Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 And a word is made flesh and dwelt amongst us. And he saw his glory, the glory as if the only be gotten or the father full of grace and truth. The name of the father and the son and the Holy ghost. Amen. That's a great Benedictine. Dom Garren, Jay points out on Christmas. During the three masses, we celebrate three different aspects of our Lord's birth. At midnight mass, we celebrate his birth by the blessed Virgin Mary and the stable in Bethlehem at the mass at Dawn, we celebrate his birth by grace in the hearts, the shepherds, and now at the mass of the day, we celebrate the fact that he's eternally begotten of the father. Now, in that note, I would just want to read you something it's kind of a syndicated column or whatever, but it's a question, answer column. So bear with me.
Speaker 0 00:00:47 The question is, did Jesus exist before earthly birth? Dear Padre. I want to know if Jesus didn't fact exist before his earthly birth. I realized nothing's impossible with God, but this certainly adds to the mystery. Okay. So that's the question. Here's the answer, dear Tony, Jesus explains his relationship with God. The father in John 14, 10, 11, we ask Phillip, do you not believe that I am the father? And the father's in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own, but the father dwells in me does this works, believe me, that I am in the father and the father's in me, but how did Jesus exist before he was born in the Virgin? Mary origin, one of the early church fathers said, well, he's an early church writer. There was that. There was never a time when he did not exist is to be taken with a certain allowance for these very words, when and never terms of temporal significance.
Speaker 0 00:01:37 Well, whatever is said of the father son, the Holy spirit is to be understood as transcending, all times, all ages and all eternity, Jesus was physically born to this world and Jesus is fully human, but he's also fully divine. We cannot equate Jesus's birth with our birth. Jesus transcends the limits of time and space. So how did Jesus exist before his birth? We cannot know, is that part of the mystery? It most certainly is close. Well, if you understood that you're doing better than me, it's whacked. If anybody did understand that you can, you can come and talk to me. But first off the scripture quote, obviously it's true, but he talk about vague. If you're going to call it the scriptures, you'd call it the first one right here. And then a few other things I don't want to go through the whole thing.
Speaker 0 00:02:17 We'll talk about it, but we can't understand to a degree we can't comprehend, but understand the point of the church has to explain these things. It's not a mystery without a clue. We're going to talk about this stuff. So this morning, we'll take a closer look at answering these very questions. Okay? The reality that the son is eternally begotten of the father. We'll take a closer look at the true at the two great mysteries that are contained in that fact. And they're described in this beautiful prologue st. John's gospel that we read for the gospel of the day. We read ordinarily it's Alaska split every mass. Okay. The two mysteries we're going to take some time to look at are the mysteries the most Holy Trinity. Okay. And the mystery, the incarnation. So that's a lot to do. And we're going to try to pack both those into one sermon here.
Speaker 0 00:03:04 And I'm not going to keep you here all day. So on the Trinity, we have a whole semester course in seminary. And by the time you're done, you're only in immortal luminous darkness. So we're going to take a whole semester course, which still isn't covering it. I'm going to put that in just a couple minutes. We're going to lean really heavily on Frank Sheed right here. Cause he's so clear, but I mean I've shopped and spliced or anyway, in order to tackle these topics, we have to review the meaning of three words. We've talked about this before, but a mystery, because what we mean by a mystery is not the same thing as what the church means, what we mean when we use it in common, ordinary speech, mystery, nature, and person. So mystery, a mystery of our faith is something God wants us to think about, but it's not.
Speaker 0 00:03:48 It's something we can never fully understand. It doesn't mean like a mystery without a clue, like some, and then we put it all together and bang. We've got it. Like some detective mystery, a mystery is something we can never fully understand. We can keep thinking about and getting more and more insights. But even if we think about it for all eternity, we'll never be able to fully exhausted. Okay. A mystery of our faith, like the Trinity or the incarnation is an inexhaustible truth that we can be thinking about forever and ever, and get more and more details, but still never get it all. That's what we mean by mystery. Okay. Second nature. Nature. We've used this example before, but imagine you're, you're, you're camping out late night in the woods, in a cabin somewhere and you hear a loud crashing noise. You wonder what was that?
