.300 From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection
through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. the
Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he «will
change our lowly body to be like his glorious body.» 301 But it
also recalls that «it is through many persecutions that we must enter the
kingdom of God":302
Peter did not yet understand this when he wanted to remain with Christ on the mountain. It has been reserved for you, Peter, but for after death. For now, Jesus says: «Go down to toil on earth, to serve on earth, to be scorned and crucified on earth. Life goes down to be killed; Bread goes down to suffer hunger; the Way goes down to be exhausted on his journey; the Spring goes down to suffer thirst; and you refuse to suffer?» 303
Jesus' ascent to Jerusalem
§557
«When the days drew near for him to be taken up [Jesus] set his face to go
to Jerusalem.» 304 By this decision he indicated that he was going
up to Jerusalem prepared to die there. Three times he had announced his Passion
and Resurrection; now, heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus says: «It cannot be
that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.» 305
§558
Jesus recalls the martyrdom of the prophets who had been put to death in
Jerusalem. Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather around him:
«How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers
her brood under her wings, and you would not!» 306 When Jerusalem
comes into view he weeps over her and expresses once again his heart's desire:
«Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now
they are hid from your eyes.» 307
Jesus' messianic entrance into Jerusalem
§559
How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused
popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details
for his messianic entry into the city of «his father
David» .308 Acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings
salvation (Hosanna means «Save!» or «Give salvation!»), the
«King of glory» enters his City «riding on an ass» .309
Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse
nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the
truth.310 and so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children
and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to
the shepherds.311 Their acclamation, «Blessed be he who comes in
the name of the Lord» ,312 is taken up by the Church in the Sanctus
of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover.
§560
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the
King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and
Resurrection. It is with the celebration of that entry on Palm Sunday that the
Church's liturgy solemnly opens Holy Week.
IN BRIEF
§561
«The whole of
Christ's life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his
gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little
and the poor, his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the
redemption of the world, and his Resurrection are the actualization of his word
and the fulfilment of Revelation» John Paul II, CT 9).
§562
Christ's disciples are to
conform themselves to him until he is formed in them (cf ⇒ Gal
4:19). «For this reason we, who have been made like to him, who
have died with him and risen with him, are taken up into the mysteries of his
life, until we reign together with him» (LG 7 # 4).
§563
No one, whether shepherd
or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger
at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child.
§564
By his obedience to Mary
and Joseph, as well as by his humble work during the long years in Nazareth,
Jesus gives us the example of holiness in the daily life of family and work.
§565
From the beginning of his
public life, at his baptism, Jesus is the «Servant» , wholly
consecrated to the redemptive work that he will accomplish by the
«baptism» of his Passion.
§566
The temptation in the
desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total
adherence to the plan of salvation willed by the Father.
§567
The kingdom of heaven was
inaugurated on earth by Christ. «This kingdom shone out before men in the
word, in the works and in the presence of Christ» (LG 5). the Church is
the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter.
§568
Christ's Transfiguration
aims at strengthening the apostles' faith in anticipation of his Passion: the
ascent on to the «high mountain» prepares for the ascent to Calvary.
Christ, Head of the Church, manifests what his Body contains and radiates in
the sacraments: «the hope of glory» (⇒ Col
1:27; cf.: St. Leo the Great, Sermo 51, 3: PL 54, 310C).
§569
Jesus went up to
Jerusalem voluntarily, knowing well that there he would die a violent death because
of the opposition of sinners (cf ⇒ Heb 12:3).
§570
Jesus' entry into
Jerusalem manifests the coming of the kingdom that the Messiah-King, welcomed
into his city by children and the humble of heart, is going to accomplish by
the Passover of his Death and Resurrection.