The incarnation, birth, and infancy of Jesus Christ/Discourse 4
DISCOURSE IV
The Eternal Word From Being Innocent Becomes As It Were Guilty.
Consolamini, consolamini, popule meus, dicit Deus vester.
"Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God."---Is. xl. 1.
Previous to the coming of our Redeemer, the whole unhappy race of mankind groaned in misery upon this earth; all were children of wrath, nor was there one who could appease God, justly indignant at their sins: Behold, Thou art angry, and we have sinned: ...there is none that riseth up, and taketh hold of Thee. [Isaiah 44:5] Yes, because it is God Himself Who has been offended by man: man, being nothing but a miserable creature, was unable, by whatever extent of chastisement, to make atonement for the injury offered to an infinite majesty: there was need of another god to satisfy the Divine justice. But such a god did not exist, neither could there be found any besides the one God alone: on the other hand, the Person offended could not make satisfaction to Himself; so that ours was a desperate case.
But take comfort, take comfort, O men, saith the Lord by the mouth of Isaias: Be comforted, be comforted, My people, saith your God; for her evil is come to an end. [Isaiah 40:1] And the reason is, because God Himself hath discovered a way of saving man, while at the same time His Justice and His mercy shall both be satisfied: Justice and peace have kissed. [Ps. 84:11] The Son of God has Himself become Man, has taken the form of a sinner, and loading His Own shoulders with the burden of satisfying for mankind, He has made full compensation to the Divine justice for the penalty merited by men, by the sufferings of His life and of His death; and thus the opposite claims of justice and of mercy have been paid.
Has Jesus Christ, then, from being innocent become guilty, to free men from eternal death? That is to say, has He chosen to pass for a sinner? Yes, the love which He bears to mankind has brought Him even to this pass. Let us consider Him in this state; but let us first beg light of Jesus and Mary to profit by it.
I.
What was Jesus Christ? He was, answers St. Paul, holy, innocent, undefiled. [Heb. 7:26] He was, to speak more correctly, sanctity itself, innocence itself, purity itself, since He was true Son of God, true God as His Father; and so dear to that Father, that the Father there on the banks of the Jordan declared, that in that Son He found all his complacency. But this Son being bent upon freeing mankind from their sins and from the death incurred by them, what did He do? He appeared to take away our sins, says St. John. [1 John 3:5] He presented Himself before His heavenly Father, and offered Himself to pay for mankind; and then the Father, as the Apostle tells us, sent Him on earth to be clothed in human flesh, to take the appearance of sinful man, and to be made in all things like to sinners; God sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. [Rom. 8:3] And then St. Paul adds; And of sin hath condemned sin in the flesh. And by this he means, according to the explanation of St. John Chrysostom and Theodoret, that the Father sentenced sin to be dethroned from the tyranny which it exercised over mankind, by dooming to death His Own Divine Son, Who, though He assumed flesh that was to all seeming contaminated with sin, was nevertheless holy and innocent.
God, therefore, in order to save mankind, and at the same time to answer the claims of His justice, was pleased to condemn His Own Son to a painful life and to a shameful death. And can this ever be true? It is of faith, and St. Paul assures us of it: He spared not even His Own Son; but delivered Him up for us all. [Rom. 8:32] Jesus Christ Himself affirms it to us: God so loved the world, as to give His Only-begotten Son. [John 3:16] Celius Rodiginus relates, that there was a certain man, called Doeotarus, who had several sons, but loved one of them more than all the rest; insomuch that in order to leave him his whole fortune, he had the monstrous cruelty to murder all the others. But God has done quite the reverse; He has slain His well-beloved Son, His only Son, in order to give salvation to us vile and ungrateful worms: God so loved the world, as to give His Only-begotten Son.