Speaker 0 00:04:30 Is that a tree falling? Is that a mountain lion? Is that a grizzly bears Wolf? What is that? When you're asking the question, what you're asking a question about nature's nature's a philosophical term nature. When we're asked the question, what is question about nature? It's the wetness of something. Fish have fish nature. They act a certain way. They swim and breathe water. Okay. Birds have bird nature. They have feathers. They lay eggs. Men have human nature means we have a body and an immortal soul. Okay. So we can walk and talk and laugh and think and hear and so forth. Okay. In ordinary language, nature answers the question. What is it? What is it? And it also answers the question. What can it do? So nature, what is it? What can it do? That's what we mean by nature person. We're in that cabin in the woods, we hear knock on the door.
Speaker 0 00:05:19 You don't go. What's that? Is that a tree? Is that a mountain lion? A bear. Nobody says that. You say who's there. It's a completely different question. We already have an idea. We've narrowed down the nature. That's why it's creepy. If you open the door and there's nobody there, you don't see anybody. That's why it'd be shocking. You know, somebody's knocking the door to say, who's there. Who's there not what's that. Cause we already know we're dealing with someone with a human nature right there. When we hear somebody knocking at the door, we ask the question who we're asking a question about a person, a nature, determines what something is and what it can do. But a person that who's knocking that's who's doing a particular thing. Take an example. What are we? We've got human nature. That means we have a body and immortal soul, but we're all different persons.
Speaker 0 00:06:01 I'm a different person than you. Who's talking, I'm talking. Who's listening. Well, hopefully you are. But, uh, so, so those are, we have a nature. So it gives us the ability to talk and to listen, to, to think and so forth. But your nature doesn't do anything. You do something. That's the person. Okay. One other important point. Okay. Uh, persons have rational. Natures persons have a rational nature. That means persons can know and love. Persons can know love. There's three kinds of persons. They're human persons. We can know in love. There are angelic persons they can know and love. And there are divine persons. Okay? Human angelic, divine person. So nature tells us what is it? What can it do? Person tells a who is it? Who's doing it. Okay. Again, nature tells it, what is it? What can it do? Person tells us who is it?
Speaker 0 00:06:51 Who's actually doing it. And remember mystery is some kind of inexhaustible truth of our religion that we can never completely understand, but we can keep drawing more and more out of as we meditate on it. Even if please go, we get to heaven and we can keep contemplating, okay, that's your view. Let's get started. The first mystery, the mystery of the most Holy Trinity we heard in today's gospel in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God st. John, the apostle is writing about the mystery. The most Holy Trinity there. Now we look at this every Trinity Sunday, but since it's the central mystery of our faith, it bears another look. Plato had two excellent questions. He wondered if there's one God, what do you think about? And if there's one God, whom does he love? What does God think about? And who does he love first? What does God think about? God has an idea, but he only has one idea.
Speaker 0 00:07:53 He already knows everything. He isn't going to forget anything. He's God, he knows everything. He isn't gonna forget anything. He isn't going to learn anything. He has one idea. He only has one idea. It can never change is an eternal unchanging idea. He certainly is going to learn anything. He certainly isn't going to forget anything. God is infinite. That's a fancy word. Which means no limits, no limits whatsoever. Which means he's the only infinite being that is who that can be. There. Can't be two limitless beings. One would be a limit on the other. Now you can think about that later. We want to keep track of this. Keep track of what we're going to get lost here. Okay? Anyway, God is infinite and he has an infinite intellect. Now the only thing that an infinite mind could find that would even be worth thinking about is infinite being, what does that mean? It means that the idea that God has in his infinite mind, his ID has of himself. It can't change. His idea is eternal as he is. He didn't suddenly think of it. Not like our ideas doesn't change our ideas. Roll along. We call it discursive reasoning. His doesn't. Here's another extraordinary thing. The idea that God has of himself must be absolutely perfect. Why? Because he knows everything. What does that mean? That means that whatever's in God must also be in his idea.
