In Christ's Friendship

​                                                                                                                        Sr. Catherine Marie Michael


Jesus of Nazareth calls us His friends revealing all that we need for our salvation. We can use human reason to understand the sensible realities of the world, but without faith we limit our vision. Because of original sin we only perceive God’s image dimly, but God sent his Son, the image of the invisible God, who shows us God’s love concretely. He drew in the sand near Jacob’s well. He walked on the water. He teaches and in the Sermon on the Mount, He stretches our understanding of love. He carried the Cross, and as His Mother knew, He would turn the depths of sorrow due to sin and being apart from God, into joy for those who follow Him. He was nailed to the wood of the Cross.

Though without sin, the Son of God, who was born of Mary into fellowship with the human race, learned obedience through the experience of suffering for our sake, so He is the only perfect Mediator whose grace heals the brokenness of those who listen to His voice and obey Him (Heb. 5:8-9; CCC 2825; John 10:27; CCC 2716). Only Jesus, true God and true man, could redeem us by the grace of His divine nature that makes us a new creation in Him (2Peter 1:4). He conquered sin and death by His Resurrection so that we could be “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:37). He is light for the human race and a lamp for each person who follows Him (Psalm 119:105). He restores our “original beauty” according to God’s loving providence (CCC 1701).

In the Eucharist, the Lord continues to be incarnate for us. The Eucharist is Christ. He gives us His resurrected flesh for the life of the world, that we might live forever through and in Him (John 6:22-70). He lived His life for us so that even now, we may enter through the power of the Holy Spirit into the mysteries of His life which give us the grace to live in Him (CCC518-521, 690, 737). He cares for us, making our yoke easy, our burdens light, as pilgrims who trust in God’s divine providence and are transformed by our journey (John 6:63-65; CCC 302-308, 1Peter 5:7; Matt 11:30). He laid down His life for His friends who become one in mutual love of Him throughout time (John 15:13-15). Made in the image of the Triune God, we are made to live in communion, and Jesus becomes our way to eternal life in the Trinity (Eph 1:5).

-CCC refers to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
-See also Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed.