Monday, May 2, 2022

 Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and Doctor of the Church

(Acts 6:8-15; John 6:22-29)

Jesus tells the crowd that meets him in Capernaum to believe in the one God sent.  He means himself, of course.  He wants all people to accept him not only as God’s messenger, but as God’s only begotten Son.  St. Athanasius suffered multiple indignities proclaiming this truth.

The reigning theological issue in the fourth century when Athanasius lived was Jesus’ divinity.  Arians, the followers of the theologian Arius, believed that Jesus was not quite God.   To them, Jesus was distinguishable from the Father in grandeur and scope.  Athanasius as well as anyone championed the contrary, orthodox position.  He taught that Jesus Christ shares the same nature as the Father such that the two differ only in their respective relations.  God is Father and Jesus is Son.  This teaching is also known as the Nicene position.

Athanasius was exiled five times for defending Christ’s equality with the Father.  We should be as persistent in our defense of Church teachings.  More than that, we should contemplate on what it means for us that Jesus Christ, who also shared our human nature, was really God.  What does it mean that his unconditional love has created and sustained the universe?

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