“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
St Augustine
TEXT
COMPENDIUM
CHAPTER
TWO
“He was conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary” (CCC 456-570)
*******
“Jesus
Christ was conceived by the power
of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the Virgin Mary”
85. Why did the Son of God become man?
CCC 456-460
For us men and for our salvation, the Son of God became incarnate
in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. He did so to
reconcile us sinners with God, to have us learn of God’s infinite love, to be
our model of holiness and to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (2
Peter 1:4).
86. What does the word “Incarnation” mean?
CCC 461-463, 483
The Church calls the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine
and human natures in the one divine Person of the Word the
“Incarnation”. To bring about our salvation the Son of God was made “flesh” (John 1:14)
and became truly man. Faith in the Incarnation is a distinctive sign of the
Christian faith.
87. In what way is Jesus Christ true God and true man?
CCC 464-467, 469
Jesus is inseparably true God and true man in the unity of his
divine Person. As the Son of God, who is “begotten, not made, consubstantial
with the Father,” he was made true man, our brother, without ceasing to be God,
our Lord.
88. What does the Council of Chalcedon (in the year 451) teach in
this regard?
CCC 467
The Council of Chalcedon teaches us to confess “one and the same
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in his humanity, true God and true man,
composed of rational soul and body, consubstantial with the Father by his
divinity, and consubstantial with us by his humanity, ‘like us in all things
but sin’ (Hebrews 4:15), begotten from the Father before all ages
as to his divinity, and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, born
of Mary, the Virgin and Mother of God, as to his humanity.”
89. How does the Church set forth the Mystery of the Incarnation?
CCC 464-470, 479-481
The Church confesses that Jesus Christ is true God and true man,
with two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, not confused with each
other but united in the Person of the Word. Therefore, in the humanity of Jesus
all things - his miracles, his suffering, and his death - must be attributed to
his divine Person which acts by means of his assumed human nature.
“O Only-begotten Son and Word of God you who are immortal, you
who deigned for our salvation to become incarnate of the holy Mother of God and
ever Virgin Mary (...) You who are one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, save us!” (Byzantine Liturgy of
Saint John Chrysostom)
90. Did the incarnate Son of God have a soul with human knowledge?
CCC 470-474, 482
The Son of God assumed a body animated by a rational human soul.
With his human intellect Jesus learned many things by way of experience; but
also as man the Son of God had an intimate and immediate knowledge
of God his Father. He likewise understood people’s secret thoughts and he knew
fully the eternal plans which he had come to reveal.
91. How did the two wills of the incarnate Word cooperate?
CCC 475, 482
Jesus had a divine will and a human will. In his earthly life the
Son of God humanly willed all that he had divinely decided with the Father and
the Holy Spirit for our salvation. The human will of Christ followed without
opposition or reluctance the divine will or, in other words, it was subject to
it.
92. Did Christ have a true human body?
CCC 476-477
Christ assumed a true human body by means of which the invisible
God became visible. This is the reason why Christ can be represented and
venerated in sacred images.
93. What does the heart of Jesus exemplify?
CCC 478
Jesus knew us and loved us with a human heart. His Heart, pierced
for our salvation, is the symbol of that infinite love with which he loves the
Father and each one of us.
94. What is the meaning of the expression “conceived by the power
of the Holy Spirit...”?
CCC 484-486
This expression means that the Virgin Mary conceived the eternal
Son in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit without the cooperation of a
man. The angel told her at the Annunciation that “the Holy Spirit will come
upon you” (Luke 1:35).
95. “...Born of the Virgin Mary”: Why is Mary truly the Mother of
God?
CCC 495, 509
Mary is truly the Mother of God because she is
the Mother of Jesus (John 2:1, John 19:25). The
One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became truly her Son
is actually the eternal Son of God the Father. He is God himself.
96. What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?
CCC 487-492, 508
God freely chose Mary from all eternity to be the Mother of his
Son. In order to carry out her mission she herself was conceived
immaculate. This means that, thanks to the grace of God and in anticipation
of the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the
first instant of her conception.
97. How does Mary cooperate in the divine plan of salvation?
CCC 493-494, 508-511
By the grace of God Mary was kept free from every personal sin her
whole life long. She is the one who is “full of grace” (Luke 1:28),
“the all holy”. When the angel announced to her that she would give birth to
“the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32), she freely gave her consent
with “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). Mary thus gave herself
entirely to the person and work of her Son Jesus, espousing wholeheartedly the
divine will regarding salvation.
98. What does the virginal conception of Jesus mean?
CCC 496-498, 503
The virginal conception of Jesus means that Jesus was conceived in
the womb of the Virgin solely by the power of the Holy Spirit without the
intervention of a man. He is the Son of the heavenly Father according to his
divine nature and the Son of Mary according to his human nature. He is,
however, truly the Son of God in both natures since there is in him only one
Person who is divine.
99. In what sense is Mary “ever Virgin”?
CCC 499-507, 510-511
Mary is ever virgin in the sense that she “remained a virgin in
conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him,
a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (Saint Augustine).
Therefore, when the Gospels speak of the “brothers and sisters of Jesus”, they
are talking about the close relations of Jesus, according to the way of
speaking used in Sacred Scripture.
