Finding Jesus

In Advent we looked at the theology in the Prefaces of the Eucharistic Prayer. As we are now well into Christmas we will do the same. There are three that we use up to Epiphany.

The first one reads:

In the wonder of the Incarnation Your eternal Word has brought to the eyes of faith a new and radiant vision of Your glory. In Him we see our God made visible and so are caught up in the love of the God we cannot see.

This preface teaches us that we are privileged to be able now to see God. That the long awaited Messiah announced by the prophets in the Old Testament has finally emerged on earth among humanity.

It also highlights one of favorite teachings in the Catholic Church and that is the beatific vision, “contemplation of God in His heavenly glory (Catechism, 1028).” This is a great reason to attend Mass. That is to be in the presence of the Eucharist, Christ Himself. The more we are around Him, the more we will know Him, become like Him and aspire to act as He acts. The more we around Him, the more grace we will receive which will motivate us to draw ever closer to Him.

Pope Benedict talked about the fear of eternity in his latest encyclical. The fear arising from the not know what will occupy us and our time in heaven for such a long time. The beatific vision will satisfy our needs. The problem is that it will happen in a way beyond what we can imagine now. But if we work on the ability to be in awe of God now we will be reassured on how this will take place by God’s grace giving us wisdom, courage and peace.

Discernment is an activity and it requires action. During this season of Christmas find Jesus!