OPENING PRAYER (WELCOME GOD INTO OUR STUDY)
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending us your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world. With grateful hearts, send us your Spirit to enlighten our minds and enflame our hearts to know and love your Son more deeply through our study of the teachings of your holy Catholic Church. Amen
JESUS CHRIST SAVIOR OF THE WORLD
CATECHESIS (STUDY THE FAITH)
REFERENCES FROM CATECHISM OF CATHOLIC CHURCH 2ND EDITION
CCC 422 – 429 The Person of Jesus Christ
CCC 430 – 435 The Name of Jesus
CCC 441 – 445 The Only Son of God
CCC 446 – 451 Jesus the Lord
“And the angel Gabriel came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”…”and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and you will call his name, Jesus.”
…”and Mary said to the angel, “How can that be since I have no husband?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Luke 1:28, 31, 34-35
JESUS IS SON OF GOD. SON OF MARY.
TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN.
The Son of God worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind; he acted with a human will; and he loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like us in all things, except sin.
Vatican II, Gaudium Spes #22
It is true Jesus was a human being like us in all things but for sin. But we must not diminish His divinity by placing a disproportionate emphasis on his humanity.
. There are a lot of great men in history. We revere Abraham Lincoln but we worship Jesus because He is God. .Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Most Holy Trinity.
MOST HOLY TRINITY FATHER SON HOLY SPIRIT
In Hebrew, the name Jesus means, “God saves.” The name, “Jesus,” expresses both his identity and his mission. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow.”
It was because He was God and Man that his sacrificial offering on Calvary could redeem us from our sins and restore us again to life in the Father.
Christ is not Jesus’ last name! The word Christ comes from the Greek and is a translation of the Hebrew, Messiah, meaning “anointed one.” The name Christ became proper to Jesus because he perfectly accomplished the divine mission that His Father gave him.
Another title Jesus goes by is Lord. In the Old Testament God’s name in Hebrew was Yahweh. That Hebrew name is translated in the New Testament into the Greek as Kyrios, and then Lord into English. At his birth, Jesus was announced by the angels to the shepherds, “To you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11!
CLOSING PRAYER (PRAY THE FAITH)
All praise and thanksgiving be given to Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. At the name of Jesus, every knee should bend and every tongue confess, Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, in the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
LIFE APPLICATION (LIVE THE FAITH)
- Jesus became man to live among us, to reveal to us what it means to be sons and daughters of the Father. What transformations do I think I have to make in my life to pattern my life more after the life of Jesus?
2 Why is it important to me to express my faith in Jesus’ divinity as well as his humanity?
3. When I meditate on the name of Jesus, what kinds of thoughts and images come to my mind?
This is a beautiful meditation on Jesus. I am disturbed by the daily news and the TV reports. I want to help spread the message that Jesus is real and with us. I must do my part to speak out about Him. Help me Jesus.