100. In what way is the spiritual motherhood of Mary universal?
CCC 501-507, 511
Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but in him her spiritual motherhood
extends to all whom he came to save. Obediently standing at the side of the new
Adam, Jesus Christ, the Virgin is the new Eve, the true mother of
all the living, who with a mother's love cooperates in their birth and their
formation in the order of grace. Virgin and Mother, Mary is the figure of the
Church, its most perfect realization.
101. In what sense is the life of Christ a Mystery?
CCC 512-521, 561-562
The entire life of Christ is a revelation. What was visible in the
earthly life of Jesus leads us to the invisible mystery of his divine
sonship: “whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Furthermore, even though salvation comes completely from the cross and the
resurrection, the entire life of Christ is a mystery of redemption because
everything that Jesus did, said, and suffered had for its aim the salvation of
fallen human beings and the restoration of their vocation as children of God.
102. How did God prepare the world for the mystery of Christ?
CCC 522-524
God prepared for the coming of his Son over the centuries. He
awakened in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming and he
prepared for it specifically through the Old Testament, culminating with John
the Baptist who was the last and greatest of the prophets. We relive
this long period of expectancy in the annual liturgical celebration of the
season of Advent.
103. What does the Gospel teach about the mysteries of the birth
and infancy of Jesus?
CCC 525-530, 563-564
At Christmas the glory of heaven is shown forth
in the weakness of a baby; the circumcision of Jesus is a sign
of his belonging to the Hebrew people and is a prefiguration of our
Baptism; the Epiphany is the manifestation of the Messiah King
of Israel to all the nations; at the presentation in the temple, Simeon
and Anna symbolize all the anticipation of Israel awaiting its encounter with
its Savior; the flight into Egypt and the massacre
of the innocents proclaim that the entire life of Christ will be
under the sign of persecution; the departure from Egypt recalls
the exodus and presents Jesus as the new Moses and the true and definitive
liberator.
104. What does the hidden life of Jesus in Nazareth teach us?
CCC 533-534, 564
In the course of his hidden life in Nazareth
Jesus stayed in the silence of an ordinary existence. This allows us to enter
into fellowship with him in the holiness to be found in a daily
life marked by prayer, simplicity, work and family love. His obedience to Mary
and to Joseph, his foster father, is an image of his filial obedience to the
Father. Mary and Joseph accepted with faith the mystery of Jesus even though
they did not always understand it.
105. Why did Jesus receive from John the “baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3)?
CCC 535-537, 565
To inaugurate his public life and to anticipate the “Baptism” of
his death, he who was without sin accepted to be numbered among sinners. He was
“the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
The Father proclaimed him to be “his beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17)
and the Spirit descended upon him. The baptism of Jesus is a prefiguring of our
baptism.
106. What do we learn from the temptations of Jesus in the desert?
CCC 538-540, 566
The temptations of Jesus in the desert recapitulate the temptation
of Adam in Paradise and the temptations of Israel in the desert. Satan tempts
Jesus in regard to his obedience to the mission given him by the Father.
Christ, the new Adam, resists and his victory proclaims that of his passion
which is the supreme obedience of his filial love. The Church unites herself to
this mystery in a special way in the liturgical season of Lent.
107. Who is invited to come into the Kingdom of God proclaimed and
brought about by Jesus?
CCC 541-546, 567
All are invited by Jesus to enter the Kingdom of God. Even the
worst of sinners is called to convert and to accept the boundless mercy of the
Father. Already here on earth, the Kingdom belongs to those who accept it with
a humble heart. To them the mysteries of the Kingdom are revealed.
108. Why did Jesus manifest the Kingdom by means of signs and
miracles?
CCC 547-550, 567
Jesus accompanied his words with signs and miracles to
bear witness to the fact that the Kingdom is present in him, the Messiah.
Although he healed some people, he did not come to abolish all evils here below
but rather to free us especially from the slavery of sin. The driving out of
demons proclaimed that his cross would be victorious over “the ruler of
this world” (John 12:31).
109. In the Kingdom, what authority did Jesus bestow upon his
Apostles?
CCC 551-553, 567
Jesus chose the twelve, the future witnesses of his
Resurrection, and made them sharers of his mission and of his authority to
teach, to absolve from sins, and to build up and govern the Church. In this
college, Peter received “the keys of the Kingdom” (Matthew 16:19)
and assumed the first place with the mission to keep the faith in its integrity
and to strengthen his brothers.
110. What is the meaning of the Transfiguration?
CCC 554-556, 568
Above all the Transfiguration shows forth the Trinity: “the Father
in the voice, the Son in the man Jesus, the Spirit in the shining cloud” (Saint
Thomas Aquinas). Speaking with Moses and Elijah about his “departure” (Luke 9:31),
Jesus reveals that his glory comes by way of the cross and he anticipates his
resurrection and his glorious coming “which will change our lowly body to be
like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).
“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 splendor of the
Father.” (Byzantine Liturgy)
111. How did the messianic entrance into Jerusalem come about?
CCC 557-560, 569-570
At the established time Jesus chose to go up to Jerusalem to
suffer his passion and death, and to rise from the dead. As the Messiah King
who shows forth the coming of the Kingdom, he entered into his city mounted on
a donkey. He was acclaimed by the little children whose shout of joyful praise
is taken up in the Sanctus of the Eucharistic liturgy:
“Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna (save
us!)” (Matthew 21:9). The liturgy of the Church opens Holy
Week by celebrating this entry into Jerusalem.
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