Speaker 0 00:09:29 Whatever is it. God must be in his idea of himself. Whatever's in God's idea of himself. Must be absolutely in exactly the same as it is in himself. Otherwise he would not have a clear idea of himself. That's contradictory. Okay. Since he's God, he knows everything whatever's in, God must be in an ISE in his idea of himself. And it must be exactly the same in his idea as it is in himself. Okay? Whatever sin, God must be in this idea of himself. And it must be exactly the same and his idea as it is in himself. Otherwise God wouldn't know everything about himself, which is impossible. Now that's so much different than our kind of ideas. It's impossible to imagine, but we don't want to worry whether we can imagine that we can understand things without being able to imagine them perfectly parenthetical remark.
Speaker 0 00:10:16 It's like in geometry, when you're a kid seventh grade, you'll you start learning whatever age you are. You start learning about geometric points. You can keep sharpening that pencil sharp as you want. No matter what you do. When you put a little dot on the paper, it's going to have some spread. You can't imagine that's a pitcher. You can imagine a dot point with no spread, but you can understand it in our intellects can understand spiritual things, but our imagination can't help make your material pictures so you can make pictures of God. You can't help that, but they're wrong. Don't worry about that. Our imagination is for dealing with the material world. God is pure spirit. When you make a picture of something spiritual, don't let it confuse you. It doesn't mean it's bad to have a picture. Just don't let it confuse you. It's just the same when you finally realize, all right, it doesn't matter how sharp I make the point.
Speaker 0 00:11:01 That's never going to be a geometric point. I know what as you metric point is, but I can't make a picture of it. I can't help heaven. I have a little black.in my head. Anytime I think about a point, but I know that doesn't have any spread. Okay. Back to this, alright, God, whatever's in God must be in his idea of himself. And it must be exactly the same in his idea as it is in himself. Otherwise he wouldn't know everything about himself. Okay? Now it gets even more interesting. Any idea that we might have is a thing or ideas or things. Okay? Our idea of truth is a thing. Our idea of justice, as a thing, that's not true with God. Why not? Well, because whatever's in God must be in his idea of himself and such. It must, since it must be exactly the same in his idea as it is in himself.
Speaker 0 00:11:48 That means it since God can own love. His idea could know and love since God can know and love. So idea can know and love. In other words, his idea is not a thing. Things can't know and love. Persons can own love his idea of himself as a person. There's more ideas don't just float off in space somewhere, huh? They don't just drift off out of your mind and go floating around outside a thinker. A thought is in the mind of the thinker. So this one idea of God has to be in the same identical nature as the thinker. Okay? So God's idea of himself as a person, but it's in the same nature. What does that mean? It means that God conceives within his own infinite nature, a perfect infinite idea, which, because it is an idea is completely within his nature. And because it's a perfect idea of himself completely contained his nature.
Speaker 0 00:12:43 And his idea God's idea of himself is an eternal unchanging idea. It's an eternal unchanging word. The thinker is the first person, the most Holy Trinity, the father and the idea, the word is the second person most Holy Trinity, the son. So what does God think about? He thinks about himself. Pause for a sec when God wants to know what you or I are doing, he doesn't, it's not like he does some like in the cartoons, you know, opens up heaven, looks down through the clouds and says, you know, what's father Wolf doing right now. He looks at himself. He knows everything. He knows in himself what I'm doing. He looks at himself to figure out what I'm doing. He looks at himself to figure out what you're doing. It's dramatically different than us. If I want to know what you're doing after, look over and say, what are you doing right now?
