EASTER

The Beauty and Truth of the Catholic Church
Vol. IV
B. Herder, St. Louis, MO, 1816

Fr. Edward Jones
With Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat, 1916

Sermon XIV:
Christ Our Redeemer, High-Priest and King

"But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.------HAB. 3. 18

"But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus"------this is the joyful cry of the prophet Habacuc, who lived six hundred years before the coming of the Redeemer. The prophet speaks here not only in his own name, but in the name of the whole ancient world, of the Saints and of the just of the Old Testament, who awaited with earnest longing for the Savior, and stormed Heaven with their prayers in order to hasten His coming. Moreover, the prophet united his hope, his joy, with the hope and the joy of the Old Testament on account of the coming of the Savior, yes, he rejoiced in anticipation of God His Savior Whom the Heavenly Father had promised in Paradise, Whom the patriarchs had announced, and of Whom the prophets had foretold such glorious things, and Who was the Expectation of all nations.

Even if the world had offered the prophet the most alluring pleasures, if it had promised him honors and riches------all these would have possessed no value in his eyes. He recognized only one joy, only one delight, which surpassed all earthly joys a thousand-fold; he rejoiced in the Lord, and joyed in God His Savior.

How wonderful must not Jesus the Savior of the world appear to him and to all the just of the Old Testament, that they, in anticipation of His coming, rejoiced with such exceeding great joy! And yet, they had not seen Him nor heard His teaching, nor known His suffering, nor seen His Church; neither had they offered His Sacrifice, nor received His Sacraments! But we, my beloved, have experienced all, and hence our joy and delight should be united with that of the just of the Old Testament, with that of the blessed in Heaven, and all Catholic Christians on earth in order to truly glorify Jesus. We have indeed sufficient reason, for Jesus is our Redeemer, High Priest and King, and today we shall meditate on this important truth, in order that we may learn to know our Redeemer better, and to love Him more, and to share in His Redemption, His Sacrifice and His Kingdom. Our Savior Himself says: "Now this is eternal life; that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent" [John 17, 3].

O Jesus, assist us with Thy grace!

1. Jesus, the Redeemer of the world! Everything in Heaven and on earth refers to Him. He is the sublime subject of the Providence, wisdom and justice of God. On His account the Angels were created, and if some found grace and bliss and others were cast into Hell, this took place, solely and alone, on account of Jesus Christ. For His sake, the earth and Paradise, for His sake, man was created and adorned with grace.

It was on His account that Noe was saved in the deluge, Abraham was called to be His forbear, the Israelites became the Chosen People, and were guided by God. All the events of Jewish history, all the sufferings and punishments inflicted upon the Jews,-----everything was on account of the Savior.

On account of Jesus, on account of His merits and Redemption that were foreseen, did our first parents, after their fall, find forgiveness and mercy. His suffering and merits were communicated to mankind from the beginning; they awakened in thousands, at the time of the deluge, the grace of contrition, and consequently; saved their souls. His foreseen Redemption opened Limbo, where the just of the Old Testament found an asylum, until the Redeemer in His Own Person came to them after His death on the Cross and freed them.

Yes, my beloved, He is the fullness of Redemption, and whoever from Adam down to the last human soul has been saved, could be saved, solely and alone, through Jesus Christ our Savior. All have the Savior alone to thank, Who has redeemed them from the slavery of death and the Devil. Jesus Christ is the King and Head of all creation, both visible and invisible, of Heaven and of earth; for His sake all things were created, all things are preserved and directed, all things redeemed. He is the beginning and end of all things, the pivotal point around which all nations and ages and men revolve. The history of the world circles around Him either in His favor or against Him. Just as the earth moves around the sun, so the spiritual world in Heaven and mankind on earth circle around Jesus Christ. He is, according to the words of St. Paul:

"The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all things, the heir of all the ages, and the Father of the future time. Jesus Christ yesterday, today, the same forever."

