Catechism Paragraphs
535 – 570
“The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and
inauguration of his mission as God’s suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among
sinners. He is submitting himself
entirely to his Father’s will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death
for the remission of our sins. The
Father’s voice responds to the Son’s acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight
in his Son. At his baptism ‘the heavens
were opened’ – the heavens that Adam’s sin had closed – and the waters were
sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new
creation. 536 Through Baptism the
Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism
anticipates his death and resurrection.
The with Jesus in order to rise with him, to be reborn of water and the
Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved son in the Son and ‘walk in newness
of life.’” 537
“The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the
desert immediately after his baptism by John.
He lives among wild beasts, and angels minister to him. At the end of this time Satan tempts him
three times. Jesus rebuffs these
attacks, which recapitulate the temptations of Adam in Paradise and of Israel
in the desert. 538 The evangelists
indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful
just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfills Israel’s vocation
perfectly: in contrast to those who had
once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as
God’s Servant. Jesus’ victory over the
tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of
obedience of his filial love for the Father.
539 By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church
unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.” 540
“Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into
the ‘family of God.’ By his word,
through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples,
Jesus calls all people to come together around him. ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to myself’ 542
‘For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, sister,
and mother.’ (Mt 12:49) Everyone is
called to enter the kingdom. To enter
it, one must first accept Jesus’ word:
The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field;
those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ
have truly received the kingdom. 543
The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have
accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus
identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward
them the condition for entering his kingdom. (Mt 25:31-46) 544 Through his parables he invites people to
the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the
kingdom, one must give everything. Words
are not enough; deeds are required.” (Mt
21:28-32) 546
“The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent
him. They invite belief in him. Miracles strengthen faith in the One who does
his Father’s works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God.” 548
But why did Jesus work
miracles? He was filled with the power of God’s healing
love. Through his miracles he showed
that he is the Messiah and that the kingdom of God begins in him. Thus it became possible to experience the
dawn of the new world. YOUCAT Q91
“Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here
below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in
their vocation as God’s sons.” 549
“From the beginning of his public life Jesus chose certain
men, twelve in number, to be with him and to participate in his mission. They remain associated for ever with Christ’s
kingdom, for through them he directs the Church. 551 Simon Peter holds the first place in the
college of the Twelve. Peter had
confessed: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Our Lord then declared to him: ‘You are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not
prevail against it.’ 552 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to
Peter: ‘I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.’ (Mt 16:19) The
power of the keys designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the
Church. The power to bind and loose
connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and
to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. 553 The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude
from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you
receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation
with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God.” 1445
“From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of the living God, the Master began to show his disciples that he must go
to Jerusalem and suffer many things … and be killed and on the third day be
raised. Jesus’ Transfiguration takes
place on a high mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter,
James, and John.” 554 For a moment Jesus
discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter’s confession. 555 The Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of
Christ’s glorious coming, when he ‘will change our lowly body to be like his
glorious body.’ (Phil 3:21) But it also
recalls that ‘it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of
God. (Acts 14:22)” 556
Why was a man of peace
like Jesus condemned to death on a cross?
In many respects Jesus was a
unprecedented challenge to the traditional Judaism of his time. He forgave sins, which God alone can do; he
acted as though the Sabbath law were not absolute; he was suspected of
blasphemy and brought upon himself the accusation that he was a false
prophet. All these were crimes
punishable under the Law by death. YOUCAT Q96
Either this man was,
and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit
at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord
and God. But let us not come with any patronizing
nonsense about his being a great human teacher.
He has not left that open to us. --- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“When the days drew near for him to be taken up (Jesus) set
his face to go to Jerusalem. By this
decision he indicated that he was going up to Jerusalem prepared to die
there. 557 Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom
that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and
Resurrection. It is with the celebration
of that entry on Palm Sunday that the Church’s liturgy solemnly opens Holy
Week. 560
Why did Jesus choose
the date of the Jewish feast of Passover for his death and Resurrection? Jesus chose the Passover feast of his
people Israel as a symbol for what was to happen through his death and Resurrection. As the people of Israel were freed from
slavery to Egypt, so Christ frees us from the slavery of sin and the power of
death. YOUCAT Q95
Next time we’ll look behind the words of the Creed: “Jesus
Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,” catechism paragraphs 571 – 623
