My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The second article of the Apostle’s Creed is “And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord.” There are four (4) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 455.
While the Catechism focuses primarily on the Apostle’s Creed it does sometimes refer to others (e.g.: Paul VI § 251/265; Vigilius I § 233; Athanasian § 266). One of the phrases from the Athanasian Creed addresses the Lordship of Jesus Christ as follows: “The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Spirit is Lord; not three (3) Lords but One (1).”
What we normally call “the creed” can also be called a ‘confession of faith.’ While we may often use the word ‘confession’ for that Sacrament of Healing whereby we are restored to God’s grace and friendship, when we fail to profess or confess our faith in Jesus’ lordship we need to do penance for sins against the 1st and 8th Commandments of God (to have no gods before God and to not bear false witness, respectively which we will treat in more depth, again when we treat the Commandments specifically) (cf. Exodus 20:1-6, 16; Deuteronomy 5:6-10, 20).
The Lord Jesus Christ has demonstrated His divinity in various ways, foremost being His glorious Resurrection from the dead on Easter (Matthew 28:5-6; Mark 16:5-11; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:8-9, 17; 1Corinthians15:4-8). Curing the blind and the lame (Matthew 11:5; 15:31; Mark 10:51; Luke 7:22; John 9:1-38), raising the dead (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26; John 11:43-45), as well as miraculously feeding 5,000 (Matthew 14:21; 16:9; Mark 6:44; 8:19; Luke 9:14; John 6:10) all reinforce our faith in Jesus Christ as our God. When the Lord Jesus tells us that He and the Father are One (John 10:18; 14:8-9) He is teaching us about His divinity. When the Apostle Saint Thomas adores and worships Jesus by saying “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28) or the Apostle Saint Peter acknowledges his sinfulness before the all holy Lord Jesus (Luke 5:8) this is all to reinforce our belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
To say “Jesus is Lord” is to say that Jesus is God. This ‘creedal’ statement making explicit faith in Jesus’ lordship is the oldest one we have, coming from Saint Paul’s inspired writings (1 Corinthians 12:3).
We can profess our faith in the lordship of Jesus only with the help, the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Lord Jesus Christ was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was by the working of the Holy Spirit that all of Sacred Scripture was consigned to writing (2 Titus 3:16). It is only by the same Holy Spirit that we believe that Jesus is God, one in being with the Father, and all that Jesus teaches us through His bride Mother Church.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr