The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 64: The Lord (2024)

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

As we wrap up our discussion of Jesus’ titles, we learn about the last title attributed to Jesus: The Lord. Fr. Mike explains that this title expresses the respect and honor we owe Jesus as God himself. We learn about the origin of this name in Scripture, and what this remarkable title means for us today in our personal relationship with God. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 446-455. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture, and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is day 64, reading paragraphs 446 to 455, as always. I'm using the Ascension Edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also, you can download your own Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. And lastly, you can click Follow or

Subscribe in whatever podcast app you're listening to this and receive daily updates and daily notifications. I am really grateful that you are here. This is so incredible. You know, one of the things that people have been saying is that it's sometimes hard, sometimes hard to press play. And I completely understand. I completely get that at the same time.

Here you are on day 64, which is so remarkable. You know, we've been talking for the last couple days about the titles of Jesus and this article too, right, on Jesus, the name of Jesus, of course, God saves the title Christ, which means anointed, right, the anointed one. Yesterday we talked about how Jesus is the only Son of God, how of course Son of God, that title itself has a root in the Old Testament and didn't necessarily reveal or connote divinity, but now in the resurrection, in the fullness of revelation, we know that the only title, the only Son of God, means something very, very unique. And here lastly, we have the term Lord. Before we move on to the next section, which is about how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the Virgin Mary, that's tomorrow. But today we have this term, this title, Lord. Now we're gonna find this in paragraph 446 that when Hebrew, or when the whole test was written, it was principally written in Hebrew, mostly written in Hebrew, right? And so the ineffable name of the Lord God that God revealed to Moses in the burning bush is the name Yahweh,

which is so holy that we talked about this before. It was only uttered one time by the High Priest as he entered into the Holy of Holies. Now in Greek that holy name of God, which is again an un-effable, is it's almost unutterable, right? That kind of thing. It's translated in Greek as the name krios, which means Lord. And that has been the way in which almost all English translations are, right? For the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that indicates that sacred name Yahweh without printing it every time because of the fact that that sacred name is so sacred. Now that term, kyrgios, is also ascribed to Jesus. You know, just like these other titles, just like the title Messiah, or just like the title Son of God, Lord could mean just simply be a title of honor, right? It could simply be a way in which it expresses the respect and trust of those who approach Jesus for help. So say, you know, Lord, my servant is dying or Lord, my daughter is dying, that kind of a situation. Of course, in the encounter, and this is paragraph 448,

in the encounter with the risen Jesus, as St. Thomas says, right, as Jesus reveals himself and says, Thomas, put your hand in my side and see that I'm alive and that it goes as out of flesh and blood as I do. Thomas says, my Lord and my God, and that combination, but also that expression, gives us a new connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition, it says in paragraph 448. We recognize that there's the divine title, Lord, that is now attributed to Jesus, where we realize who he ultimately is and what he ultimately is. He is the eternal son of the father. He is God from God, light from light, true God from true God. He is fully God just as the father is fully God.

And so that's one of those things that's just like, oh my gosh, again, the way in which God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ is remarkable. Again, the title Messiah, no idea that the Messiah would also be the son of God. Title Son of God, we had no idea that the title Son of God would also mean he was the divine, eternally the gotten Son of God. And lastly here, this title Lord, that is a title of honor, is truly and fully revealed to be an expression of deep and profound faith.

When we recognize that Jesus is the Lord in the sense that he is God himself. And of course, from the very beginning of Christian history, paragraph 450 says, the assertion of Christ's lordship over the world and over history has implicitly revealed that we should never submit our freedom or our personal freedom in an absolute manner

to anything or anyone else other than God himself. In fact, there is this feast at the very end of the church here, right before Advent starts. And it is the solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the universe or Lord of the universe. And I love that even just the title of it is just remarkable. And what it reveals to us, once again, it reminds us, it reminds us that we may never submit ourselves fully in an absolute manner to anything or anyone, to any other power other than God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's just remarkable. Of course, our prayers are always characterized by this term, Lord. We're going to hear all about that today in paragraph 446. We're also going to have four little

