THE ORIGIN OF THE SON OF MAN AND THE MYSTERIES


FRIDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

Wis 2:1,12-22; Ps 34:16,18,19-21,23; Jn 7:1-2,10,25-30

The Meaning of Paschal Mysteries

The sin-induced conflict between the immutable will of God and the human wills and desires is the root of the paschal mysteries. In other words, they come about from the conflict between the light of God and the darkness of sin and evil, between the Truth of God and human ignorance and demonic lies. The paschal mysteries are of Christ's events, but they resonate in the life of every human person. Thus, it connects back to the very fall of man and woman in the Garden of Eden. It is born of the seed of discord sown in the human heart by the evil one, which is propagated daily by our choices. So, the paschal mysteries are within us who turn to God in faith. The Book of Wisdom puts the source of the paschal mysteries as the misconceptions rife in human sinful hearts in opposition to God’s truth. “The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning: ‘Our life is short and dreary, nor is there any relief when man’s end comes, nor is anyone known who can give release from Hades.” The false reasoning plunges the mind into darkness, for it originates from the doubt of God’s word that expressly outlines the path we are to walk to the heaven of communion with God. Darkness envelopes our minds when we let the evil one cast doubt on God’s sacred word.

Every human act originating from doubt produces an evil work, which furthers darkness, suffering, and death for human beings. Wisdom gives us a typical example of such thought and action: “Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us of playing false to our upbringing. He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a son of the Lord.” The opposition set us up in human hearts against the truth of God’s word is the cause of the paschal mysteries. By paschal mysteries, we mean the sufferings, pains, and death that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, endured for our forgiveness and redemption. It is the sum of his sacrificial life offered to the Father for our salvation. The paschal mysteries enter into the life of every just person in the sense that the just man is so by his obedience to the word of God. Hence, the Son of Man is persecuted in every just soul because the opposition is ultimately against the word of God, as Wisdom presents it in the given passage.

The paschal mysteries include the persecutions of the just as summed up in the life of the Son of Man. It is all the sacrifices of the saints in the ultimate sacrifice of the Son of God in his humanity to God the Father through the Eternal Spirit. The sacrifice of the Son of God is a mystery and sums up all the mysteries of our lives because it is rooted in the immutable will of the Father. Jesus talks about this mystery in his teaching in the Temple. “Yes, you know me and you know where I came from. Yet I have not come of myself: no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him, but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.” Only Jesus Christ knows the will of the Father and does it. It is a mystery and the source of mysteries for us who believe in and follow his teaching and life. Hence, his paschal mysteries enter our life of faith in him. The Jews in the gospel, and anyone acting without faith, act like the godless in their misguided reasoning. The Son of Man stands for all the virtuous and all of us whenever we act with faith in God and his word. The godless act in ignorance and without faith. “They do not know the hidden things of God, they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded, they can see no reward for blameless souls.” Though we do not know the hidden things of God, we act with faith in his word, for his word can never fail. Jesus Christ is himself the Pasch and our heavenly Reward.

Let us pray: O God, who have prepared fitting helps for us in our weakness, grant, we pray, that we may receive their healing effects with joy and reflect them in a holy way of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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