That We Might Become God

At Palm Sunday services, many moments can stick out as memorable: the procession with palms, an unusual number of people wearing red, the moment of extended silence as we kneel in the middle of the Gospel to be present in that moment of Jesus' giving up His spirit...  Yet, something new struck me last week.

It was just one sentence, I think it was in the Eucharistic Prayer, and Father said, "He died for our transgressions..."

Just a few moments before this, we heard the charges against Jesus: "You have heard the blasphemy," Caiaphas had said. Jesus was condemned by humanity because He sinned against God when He made Himself God.

But that wasn't Jesus' transgression. It was ours.  Isn't that every human's transgression? The Original Sin and all of its distant cousins and relatives have that one common thread: a man or woman desiring in their pride to be "like gods" and choosing for themselves what is good and evil.

The irony is that we as humans instinctively know that this is wrong. We ourselves condemn it as blasphemy and order death to any who would claim to be God. Against the One accused of this transgression we cry, "Crucify Him!"
Much like King David clearly pronouncing judgement against his own murderous actions after hearing Nathan's story of the rich man's treachery (2 Samuel 11), we are caught in our own net as our sin is finally and irrevocably revealed and we cannot claim ignorance or hide behind relativistic reasoning any longer.  Once we have proven our ability to pronounce fair judgement on one who would choose to be his own god apart from the One True God, we face King David's choice: to persist in our error or to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God.

Jesus Christ did not come to condemn the world, even when the world preferred darkness to Light.  In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (460) repeats the shocking truth that Jesus came to offer exactly what our first parents sinned in grasping for: "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." But let us not make their mistake. There is only One True God, and apart from Him we can do nothing.

It is through His great love and mercy He comes to each of us today to offer us a share in His Divine Life.  I hope you will join me in my prayer as I proclaim my gratitude for the triumph of God's great love! Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!