The battle which in the beginning of time, even before the creation of man, took place in Heaven between the good and bad Angels, was a battle for and against the Redeemer. It ended by the thrusting of the bad Angels into Hell, and the entrance of the good Angels into bliss and eternal redemption. This battle for or against the Redeemer continued in paradise, in the pagan world, and among the Jewish people. It is continued to the present hour before our own eyes. What the world saw after the coming of Our Divine Savior in persecutions, wars, revolutions, false teachings and bloody persecutions of the Church-----all this is, in the last analysis, a battle for or against the Redeemer. If dynasties have been destroyed, powerful kingdoms overthrown, and great battles have decided the lot of whole nations, the final reason for it all is Our Divine Savior, because they have risen against His Church or were unfaithful to Him.

Today, my beloved, we behold the world more than ever before separated into two hostile camps, and everywhere is heard the cry: For Christ and His Church, or, Against Christ and His Church. And, as on the day of judgment, the people will be separated, so, too, Our Divine Savior separates them even now, the nations and the governments into good and bad, into faithful and unfaithful, into those that love Him and those that hate Him. He is, indeed, the Beginning and the End of all things, the Heir of all ages, and the Father of future times. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, the same forever. He is the Redeemer.

2. But Jesus Christ is not only the Redeemer of the world, of all who believe in Him, but is also our High Priest, Who by His Bloody Sacrifice on the Cross, atoned to the Heavenly Father for our sins, and made satisfaction to God for us. In Him was fulfilled the dream of Jacob, who saw a ladder reaching from the earth to Heaven, on which the Angels of God were ascending and descending. Jesus is this ladder which unites Heaven with the earth, and on which the Angels descend and men ascend to Heaven. He came to free us from the immense guilt of sin, and to lead us into the kingdom of grace.

As a matter of fact the whole human race groaned under this burden of guilt; even nature itself sighed under the yoke of sin, and longed for its redemption. Hence, we see everywhere after the fall, the longing for reconciliation. The Jews and the pagans felt the same effect, the breaking of the bond that had united them to God, the breaking of the chain that had united earth to Heaven. They felt that there was an immeasurable chasm between God and them, an infinite debt that they owed to Him. But they felt, too, and that simultaneously, that this debt of guilt could be taken away only through a reconciliation, and that a reconciliation could be attained only through sacrifice. Penetrated with this consciousness, we behold, my beloved, that all mankind, beginning with Cain and Abel, the forefathers, the Jews and pagan nations for four thousand years offering the sacrifice of animals, which were killed and their blood poured out, in the place of men, who felt themselves guilty, in order that God might be appeased thereby. These sacrifices were the center of their religion. There was not a religion, no matter how idolatrous, without sacrifice; they were the signs of atonement, a sign of the yearning and desire for reconciliation. They were the sign of all, pagans and Jews, that at some time a most wonderful sacrifice would be offered which would effect a reconciliation, and that a Divine High Priest would one day appear and offer this Sacrifice. Therefore St. John so beautifully calls Jesus Christ "The Lamb of God, Who was slain from the beginning," to Which all sacrifices of the world pointed, and in Which all were completed. Consequently, those sacrifices of old had value in so far that they were types or figures of the eternal and adorable Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Finally, after four thousand years, the hour of atonement struck on the clock of eternity; the Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ appeared, Who said through David and later St. Paul these words: "Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldst not; but a body thou hast fitted to Me: then said I: behold I come . . . that I should do Thy will, O God" [Heb. 10, 5, 7]. For this reason, Jesus Christ appeared on earth, a Sacrifice of atonement, poor and humble. He offered Himself in the Temple at Jerusalem forty days after His birth as a Sacrifice to His Heavenly Father. In the river Jordan He numbered Himself among the sinners and received the baptism of penance as a debtor, in order that later He might, by His Own Blood, wash away the sins of the world. Adam sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, and brought misery into the world; therefore Our Divine Savior fasted forty days in the wilderness to atone for this fault, and as a preparatory sacrifice to that of the Cross.

Jesus Christ wished to offer this marvelous sacrifice as the Eternal High Priest in Jerusalem, where alone it was allowed to offer sacrifice, and where for centuries the figurative sacrifices had been offered. Our Divine Savior chose intentionally the Paschal Time which reminded the Jews, by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, of their liberation from the bondage of Egypt; so, too, should the true Lamb of God save man from the misery of sin and the slavery of Satan.

