The Blessed Virgin Mary

The words of the dogmatic constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council (lumen gentium, nn. 61-62) remind us that:

This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace—from the consent which she gave in faith at the incarnation, and which she continued to give unhesitatingly at the foot of the cross—lasts without interruption until all the elect enter into eternal fulfillment. When she was taken up into heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role but she continues by her intercession for all to gain for us the gifts of eternal salvation. In her maternal love she cares for the brothers of her Son as they journey on earth in the midst of dangers and hardships, until they are brought safely home to the happiness of heaven. The Blessed Virgin is thus invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix. These titles must not, however, be understood as in any way detracting from, or adding to, the dignity and effectiveness of Christ, the one Mediator.

No creature can ever be classed as an equal with the incarnate Word, the Redeemer. But just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways by His ministers and His faithful people, and as the goodness of God, one though it is, is in different ways, really shared with creatures, so also the unique mediation of Christ does not exclude but brings about a variety of shared cooperation, deriving from the one unique source.

The Church does not hesitate to acknowledge this kind of subordinate role in the person of Mary. The Church has continuous experience of its effects, and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that as they lean on her motherly protection they may be brought into closer union with the Mediator, our Savior.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

The Word Made Flesh

Christ began to be flesh in the Virgin Mary's womb, but we know that He did not begin to exist at that moment. Saint John says: "What existed from the beginning." Remember the words of Saint John's Gospel that we proclaim at the end of every Mass: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."

This "Word" that Saint John refers to is Christ's physical body. At a predetermined point in time, God chose to reveal this Word that existed from the beginning. Saint John therefore writes: "...life itself was revealed." Life itself (Christ) was revealed in the flesh. The Word was made flesh so that mankind could see and touch it.

Saint John goes on to say: "And we are witnesses and we proclaim to you that eternal life which was with the Father and has been revealed among us...We proclaim to you what we have heard and seen." The disciples had the privilege of seeing the Lord face to face and hearing the words He spoke. We have also heard, although we have not seen. However, we are no less privileged than the disciples because we share the exact same faith!

"And our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. And we write this to you to make your joy complete."

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Jesus is Light

Saint John describes two basic truths about the Word of God in his prologue—that He is Life and that He is Light. Jesus Christ is the Divine Life, the primary source of all life, natural and supernatural. Jesus says: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12; cf. 12:46).

Saint John also says that the darkness has not overcome this light. There is a struggle between the two. There is an evil power at work in the world (satan) which envelops man’s mind and thus prevents him from knowing God. However, Saint Augustine writes:

But it may be, the dull hearts of some cannot yet receive this light. Their sins weigh them down, and they cannot discern it. Let them not think, however, that, because they cannot discern it, therefore it is not present with them. For they themselves, because of their sins, are darkness. Just as if you place a blind person in the sunshine, although the sun is present to him, yet he is absent from the sun; in the same way, every foolish man, every unrighteous man, every ungodly man, is blind in heart. What course then ought such a one to take? Let him cleanse the eyes of his heart, that he may be able to see God. He will see Wisdom, for God is Wisdom itself, and it is written: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” There is no doubt that sin obscures man’s spiritual vision, rendering him unable to see and enjoy the things of God.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Glory in Heaven

Jesus promises, “Blest are the single-hearted, for they shall see God” (Mt 5.8); and Paul, in enumerating the gifts that God bestows upon His beloved, speaks of the immediate vision of God as His ultimate gift: “Now we see indistinctly, as in a (dark) mirror; then we shall see face to face. My knowledge is imperfect now; then I shall know even as I am known” (1 Cor 13.12).

Saint John tells us that we cannot imagine what God has in store for us who are His children, but this we know, that we shall see Him as He is: “Dearly beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall later be has not yet come to light. We know that when it comes to light we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as He is” (1Jn 3.2). Notice that John says, “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is.” It is because we are made like God, sharing in His divine nature that we shall be able to see God as He sees Himself.

All knowledge that we have, not only of external reality but also of ourselves, is mediated to us by the operation of external and senses reacting to light and sound waves and other sensations, and by internal senses and intellectual faculties which give us some image or idea of the reality experienced. God cannot be adequately known this way, since no finite medium can adequately represent His infinite being. Unlike all other forms of knowledge, in the beatific vision God is not known through any mediated image or concept, but immediately in Himself. Through the light of glory (lumen gloriae) that He will give us we shall see Him immediately as He is in Himself, without any intervening medium of any kind.

We will never exhaust the mystery of God, but shall behold Him precisely as infinite mystery. We shall never tire of this vision, because we shall see God as always new, always greater that we can comprehend.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

The Glorified Body

The gospel descriptions of the resurrected Lord depict His humanity possessing marvelous powers: Christ appears and disappears as He wills (Lk 24.31); He passes through closed doors (Lk 24.36; Jn 20.19). Even before His resurrection, Jesus walks upon the waters (Jn 6.19), and appears to Peter, James and John as one transfigured in glory (Mt 17. 1-8).

