Most people who claim to be non-Christians indicate that for them Jesus was a great person. “A prophet of love,” “a great wise man,” “a man of peace” are some of the titles that many people in the world have given Jesus.

    Jesus is so much more than these titles would allow. He is someone entirely different. He is someone who proclaimed himself to be the Son of God and who insisted that he had come to save the world. No nice, wise or sensible man says that. It can only be said by a lunatic, an impostor… or God. To us Catholics, Jesus Christ is the only Son of God. For Catholics the description of Jesus simply as a “nice man” is not correct.

    Although we appreciate the good intention in that description, we also recognize that this does not at all reflect what we believe about Jesus and what the church teaches about him.

    To us, Jesus is God. The only Son of God. The second person of the Blessed Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God and three persons.

    In fact, the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that to the church, “Jesus is the Son of God in a unique and perfect way. At the time of his baptism and his transfiguration, the voice of the Father designated Jesus as his ‘beloved Son’… He is the ‘only begotten son of God,’ (1 John 4:9) the second person in the Trinity.” (Compendium 83)
    The apostles not only preached this truth, but they made it the center of their message to the point of giving their lives for it.

    That is why the Compendium of the Catechism also reminds us that “the first Christian creeds proclaimed that the power, the honor and the glory that are due to God the Father also belong to Jesus… He is the Lord of the world and of history, the only one to whom we must completely submit our personal freedom.” (Compendium 84).

    Then Jesus is not the “wise man” whose words we listen to because they are interesting; Jesus Christ is the only Son of God whom we follow, because our happiness on earth and our future salvation depend on it.

    The Lord Jesus, by conquering sin and death with his resurrection has become the principle of our justification and of our resurrection. As the Compendium of the Catechism teaches, Christ “procures for us now the grace of filial adoption, which is a real share in the life of the only begotten Son.” (Compendium 131).

    In other words, Jesus is the one who grants us the gift of truly calling ourselves sons of God, not as a metaphor, but as a reality.

    In today’s world, it is difficult to speak with words as radical as “Son of God” or commitment of our personal freedom.

    Nevertheless, the reality and timeliness of this message have not changed. As the Letter to the Hebrews states, despite the changes in the world and in society, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

    Many truths can be drawn from the words that we proclaim in the Credo on Sundays: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.”

    It is the responsibility of each one of us to understand better the meaning of proclaiming “I am a Christian.” Because following Jesus brings challenges and great blessings to our lives.
    Knowing Jesus better, educating ourselves better in the faith is not just something “good.” It is a need for a true Catholic.

    I ask the risen Jesus, the only Son of God and the Son of Mary, to grant us many blessings, but especially the blessing of knowing him better, of loving him more and of putting into action in our lives the consequences of calling ourselves his brothers and sisters and the children of God the Father.