FS #34: Dogmatic Christocentrism, Part 6 – Jul 06 – Homily – Fr Terrance

 

Fr Terrance gives the homily at Bloomington, IN on Jul 06, 2023, where he continues his series on Franciscan Spirituality, explaining how the idea of Christ as the one mediator is central to the doctrinal Christocentric basis of this spirituality.

Jesus, a mediator like no other, stands as the cornerstone of our relationship with God. In the book of Father Ciccarelli, he emphasizes the harmony, order, and unity that is present in God's divine works, all leading to the mystery of Christ. We recognize Jesus as a divine person embodying both human and divine nature, sometimes discussed as God, sometimes as a human. His role is dynamic, influencing all creatures due to his unique perfection and mediation. Christ's causality and primacy encompass all of God's plan and intention. As per Paul's teaching in Colossians 1:18 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1?18, Christ holds primacy in everything.

His primacy and universality also manifests in reality. He's the firstborn of every creature (Galatians 4:4 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/galatians/4?4) and merits all graces, even those experienced by Adam and angels. As the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1?15), he serves as the universal revealer and peacemaker, using his blood (Colossians 1:20 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1?20). His powerful mediation is echoed in 1 Timothy 2:5 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1timothy/2?5.

God's free gifts to Christ - his predestination, hypostatic union, absolute and universal primacy - all merited our existence due to Christ's response. His first act of love, adoration, and submission to God earned us nature, grace, and glory. As a mediator, he merited our existence (nature), sanctification (grace), and our place in paradise (glory). He tells us in John 15:5 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/15?5, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." He merited everything, even our existence.

In God's mind, the order of importance is reversed: glory comes before grace, and grace before nature. But in reality, it unfolds as nature, grace, then glory. In terms of operations, Christ as the creator gives way to Christ as the sanctifier, who, in turn, is ordered to Christ, the glorifier.

Reflecting on these concepts, we realize our indebtedness to Jesus for everything - not just our redemption, but everything. We'll delve more into his mediation roles in future reflections, praying for understanding with the Mediatrix of all graces, Our Lady. Praise be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.

00:00 – Introduction
00:10 – Franciscan Spirituality and Christocentric Foundation
00:16 – Christ as Unique Mediator
01:25 – The Dual Nature of Christ: Divine and Human
01:50 – The Dynamic and Operational Primacy of Christ
02:22 – Explanation of Christ's Primacy and Universal Causality
03:03 – The Role of Christ as the Perfect Exemplar
03:40 – Real and Ideal Causality of Christ's Primacy
04:03 – Christ as the Meritorious Cause of Every Grace
04:23 – Christ as the Universal Revealer and Reconciler
05:00 – Understanding Christ's Merits and Their Universality
05:28 – The Impact of Jesus' First Act of Love
06:09 – Christ's Role as Mediator of Nature, Grace, and Glory
07:09 – Harmony and Hierarchy between Nature, Grace, and Glory
08:13 – Christ's Function as Creator, Sanctifier, and Glorifier
08:51 – Reflections on the Profound Implications of Christ's Mediation
09:12 – Preview and Conclusion

Ave Maria!

This is a continuation of his series of homilies on Franciscan Spirituality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNN151zTIO4&list=PLejh_e0-LN4xgMllKrzSasL2Hljd5BHom

The material for this series comes primarily from Ciccarelli, Marciano M., "I capisaldi della spiritualità francescana" in Italian, which translates as "The Cornerstones of Franciscan Spirituality". No English translations exist at the time of this recording.

Mass: St. Maria Goretti - Opt Mem
Readings: Thursday 13th Week of Ordinary Time - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070623.cfm
1st: gen 22:1-19
Resp: psa 115:1-6, 8-9
Gsp: mat 9:1-8

More on the Readings: https://airmaria.com/r?m=1103&r=1435

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