Faith That Transforms Us: Reflections on the Creed by Wuerl Cardinal Donald

Author:Wuerl, Cardinal Donald [Wuerl, Cardinal Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Word Among Us Press
Published: 2013-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

A Universal Mission

The Church’s universal mission is clear from the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ ascension. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature,” he tells his disciples in Mark’s Gospel (16:15). In the Acts of the Apostles, we find him saying, “You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth” (1:8). The apostles celebrated this great commission in the most poetic terms: “Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, / Who was manifested in the flesh, / vindicated in the spirit, / seen by angels, / proclaimed to the Gentiles, / believed in throughout the world, / taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).

In the Letter to the Hebrews, the emphasis is more on Jesus’ priesthood. There we read that Jesus is the greatest priest in all of history. The Temple priests offered the blood of bulls and goats; Jesus, the Son of God, offers his own body and blood, and he offers it on our behalf. “For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, . . . but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). Thus, we learn that Jesus ascended into heaven for the same reason he died and rose from the dead. He did it all for our sake: “He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (5:9). It is the Ascension that makes his offering possible, and it also makes it perpetual. The Ascension shows him as the priest who entered the holy place and “offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God” (10:12). This sacrifice, the offering of his body and blood, is what we share whenever we celebrate the Holy Mass. Jesus is the principal celebrant at every Mass, but he invites our participation.

In the mystery of the Ascension, we celebrate the glorification of Christ, the completion and crowning of his work, but in a certain sense, we also celebrate our own willingness to take up that work. We are to be witnesses to everything Christ revealed—everything he himself had received from the Father! Jesus told his friend Nicodemus: “The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven [is above all]. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony” (John 3:31-32).

Jesus came from the Father and revealed to us some things we could never have known. He revealed to us the Father’s name. He taught us who God is and who we are in relationship to God. He also taught us that God loves us in a way that we cannot even begin to imagine. To show us how intense that love was, Jesus was prepared to die for us—to hang on a cross, suffer, and die for us.

All of this was part of his revelation.

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