For this reason, we see, my beloved, how Jesus, as the Eternal High Priest, entered the Garden of Olives to begin His Bloody Sacrifice. Adam had sinned in a garden, and so the Savior desired to begin His satisfaction in a garden, and, on that account, He went to the Grove of Olives to begin His Passion, for the branches of the olive tree signify peace and atonement. Like Isaac He carried the wood for His own Sacrifice up Mt. Calvary, and, nailed to the Cross as the Lamb of God, His Blood slowly flowed down upon the earth, while at the same moment the Paschal Lamb of the Jews was slain by the High Priest in the Temple. Dying the Savior cried out: "It is consummated!" And truly, with this Sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus as the Eternal High Priest, completed all the sacrifices of the world and brought atonement.

We see, therefore, on the heights of Calvary how the Cross raises itself from earth to Heaven, just as if the earth offered this eternal wonderful sacrifice to Heaven for its complete satisfaction and atonement, and as if the Cross itself wished to establish, by this sacrifice, peace between Heaven and earth. Its crossbeam extends towards the ends of the earth, towards the North and the South, and reaches the Jews and the heathens, the whole human race, in order to gather them into its embrace, and to unite them into the kingdom of grace. Fastened in the earth and born by the trembling earth, the earth too should by the Sacrifice of the Cross be purified from the curse of sin and share in the Redemption. Yes, from the Cross streamed forth a Divine power and a Divine light, which poured itself out over the whole world, enlightened the past, present and future, and reaches even unto Heaven. Its power opened the gates of Limbo, opened Heaven, blessed Purgatory, shook Hell to its very foundations and broke the fetters of the power of the Evil One over the human race. From the foot of the Cross, the history of the new way should be begun, to return everything to God and make everything subject to God. Enlightened thus, the world should in future become a reflection of the Divine Life, for "God was indeed in Christ: reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing to them their sins; and He hath placed in us the word of reconciliation" [2 Cor. 5, 19].

From the moment that Jesus Christ, according to the expression of the Apostle St. Paul, entered into the Holy of Holies with His Own Blood as the Eternal High Priest and opened Heaven for all mankind. from that moment, the veil of the Temple was rent asunder. The Holy of Holies which until that time no profane eye had penetrated, and which only once each year the Jewish High Priest was permitted to enter with the blood of the Paschal Lamb, was disclosed to the eyes of all. The Temple was later destroyed, the sacrifices of the Jews ceased to be offered, their priests and high priests have died out and disappeared. Jesus Christ is now the true High Priest, Who constantly offers Himself for us in the Unbloody Sacrifice, and brings the adoration of the faithful to the throne of God.

The prophet Malachy foretold this glorious Sacrifice which, from now on, should bless the world and fill it with grace: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation; for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts" [Mal. 1, 11]. And, in fact, through Jesus Christ as our Eternal High Priest, all nations, all tongues, are united at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in one Divine worship, in one language of adoration and praise of God. Through Jesus Christ, Who constantly offers Himself in our midst, is offered up to God every prayer, every devotion, every merit, every work of penance and every suffering of the faithful. It is beautifully expressed in the glorious song of praise in the Mass before the consecration, in the Preface, when the priest admonishes the faithful with the words: "Lift up your hearts," to praise God, and then continues the song of praise to God the omnipotent and eternal: through Jesus Christ, through Whom the Angels and the Archangels, and all the hosts of Heaven praise and glorify God, and we with them form only one choir of praise, which cries out: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth, Heaven and earth are full of thy glory."

Yes, even inanimate creation with its multiplicity of beings, joins in this song of praise: "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth. The heavens show forth the glory of God and the firmament declareth the work of His hands" [Ps. 8, Ps. 18]. The whole of creation is, as it were, a mighty organ and Jesus Christ is the Master Who plays it, and as the Eternal High Priest accompanies it with His voice, and gives to it the true expression of the praise due to the Creator. Therefore the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the center of religion, the expression of the highest adoration, the source of all graces, of every blessing and all consecration both of man and of creation; the pure, holy Sacrifice, through which from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same the name of God is great among the nations; and Jesus Christ is the Eternal High Priest Who offers this Sacrifice. For this reason the priest says after the consecration whilst he makes the sign of the Cross three times over the Chalice and the Sacred Host: "Through Him, and With Him, and In Him, is to Thee God the Father Almighty, in unity with the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory."

3. But Jesus Christ is also King. As He fulfilled His office as High Priest with His Bloody Sacrifice on the Cross, and will continue it in the Unbloody Sacrifice until the end of time, so, too, He began His kingly office after His death on the Cross. As King He held His triumphal entry into Limbo in order to free the Souls of the just, and as the first fruits of His victory in the battle against the prince of this world, against Satan and his kingdom, He took them with Him into Heaven. His second triumphal journey was from the grave where He overcame death, the horror of man, and with His glorified body, as the second fruit of His victory, rose from the dead. His third and most glorious triumphal journey was His triumphal entry into Heaven, in order, as man, to take possession of His Heavenly Kingdom, where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father in the constant possession of the highest power and glory, over everything in Heaven and on earth. There the choirs of Angels, and the hosts of the Saints, and the blessed pay Him homage as their Heavenly King, and all knees on earth must bow at His name, and all tongues confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Therefore St. Paul exclaims: "Now to the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever!" [1 Tim. 1, 17]

Now when will be the fourth and last triumphal journey of Jesus as King of Heaven and earth; when but on the day of judgment, when the final act of His kingly office on earth takes place? He will then come to judge the living and the dead, the just and the sinner. On that day the whole human race, Heaven and even Hell, will bow the knee before Him and confess:

"Thou art just, O Lord, and just are thy judgments!" Our Divine Savior will then show Himself in all the majesty of His kingly office as Judge, and that day will be the day of His triumph, when no sinner, no godless man, will blaspheme Him any more, but all will tremble and all will worship Him, the elect and the reprobate.

<> Our Divine Savior, my beloved, founded also a kingdom on earth, and that kingdom is His Holy Church, the kingdom of truth and grace. The Pope is His vicegerent. The powers of Hell, godless princes and governments may attack this kingdom and make war on the Church, but all in vain; they will never overcome it. Jesus Christ is the invisible King of this kingdom, and all the faithful are, according to the expression of the Apostle St. Peter, a chosen race, a holy people, whom our Savior knows how to protect with His royal power. He Himself said: "All power is given to me in Heaven and on earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world" [Matt. 28, 18-20]. The Catholic Church is His glorious kingdom on earth; it will remain until the end of days when the eternal Heavenly Kingdom will begin, and all the faithful will be its citizens, and will become participators in the eternal glory of Jesus Christ in His Heavenly Kingdom.

4. We now, therefore, comprehend in meditating on all that Jesus has become to us, the joyful exclamation of the prophet Habacuc: "I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will joy in God my Jesus." But this prophet is not the only one who rejoiced in the Divine Redeemer; with him rejoiced all the just of the Old Testament and all the Saints of the new. How wonderfully this joy was expressed by the purest and holiest soul, the Blessed Virgin Mary! She expressed the joy of the whole Christian world, and her song of praise re-echoes from Heaven to earth: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." Yes, this is the joyful utterance of the most sublime knowledge that any created being has ever had of Jesus, Our Divine Savior.

Mary did not rejoice because she was chosen to be the Mother of our Lord, whom all generations should call blessed, no, she rejoiced in God her Savior; for what she now is, for what she will eternally be in the brightness of her glory, she has Him and Him alone to be thankful to. She rejoiced in Him as her Savior, High Priest and Eternal King, Who redeemed her also, Who sacrificed Himself for her, and governs for her Heaven and earth. She sees the world re- deemed in Him; she sees the millions of souls that have been saved, the hosts of saints, the choirs of the blessed, and, therefore, she rejoices in God her Savior.

Thus every Christian soul rejoices in God its Savior, its Eternal High Priest and heavenly King, at the thought of the Redemption, of the Heavenly graces, of the eternal bliss, of the glorious sacrifice, of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, of the Christian faith and the Catholic Church. Thus rejoice all of the truly faithful in God their Redeemer, through Whom alone comes to them every mercy of God and salvation.

We too, my beloved, should unite our voices in this glorious Hosanna, and constantly praise Jesus in life and in death, in thoughts, words and deeds, as our Redeemer, High Priest and King, in order that we may continue for all eternity this song of praise in Heavenly bliss: " I will rejoice in the Lord and I will joy in God my Jesus." Amen.

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