nuggets, little in briefs at the end, kind of summarizing the name Jesus, the title Christ, the title Son of God, and of course this last title as we heard today, Lord. Since we're talking about God, our Lord, we turn to our Father and we just ask Him to bless this time we have together. Father in heaven, we praise and glorify you, we do declare in the power of your Holy Spirit

that Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord of the living, He's Lord of all. He is Lord who has given Himself so fully that all things have been placed under His feet. It's only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we get to say Jesus is Lord, and so we declare together, as this Catechism in a year community, we declare that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father now and always. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. As I said, we're

reading paragraphs 446 to 455. It is day 64. Lord. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name Yahweh, by which God revealed Himself to Moses, is rendered as Kyrios, Lord. From then on, Lord becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel's God. The New Testament uses this full sense of the title Lord, both for the Father and what is new, for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.

Jesus ascribes this title to Himself in a veiled way when He disputes with the Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110 but also in an explicit way when He addresses His apostles. Throughout His public life, He demonstrated His divine sovereignty by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death, and sin. Very often in the Gospels, people address Jesus as Lord. This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach Him for help and healing. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Lord expresses the recognition of the divine mystery of Jesus.

In the encounter with the risen Jesus, this title becomes adoration as Thomas states, My Lord and My God. It thus takes on a connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition. As the beloved disciple said to Peter, it is the Lord. By attributing to Jesus the divine title Lord, the first confessions of the Church's faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honor, and glory due to God the Father are also due to Jesus,

because He was in the form of God and the Father manifested the sovereignty of Jesus by raising Him from the dead and exalting Him into His glory. From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ's Lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Caesar is not the Lord. Gaudium et spes states, The church believes that the key, the center, and the purpose of the whole of man's history

is to be found in its Lord and Master. Christian prayer is characterized by the title Lord, whether in the invitation to prayer, Lord be with you, its conclusion, through Christ our Lord, or the exclamation full of trust and hope. Maranatha, our Lord come, or Maranatha, come Lord. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. In brief. The name Jesus means God saves. The child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus for He will save His people from their sins.

There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. The title Christ means anointed one, Messiah. Jesus is the Christ for God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He was the one who is to come, the object of the hope of Israel. The title Son of God signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father. He is the only son of the Father. He is God himself. To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The title Lord indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe in

His divinity. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Okay, man, I love this section. Of course, as we said already, Lord, the title Lord comes from Kyrgios, which is the Greek translation of that sacred name, divine name of God in Hebrew, that name I hesitate to even pronounce or even to enunciate, the name Yahweh, that God revealed to Moses.

When Moses asked, when I go to the people of Israel, when I go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people go, and he says, who sent asked, when I go to the people of Israel, when I go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people go, and he says, who sent you? When I go to the people and they say, who is this God who sent you? What is your name? And God reveals that is his divine name. Now, of course, here is Jesus.

The New Testament uses this full sense of the title Lord, both for the Father. And this is the new thing it says here for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God himself. And it's so remarkable that here we have Jesus who doesn't just claim to be Lord, right? Jesus doesn't just claim to be God. He demonstrates his divine sovereignty, right? Which means divine, right? His godliness, his godness, and sovereignty. He is truly Lord, right? He has dominion. It says this in 447, throughout his public life, he demonstrated his divine sovereignty

by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death, and sin, right? Jesus can calm the storm with a word that Jesus can multiply food without, just by blessing and breaking the food. He has dominion, sovereignty over illnesses, over demons. He can cast them out. Even over death, he can raise Lazarus from the dead with a word. He can raise the little girl from death by simply saying Talitha Kumi and raising her up. And he has divine sovereignty over sin. So this

is remarkable. It's just so incredible. When you ever, you and I say, Jesus is Lord, we are testifying, yes, to His divinity and we have to do that. But we're also testifying to the fact that that divinity is completely connected to His sovereignty, His dominion. In fact, to be able to say Jesus is Lord of my life, I'm saying that Jesus has dominion over my life, that He actually has Lordship over my life, which means to say He has access to every piece, every part of my life, past, present, and future. Let me think about this. If Jesus is the Lord of my life,

of course he's the Lord of my present life. Of course he's the Lord of today. But if Jesus is the Lord, he has meaning, he has dominion over all of my life, every aspect. That means he has dominion over my past. How often do we want to go back into the past and just change it? We can't.

But we can surrender that. We can submit that to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and realize his divine sovereignty can do something with it. We don't know the future, obviously. And yet we can invoke his divine sovereignty. We can invoke his dominion and say, Jesus, you're the Lord of my future as well.

I don't know what's going to happen. I can't know what's going to happen. But I can declare that you are the Lord of my past, of my present and of my future. Because he's demonstrated this, right? And so this is just remarkable. So moving on. It says this, it says by paragraph 449. By attributing to Jesus the divine title Lord, the first confessions of the church's faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honor, and glory due to God the Father are also due to Jesus. Now this is really, truly so very ultimately important.

In paragraph 450, from the very beginning of Christianity, the assertion of Christ's lordship over the world and over history has always meant that we must not, we may not, the catechism says should not, I'm going further saying we must not, we may not submit our personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power. Caesar is not the Lord, that there was a phrase, Kaiser Kirios, right? Caesar is Lord, and we could not say that as Christians, we have to say Christus Kirios, that Christ Caesar is Lord. And we could not say that as Christians. We have to say Christos Kyrgios, that Christ is the Lord. This is so essentially important because here's what God even Spes said. The church believes that the key, the center, and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master. We affirm this so, so fully that we recognize that in paragraph 454, one of the Ian briefs,

one of those little nuggets, it says, To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in its fullest sense, that He is truly God, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, that He is as fully God as the Father is God. To be a Christian means this. To the Father is God. To be a Christian means this. To not believe that is to not be a Christian. No, I can say I believe in Jesus. If I don't believe in his divinity, then I'm not a Christian. You see what they were saying here? No, this is one of those places where, you know, the Catechism is, I don't want to say is about

I don't want to say it's about drawing boundaries, but it is about highlighting the fact that to believe, to be part of the faithful, to be part of the church, it means that what we testify is what the church testifies. What we profess is what the church professes. And, you know, CS Lewis even talks about this. He said that back in the day, and this is, you know, in the 30s, 40s, you know, CS Lewis even talks about this. He said that back in the day, and this is, you know, in the 30s, 40s, 50s, people would describe someone as a Christian if they were simply nice, if they're simply polite, if they're simply kind. And Lewis says, that's

great. Hopefully people associate being Christian with being nice or being polite or being kind. But he said that's not what makes a Christian. What a Christian is is someone who believes and professes certain things in desires and strives to live in a certain way. And here in paragraph 454, just in that little nugget, it highlights this, that to be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now, the last thing for us, we know that of course, every one of our prayers, so I mean, not everyone, but so many of our prayers highlight this reality that Jesus is Lord. Where we say the Lord be with you or through Christ our Lord or come Lord Jesus. But also what we're saying is whenever we invoke the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord is

the paragraph 455 that last little nugget of this little section. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. That's what St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in chapter 12, verse three. To realize this, no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. It is the spirit of God dwelling inside of us that allows us to proclaim and mean and have that be reality that Jesus Christ is truly the Lord, not just the Lord objectively, but also your Lord and my Lord, our Lord.

We know this. We know that all things were created through Him. We know that everything in the world exists through Jesus. Because of that, He is the Lord. Question we have to answer is, will I let the Lord be my Lord? We get to answer that question today. Get to be able to say, Lord, you have dominion.

Lord Jesus, you have divine sovereignty over every aspect of my life, over all my relationships, over my free time, over my work, over my family, over my past, my present and my future. And we just give God glory today. So I'm just praying for you because it's a big deal. It is a big deal to say Jesus is Lord.

It is a big deal to say Christos, Karyos. It is a big deal to say Jesus is not just the Lord, but he is my Lord. So please let's pray for each other that we can say that and mean it, that we can live it truly and freely and joyfully. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.