[Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV]

“These Sacred Mysteries”
Part III: The Mystery of Christ, Hidden and Revealed

The mystery of Christ, however, is not a mystery which is unknown as happens in the case of a mystery novel. Rather, it is a mystery whose content has been revealed to us through Christ himself. In the first chapter of the letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians, we read that the mystery that was hidden from ages and generations in the past is now revealed to God’s holy ones. God willed to make known to them the glory which the mystery brings, the mystery of Christ in them. For the Christian, the mystery of Christ is the plan of salvation that God had in mind from before the beginning of time and which he has made known to us. Knowing that our first parents would sin, God in his wisdom, which is beyond all understanding, planned to send his Son as the Redeemer of the world. Consequently, the “mystery” of Christ involves the revelation to us of that mystery, how the very Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, would take human nature upon himself, suffer and die for our salvation, and rise again on the third day. For this reason, the Church, throughout the liturgical year celebrates the mysteries of Christ which call us out of darkness into the very light of life of God.

(to be continued next week)

Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
www.liftupyourhearts.church