Let us weigh these words: God so loved the world. What? a God condescends to love men, miserable worms, that have been rebellious and ungrateful towards Him, and to love them to such an extent ("the word so signifies the vehemence of love," says St. John Chrysostom), so as to give His Only-begotten Son! that He chose to give them His very Son, and that Only-begotten One Whom He loved as much as Himself! Not a servant, not an Angel, not an Archangel did He give, but His Own Son, subjoins the same holy Doctor. But in what manner did He choose to give Him? He gave Him to us lowly, humbled, poor, despised; He gave Him into the hands of slaves to be treated as a miscreant, and even to be put to death, covered with shame, on an infamous gibbet. O grace! O force of the love of a God! exclaims St. Bernard: "O grace! O the strength of love!" O God, who would not be touched to hear of such an instance, that a monarch, to release his slave, was compelled to put his only son to death,---that son who was all the love of his father, and was beloved by him as his very self? Had not God done this, says St. John Chrysostom, who could ever have imagined it or hoped for it? "What things the human mind could never have conceived, could never have hoped for, these things He has bestowed on us."
But, O Lord, it seems like an injustice to sentence an innocent Son to die for the purpose of saving a slave who has offended Thee. "According to all human reasoning," says Salvian, "one would certainly accuse that man of outrageous injustice who should kill an innocent son in order to free his servants from the death which they had deserved." Yet no, with God this has not passed for injustice, because the Son made the spontaneous offering of Himself to the Father to satisfy for men: He was offered, because it was His Own will. [Isaiah 53:7] Behold, then, how Jesus voluntarily sacrifices Himself as a victim of love for us; behold Him, how as a mute lamb he puts Himself into the hands of the shearer, and although innocent, He comes to suffer from men the greatest ignominies and torments, without even opening His mouth: He shall be dumb as a lamb before His shearer, and He shall not open His mouth. [Ibid.] Behold, in fine, our loving Redeemer, Who to save us chose to suffer death and the punishment deserved by us: Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. [Ibid., 4] St. Gregory Nazianzen says, "He refused not to suffer as guilty, provided only that men might obtain salvation."
Who has done this? asks St. Bernard. What has been the cause of this immense prodigy? A God to die for His creatures! Who has done this? Charity has done this. This has been wrought by the love which God bears to man. The Saint pursues his meditation on the time when our amiable Redeemer was seized by the soldiers in the garden of Gethsemani, as is related by St. John: And they bound Him. [John 18:12] And then he says to our Lord: "What hast Thou to do with chains?" My Lord, he says, I behold Thee bound by this vile rabble as if Thou wert a criminal, and they are about to drag Thee to an unjust death. But, O God, what have cords and chains to do with Thee? such things belong to evil-doers, but not to Thee, Who art innocent, Who art the Son of God, innocence itself, holiness itself. St. Laurence Justinian replies that the bonds which dragged Jesus Christ to death were not those that were fastened on Him by the soldiers, but the love He bore towards men; and hereupon he exclaims: "O charity, how strong are thy bonds, by which even a God could be bound!"
The same St. Bernard goes on to consider the iniquitous sentence of Pilate, who condemned Jesus to the Cross, after several times having declared Him innocent; and then, turning himself to Jesus, he thus bewails himself before Him: "What hast Thou done, O most innocent Saviour, that Thou receivest such a judgment?" Ah, my Lord, I hear this wicked judge condemning Thee to die upon the Cross; and what evil hast Thou done? what crime hast Thou ever perpetrated to deserve such a death of torture and shame?---a death awarded to none but to the most guilty wretches? But he then resumes by replying: Ah, I now comprehend, O my Jesus! what crime it is of which Thou art guilty? It is of having loved mankind too dearly: "Thy love is Thy crime." Yes, it is this love, more than Pilate, that condemns Thee to death; because it is to payoff the penalties due from mankind that Thou hast willed to suffer death.