Christ’s risen body is the model of what ours is to be, as Saint Paul attests: “If we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom 6.5). “He will give a new form to this lowly body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of His glorified body, by His power to subject everything to Himself” (Phil 3.21).

Impassibility

The glorified body will be impassible, that is, it will not be subject to any bodily harm, suffering, fatigue, or death.

1Cor 15.42: “The body, in death, is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible…The dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Rev 21.4: “God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, crying or pain, for the former world has passed away.”

Subtility

The glorified body will not be impeded by matter, but will be able to pass through it, as we see the risen Lord could do when He emerged from the tomb, though it was still covered with a huge stone (Mt 28.2), and when He made Himself present in the upper room, even though the doors remained locked and barred (Jn 20.19, 26).

Agility

Because the glorified body will be totally subject to the spirit, it will be able to transport itself with the ease of thought to wherever it wishes to be, as we see the risen Lord could do when He suddenly appeared and disappeared as He willed.

Clarity

The glorified body will be radiant with beauty and glory. “What is sown is ignoble, what rises is glorious” (1Cor 15.43). This quality is represented in scripture as dazzling light. Jesus tells us that, “The just will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom” (Mt 13.43).

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Our Glorified Humanity

The degrees of happiness and glory that we shall enjoy in heaven will be in proportion to the measure of love and grace that we have when we enter eternal life. These, in turn, depend on the gift of God’s grace and our cooperation with it throughout our lives on earth. As we cooperate with God’s grace through deeds of love, we grow in divine life and the capacity to live that divine life in eternity.

In eternal life our body and soul will be brought to full perfection and, while remaining essentially the same body and soul we now possess, will be glorified in a way that we cannot fully grasp in this life. All vulnerability and imperfection will be removed, and each will have its own unique beauty and glory.

In his epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul describes the qualities of the body that will rise from the grave when Christ comes again:

What is sown in the earth is subject to decay, what rises is incorruptible. What is sown is ignoble, what rises is glorious. Weakness is sown, strength rises up. A natural body is put down and a spiritual body comes up. If there is a natural body, be sure there is also a spiritual body…The dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, this mortal body with immortality. When the corruptible frame takes on incorruptibility and the mortal immortality, then will the saying of Scripture be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory."

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

John 20. 21-23

According to the Gospel of John, the Lord, on the very evening of His resurrection, appeared in the midst of His disciples and gave them, as the first fruit of His death and resurrection, the power to forgive sins:

On the evening of that first day of the week...Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said to them, "Peace be with you"...Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when He had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (Jn 20. 21-23)

The Council of Trent teaches that these words of Christ refer to the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Penance. Notice the universal character of this grant: whatever sins the Church forgives, God forgives, whatever sins the Church retains, God retains!

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

John the Baptist

John was in prison when he heard the works of Christ. He sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the one to come. Jesus said to them: “Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them…” Jesus goes on to say: “What went you out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? A Prophet? Yea I tell you and more than a Prophet…”

In the synoptic gospels, the account of Jesus’ public ministry begins with a description of John the Baptist calling the people to repent in preparation for the coming of God’s Kingdom. The austerity of John’s life bore striking witness to his message. Saint Matthew tells us: “In those days John the Baptizer appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand. It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said a voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him. They were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins” (Mt 3. 1-12).

People flocked to John the Baptist because they sensed he was a true man of God. He wasn’t concerned with people’s opinions, but only with fulfilling his God-given mission to prepare the way for Christ. Jesus Christ invites us to do the same.

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Institution of Holy Orders

New Testament authors tell us that Jesus commanded (and therefore empowered) the Twelve to celebrate the Eucharist (Lk 22.19; 1 Cor 11.24f), to forgive sins (Jn 20.23), and to baptize (Mt 18.19), but they do not say that these tasks were entrusted exclusively to the apostles, or that Christ instituted a special rite by which certain individuals are to be consecrated and empowered to carry out these tasks. For these reasons, it is impossible to prove from the New Testament alone, without the Tradition of the Church, that Christ instituted the sacrament of Holy Orders.

We can say that since apostolic times, the Church, enlightened by the Holy Ghost and following the pattern received from the beginning, has set aside chosen members of the community to exercise roles of leadership and pastoral ministry in the community, by imposing hands on them and praying that they be assisted by the grace of the Holy Ghost. The Church of the patristic period firmly believed that through this gesture and prayer those ordained to the episcopacy, presbyterate, and diaconate, received gifts of the Holy Ghost to carry on their ministry, as Saint Paul's words imply. Since only Christ can make an infallible connection between sacred rite and conferral of grace, medieval theologians understood that this rite must have been instituted by Christ.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching