A Beacon Of Light… Peter Answered: “You Are The Messiah”

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.

(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)

• + + Welcome back! In last week’s column, we reflected on who the Father is. We were given a glimpse into the attributes of God, the Father, that help us to believe in Him. This week we will continue on to the second part of the creed connected to Christ.
  On September 12 we celebrated the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Gospel for that day was taken from the eighth chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel where St. Peter emphatically declares who Jesus is:
  “Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah’” (Mark 8:27-29).
  This question will be the premise for our discussion this week. If Jesus came and stood before us today and asked: “Who do you say I am?” how would we answer Him? Would we be like St. Peter and recognize Him as the Christ?
  To help us answer this question, let’s look at what we say when we profess the Creed: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.”
  What are we saying when we profess these lines? These lines affirm our belief in Jesus Christ. They also remind us that we recognize the events of Jesus’ life existing in history. In the same way we believe God the Father exists, we believe Jesus Christ to exist in time. The Catechism reminds us of the need to make this connection in n. 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,’ ‘descended from heaven,’ and ‘came in the flesh.’ 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’” (CCC, n. 423).
  Christ’s “coming in the flesh” happened in time to be a sign for all the world to see: “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.’ This is ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’: 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’.”
  Our belief in the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, has a deeper meaning. In professing the Creed we say we believe in Christ. Christ means “anointed” and is translated from the Greek meaning Messiah. This title is proper to Jesus because He was “anointed” and consecrated by the Father to redeem the world. This was proclaimed to the shepherds: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
  Understanding what is meant by the phrase “begotten of the Father” requires us to return to two moments in Scripture. First we get a glimpse of how the Son is “begotten of the Father” in the Jordan River. It was here Jesus was first revealed as “my beloved.”
  As Jesus arrived at the River Jordan, John the Baptist immediately recognized Jesus. For John the Baptist, there was no doubt who Jesus was: “the anointed one,” the Messiah who was foretold. But in order to signify the humanity of Jesus, and the mission it would play in our redemption, Jesus had to be baptized. After coming out of the River Jordan there was the voice of the Father and he said: “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him” (Matt. 3:17).
  There was a second moment in Scripture that also alludes to the idea of “begotten of the Father.” It happens again at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor with Peter, James, and John. As Jesus was transfigured before them a voice was heard from Heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 17:5).
  The Catechism of the Catholic Church further explains this in n. 444: “Jesus calls himself the ‘only Son of God,’ and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence. He asks for faith in ‘the name of the only Son of God’.”
  The new translation of the Missal uses the word “consubstantial” to denote that the Father and the Son are of the same substance, and confirms their pre-existence together.

Free From Sin

Recognizing the humanity of Jesus in the Creed requires a profession of Mary: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”
We cannot speak of getting to know Jesus, without getting to know Mary. Getting to know Mary goes back to the day of her birth when Saints Anne and Joaquim rejoiced in the birth of their new child. Destined to be the Mother of God, Mary was born “free from sin,” chosen in the moments of creation for this special purpose. This special purpose was manifested at the Annunciation.
It was God’s messenger, the Archangel Gabriel, who revealed God’s plan for man’s redemption. It was by the Holy Spirit Mary conceived the Child Jesus, who would become “incarnate,” the Word Made Flesh.
Now that the revelation of the Son of God was complete, Jesus would begin His public ministry and prepare for His pending Passion, death, and Resurrection. We profess our belief in the final moments of Jesus’ life when we say:
“For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.”

His Kingdom Will Have No End

Knowing that the time was near, Jesus freely and willingly entered into these final moments as a sign of His love for us. He always knew this day would come and he accepted it and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us all. This was also in order that Jesus’ sufferings would forever be part of the concrete history of salvation.
These historical events are celebrated again and again in the Sacred Triduum. Holy Thursday and the Agony in the Garden, Good Friday with the crucifixion and death on the cross, and the Vigil of Easter with the great news of the Resurrection; these celebrations are central to who we are as Catholics. Therefore, they find their way into what we profess as solemnly ours.
The Passion, death, and Resurrection culminate in the glorious Ascension of Christ into Heaven. Jesus returns to where He was at the beginning of time, taking His place at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. Seated on His glorious throne, He awaits His Second Coming again to judge the living and the dead, and to return all things to the Father. Thus His Kingdom will have no end!
Next week we will continue our explanation of the Creed by encountering the Holy Spirit.