As the time of the Passion of our Blessed Redeemer drew near, He besought His Father that He would hasten to glorify Him, by permitting Him to offer to Him the sacrifice of His life: Father, glorify Thy Son. [John 17:5] At this, St. John Chrysostom asks, in astonishment, "What sayest Thou? Dost thou call these things glory?" A Passion and a death accompanied with such sufferings and shame, dost Thou call this Thy glory? And the Saint then replies to his own question for Jesus Christ: "Yes, since it is for My beloved ones, I esteem it a glory." Yes, so immense is the love I entertain for mankind that it makes Me regard it My glory to suffer and to die for their sake.
II.
Say to the faint-hearted, Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense; God Himself will come and will save you. [Isaiah 35:4] Fear not, then; says the prophet; be no more in despair, O poor sinners! What fear can you have not to be pardoned, when the Son of God comes down from Heaven to save you? Has not He Himself made compensation to God by the sacrifice of His life for that just vengeance which our sins demanded? If you cannot by your own works appease an offended God, behold one that can appease Him; this very Infant which you now see reposing on straw, trembling with cold, and weeping, He, with His tears, propitiates Him.
You have no grounds for being any more sad, says St. Leo, on account of the sentence of death fulminated against you, now that life itself is born for you; "nor is there any lawful room for sadness, when it is the birthday of life." And St. Augustine: "O sweet day for penitents, today sin is taken away, and shall the sinner despair?" If you are unable to render due satisfaction to the Divine justice, look on Jesus Who does penance for you; already does He commence to do it in this little cave; He will persevere in doing penance all His life, and finally bring it to it conclusion on the Cross, to which (according to the saying of St. Paul) He will affix the decree of your condemnation, cancelling it with His Own Blood: Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the Cross. [Col. 2:14]
The same Apostle says that Jesus Christ, by dying for us, was made our justification: He is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption. [1 Cor. 1:30] "Justice," comments St. Bernard, "in the washing-away of sins." Yes; for God, accepting on our behalf the torments and death of Jesus Christ, is obliged to pardon us by virtue of the compact made: Him that knew no sin, for us He hath made sin, that we might be made the justice of God in Him. [2 Cor. 5:21] The innocent One was made a victim for our sins, in order that forgiveness through His merits might of right belong to us. For this reason David prays God to save him, not only for His mercy's sake, but likewise for the sake of His justice: Deliver me in Thy justice. [Ps. 30:2]
The eagerness of God to save sinners was always immense. This eagerness led Him to approach them with that cry: Return, ye transgressors, to the heart. [Isaiah 46:8] Sinners, enter once more into your own hearts; think of the benefits you have received from Me, on the love I have borne you, and offend Me no more. Turn ye to Me, and I will turn to you. [Zach 1:3] Turn back to me, and I will receive you in My embraces: Why will you die, O house of Israel? Return ye and live. [Ezech. 18:31] My children, why will you destroy yourselves, and of your own free-will condemn yourselves to everlasting death? Return to me and you shall live.
In a word, His infinite mercy induced Him to descend from Heaven to earth to come and free us from eternal death: Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us. [Luke 1:73] But here we must be mindful of what St. Paul says: previously to God becoming Man He reserved mercy for us; but He could not feel compassion for our miseries, because compassion implies some suffering, and God is incapable of suffering. Now, says the Apostle, in order to be moved also with compassion for us the Eternal Word willed to become Man, capable of suffering, and similar to other men who are afflicted with compassion, so that He might be able not only to save us, but also to compassionate us: For we have not a High Priest Who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but One tempted in all things like as we are, without sin. [Heb. 4:15; 2:17] And in another passage: It behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might become merciful.