Speaker 0 00:13:29 Now with God, he looks at himself. Okay. Back to what does God think about? He thinks about himself in the beginning was the word. And the word is with God. And the word was, God, all right. So God thinks about himself, but whom does he love? When we have a beautiful idea, we can admire it. We can dwell on it. We can even love it. But still it's only an idea. It's only a thing. It's something we've conceived. We can love it. But our idea can't return. Our love God's idea of himself. They turn a word. It's not some thing, but it's some one, the eternal word is a person. The is a person, the second person, the most Holy Trinity, just as God is absolutely infinitely perfect and worthy all love. So also his idea is absolutely an infinitely perfect and worthy, all love.
Speaker 0 00:14:15 And so the thinker, the father and the word, the son love each other with a perfect and infinite love. Each person pours himself out totally towards other, holding nothing back. And this love that the father and the son have for each other is eternal. It's unchanging. It's infinite has every perfection they do. It's a person, someone it's the third person, the most Holy Trinity, of course, the love that the father and son have for one another it's it's infinite, totally fills their whole nature, producing a third person from all eternity. But again, this person is within the same divine nature. So the second person, the word, the son proceeds from the father and is generated by way of the intellect and the third person, the Holy spirit proceeds from the father and the son by an act of the will. One divine nature express totally as thinker express, totally as word expressed, totally as love three divine persons, one divine nature.
Speaker 0 00:15:14 What are you? It's a question about nature. God, who are you a question about person, father, son, Holy spirit, three distinct persons, but not three separate persons, three distinct persons, but not three separate persons. These three distinct persons, the divine persons do not share the divine nature. They don't share the divine nature. Each one possesses it. Totally. The father possesses it. Totally. The son possesses it. Totally the Holy spirit possesses it. Totally. All right. Remember a mystery is an inexhaustible truth that we can never completely understand, but we can keep drawing more and more out as we contemplate it. All right. Nature tells us what is it? What can it do? Person tells us who is it? Who's doing it. God's idea. You turn a word as a person just as God is absolutely infinitely perfect and worthy all love. So also as ideas, absolutely infinitely perfect and worthy of all love.
Speaker 0 00:16:08 And so the father and his idea, the word the son love each other with this perfect and infinite love each person pours himself totally out towards the other, holding nothing back. And this love that the father and the son have for each other's eternal unchanging, infinite person, the Holy ghost, the third person, the most blessed attorney, the third person, the word, the son proceeds from the father generated by way the intellect, the second person, the third person, the Holy spirit proceeds from the father. Son by way of the will. God is three distinct divine persons, but not three separate persons. These three divine persons do not share the divine nature. Each one possesses it. Totally. The father possesses it. Totally. The son possesses a totally the Holy ghost possesses it totally. Don't worry. If you can't picture our imaginations, can't make a picture of it.
Speaker 0 00:16:58 The blessed in heaven contemplated. That's what the divine is. That's what, when you get the beatific vision, please God get the beatific vision in heaven. You get a contemplate, the most blessed attorney, but we'll never be able to comprehend it. We're talking about something infinite. We have finite intellects. Okay. It doesn't mean we're not supposed to know about it. Think about it. God revealed it to us so that we think about this mystery. Okay. Second mystery is the incarnation. Now we've seen it. The word is the second person. The most blessed Trinity, the son just as we heard in today's gospel in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God and word was God. Now also we heard today all to the gospel and the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. And we saw his glory. The glory is of the only begotten, the father full of grace and truth.
Speaker 0 00:17:43 Let's take a closer look at this. The word became flesh. The word became a man who became a man who remember when we asked a question who were asking a question about a person who became man, a divine person, a divine person, the word, the second person, the most bus attorney, God, the son became mad. God became man. That means he took upon himself human nature, which means he took a body and a soul. So when we're speaking to the incarnate word, we're speaking of one person, a divine person who has two natures as eternal word from all eternity. He always had a divine nature. And then when he became flesh, he took up another nature, a human nature, a body and a soul. So from all eternity, he always had the divine nature. And in time at the moment of the incarnation at the nuncio nation, he B he took on a human nature, body and soul.