Oh, what a tender compassion has Jesus Christ for poor sinners! This makes Him say, that He is that Shepherd Who goes about seeking the lost sheep, and on finding it He arranges a festival, saying: Rejoice with Me, because I have found My sheep that was lost. And He lays it upon His shoulders rejoicing; [Luke 15:4-6] and thus He carefully keeps possession of it in His fond embraces for fear He should again lose it. This, too, caused Him to say that He is that loving Father Who, whenever a prodigal son that has left Him returns to His feet, does not thrust him away, but embraces him, kisses him, and as it were faints away for the consolation and fondness which He feels in beholding his repentance: And running to him, He fell upon his neck and kissed him. [Luke 15:20] This causes Him to say, I stand at the gate and knock; [Apoc. 3:20] that is, that, although driven away from the soul by sin, He does not abandon her, but He places Himself outside the door of her heart and, knocks by His calls to gain readmittance. This made Him say to His disciples, who with an indiscreet zeal would have called down vengeance on those who repulsed them: You know not of what spirit you are. [Luke 9:55] You see that I have so much compassion on sinners; and do you desire vengeance on them? Go, go away, for you are not of my spirit. Finally, this compassion made Him say: Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. [Matt. 11:28] Come to me, all you that are afflicted and tormented with the weight of your sins, and I will give you ease. And, in fact, with what tenderness did our amiable Redeemer, the moment she repented, forgive Magdalene, and change her into a Saint! With what kindness did He forgive the paralytic, and at the same moment restore him to bodily health! And with what sweet gentleness, above all, did He treat the woman taken in adultery! The priests brought that sinner before Him, that He might condemn her; but Jesus turning towards her said: Hath no man condemned thee? Neither will I condemn thee. As if He would thereby say: None of those who conducted thee hither hath condemned thee, and how, then, shall I condemn thee, I who came to save sinners? Go in peace, and sin no more! [John 8:10, 11]
Oh no, let us not be afraid of Jesus Christ; but let us be afraid of our own obstinacy, if after offending Him we will not listen to his voice, inviting us to be reconciled. Who is He that shall condemn? says the Apostle: Christ Jesus that died; Who also maketh intercession for us. [Rom. 8:34] If we persist in our obstinacy, Jesus Christ will be constrained to condemn us; but if we repent of the evil we have done, what fear need we have of Jesus Christ? Who has to pronounce on us sentence? Think (says St. Paul) that the self-same Redeemer has to sentence thee who died just that He might not condemn thee; that self-same One Who, that He might pardon thee, hath given Himself no pardon: "In order to redeem the servant, He hath not spared Himself," says St. Bernard.
Go, then, O sinner, go to the stable of Bethlehem, and thank the Infant Jesus, all shivering with cold for thy sake in that cave, moaning and weeping for thee on a bundle of straw; give thanks to this thy Redeemer, Who has come down from Heaven to call thee to Himself and to save thee. If thou art desirous of pardon, He is waiting thee in that manger to pardon thee. Go quickly, then, and obtain thy pardon; and afterwards do not forget the excessive love which Jesus Christ has borne thee: Forget not the kindness of thy surety. [Ecclus. 29:20] Forget not (says the prophet) that high favor He has done thee by making Himself surety for thy debts to God, in taking on Himself the chastisement deserved by thee; do not forget it, and love Him for it. And know further, that shouldst thou love Him, thy past sins will not stand in the way of thy receiving from God those specially great and choice graces which He is wont to bestow on His most beloved souls: All things work together unto good. [Rom. 8:28] "Even sins," subjoins the gloss. Yes, even the remembrance of the sins we have committed contributes to the advantage of the sinner who bewails and detests them, because this very thing will conquer to make him more humble and more pleasing to God, when he sees how God has welcomed him into the arms of His loving mercies: There shall be joy in Heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just. [Luke 15:7]
But of what sinner it is to be understood that he gives more joy to Heaven than a whole multitude of just ones? It is to be understood of that sinner who, out of gratitude to the Divine goodness, devotes himself wholly and fervently to the love of God, after the example of a St. Paul, a St. Mary Magdalene, a St. Mary of Egypt, a St. Augustine, and a St. Margaret of Cortona. To this last Saint in particular, who had formerly spent several years in sin, God revealed the place prepared for her in Heaven, amongst the Seraphim; and even during her life he showed her many signal favors, insomuch that, beholding herself so favored, she one day said to God, "O Lord, how is it that Thou lavishest so many graces on me? Hast Thou, then, forgotten the sins I have committed against Thee?' And God thus answered her: "And do you not know what I have before told you, that when a soul repents of its faults I no longer remember all the outrages it has been guilty of towards Me?" This same thing He had long ago announced by his Prophet Ezechiel: If the wicked do penance ... I will not remember all his iniquities. [18:21]
Let us conclude. Our sins, then, do not prevent us from becoming Saints; God offers us readily every assistance if we only desire it and ask it. What more remains? It remains for us to give ourselves entirely to God, and to devote to this love at least the remainder of our days in this life, Come, then, let us bestir ourselves; what are we doing? If we fail, we fail through ourselves, and not through God, Let us never be so unhappy as to turn all these mercies and loving calls of God into subjects of remorse and despair upon our death-bed, at that last moment when no more time is left to do anything; then the night sets in: The night cometh, when no man can work. [John 9:4]
Let us recommend ourselves to the most holy Mary, who, as St. Germanus says, makes it her glory to turn the most abandoned sinners into Saints, by procuring for them the grace of conversion, not in an ordinary, but in an extraordinary degree; and this she is well able to do, because what she asks of Jesus Christ she asks as a Mother: "But thou, powerful with God by thy maternal authority, obtainest a wonderful grace of reconciliation for sinners, even for those who have sinned enormously;" and she herself encourages us in those words put into her mouth by the Holy Church: With me are riches ... that I may enrich them that love me; [Prov. 8:18] and elsewhere In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. [Eccles. 24:25] Come to me all, she says, because you shall find with me every hope of saving yourselves, and of saving yourselves as Saints.
Affections and Prayers
O my Redeemer and God! and who am I, that Thou shouldst have loved me, and still continues to love me, so much? What hast Thou ever received from me that has obliged Thee so to love me? What, except slights and provocations, which were a reason for Thee to abandon me, and to banish me forever from Thy face? But, O Lord! I accept of every penalty except this. If Thou dost forsake me, and deprive me of Thy grace, I can nevermore love Thee. I have not the pretensions to escape punishment; but I wish to love Thee, and to love Thee exceedingly. I wish to love Thee as a sinner is bound to love Thee, who, after so many special favors, and so many marks of love received from Thee, has, in spite of all, so frequently turned his back upon Thee; who, for the sake of wretched momentary and poisonous gratifications, has renounced Thy grace and Thy love. Pardon me, O my beloved Infant, for I am sorry with my whole heart for every single displeasure I have given Thee, But know that I shall not be content with a simple pardon; I desire also the grace to love Thee ardently; I wish to make compensation by my love as much as possible for the past ingratitude which I have shown Thee. An innocent soul loves Thee as innocent, and thanks Thee for having preserved it from the death of sin. I must love Thee as a sinner; that is, as one who has rebelled against Thee, as one condemned to Hell, as often as I deserved it; and then so often graciously received back by Thee and re-established in the way of salvation, and over and above enriched with lights, with helps, with invitations to become a Saint. O Redeemer, and Redeemer again and again of my soul! My soul is now enamoured of Thee, and loves Thee. Thou hast loved me above measure, so that, overcome by Thy love, I could no longer resist its winning appeals, and at last I now surrender myself, and fix all my love on Thee. I love Thee, then, O infinite Goodness! I love Thee, O most lovable God! Do Thou never cease to enkindle more and more in my heart the flames and fiery darts of love. For Thy Own glory cause Thyself to be greatly loved by one who has greatly offended Thee. Mary, my Mother, thou art the hope, the refuge of sinners; assist a sinner who desires to prove faithful to his God; Help me to love Him, and to love Him exceedingly.