Speaker 0 00:18:36 And of course it's revealed on Christmas. The moment of the birth of his birth. Okay. Our little Lord, Jesus has one person, a divine person, the second person, the most blessed Trinity with two natures, the divine nature and human nature. So if you asked if we asked him who are, you he'd have one answer. God, the son, okay. But if we asked, what are you? He'd have two answers. He's God and he's man. Okay. So our Lord has one who and two what's, one who, and to what's, he's the one person with two natures. He's divine person with divine nature and human nature. He's true. God and true, man. Remember that nature also determines what we can do since the person is the one doing it. His nature enables him to do whatever he's doing. Our little or Jesus has two source of action. Since he has a divine nature, he can do everything that belongs with being God.
Speaker 0 00:19:27 Since he has a human nature, he can do everything that goes along with being a man. But in either case, it's only one person that's doing these things and that person has God. So who was born in the stable God, the son who was laying in the manger, God, the son who's married. The mother of God, the son who were the angels singing about God, the son who did the shepherds come to see God, the son, the word became flesh quick review. Then we'll close. We've seen nature tells us what is it? What can it do? We've seen person tells us who is it? Who's actually doing it. We've taken a brief look at the two central mysteries of our religion, the mystery, the most Holy Trinity and the mystery of the incarnation. We look at the mystery the most Holy Trinity, we've seen that God's idea of himself, the eternal word as a person.
Speaker 0 00:20:11 And we've seen that just as God is absolutely infinitely perfect and worthy of all love. So also as ideas, absolutely, and infinitely perfect and worthy of all love. And so the father and his idea of the word, the son love each other with a perfect and infinite love. Each person pours himself out totally towards the other, holding nothing back. And this love that the father and son have for each other is eternal unchanging, infinite person, the Holy spirit, the third person, the most blessed Trinity, the second person that word, the son proceeds from the father and is generated by way the intellect, the third person, the Holy spirit proceeds from the father and the by way of the will. God is three distinct divine persons, but not three separate persons. These three divine persons do not share the divine nature. Each person possesses a totally the father possesses a totally the son possessed totally the Holy spirit possesses it.
Speaker 0 00:21:00 Totally. And we looked at the mystery. The incarnation we've seen that the second person, most bus truly became mad. They took upon himself, a human nature, body and soul. We've seen when we speak of the incarnate word, we're speaking of one divine person with two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. We've seen if our Lord were asked, who are you? He'd have one answer. God, the son, if we were asked, what are you? He'd have two answers on God. And I meant cause he has two natures. He's one person with two natures. True God, true, man. This means that everything, our little Lord Jesus, he has two sorts of action for anything he does because of his divine nature. He can do everything that goes along with being God, creating the world, holding things in existence because of his human nature. He can do everything that goes along with being a man. But in either case it's only one person that's doing these things and that person has got. So we looked at the who and what if today's feast, let's close with taking a quick look at when, where and why? When in the fullness of time, 752nd year from the foundation of city, Rome, 42nd year of the rule of Augustus on a cold December night, December 25th, year one AED were in a stable outside Bethlehem. Why, why would God become a man?
Speaker 0 00:22:11 Why did the word become flesh?
Speaker 0 00:22:15 Saint Paul says Christ. Jesus came into this world to save sinners. St. John Chris system says there's no other cause for the incarnation than this. God saw us fallen, abject oppressed by the tyranny of death. And he had mercy st. John said, God, so loved the world as to give his only begotten son that whosoever believe with an IM may not perish, but may have life everlasting for God sent not his son in the world to judge the world. Was it a world might be saved by him. The Lord himself said, the son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost. So why did God become a man? Because he loves us and he wanted to save us. A religion is a story of a love affair. It's a story of a love affair. God loved us first and we don't deserve it.
