Magnificat Vol. LX, No. 1 17 of His Father, and in him He adored the Will of God at work. Pilate was certainly not adorable, but the Will of God was. In the Gospel, we see Our Lord announcing His Passion. It was His Father’s Will, and He wanted it, desired it, adhered to it with all His being. But behold Peter, His Apostle, said to Him, Far be it from Thee, O Lord, that this should ever happen to Thee. And Jesus exclaimed, Get away from Me, Satan!11 Our Lord adored His Father’s Will; however, the instruments employed to carry it out were not adorable. His executioners were far from adorable! But they carried out God’s Will. This is the great mystery of the Cross, the unique truth taught by Our Lord, and one that Christians must contemplate unceasingly. If we want to know the Father, we must study Christ. If we wish to study Christ, we must contemplate the mystery of the Cross, for they are inseparable. Learning to obey Let us also contemplate Our Lord in order to learn how to obey our Heavenly Father. Jesus made obedience His food. My food is to do the Will of My Father.12 No one will ever be able to rival Christ in obedience. The entire Gospel proves it. The only way to worship God in spirit and in truth13 is to submit to His will. This is wisdom, perfection. The Church teaches us that in Our Lord there are two wills: a divine will 11. St. Matthew 16:22-23. 12. St. John 4:34. 13. Cf. St. John 4:24 – God is spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. and a human will. The Divine Will of Jesus is in perfect conformity with that of His Father. He is one with Him in the Holy Spirit. As God, therefore, Our Lord cannot obey. But Jesus, the Son of God, took on our human nature and vested Himself completely with it. The human soul is endowed with free will, enlightened by reason. This is human freedom. Our Lord sacrificed this human freedom absolutely. He submitted His human will and obeyed perfectly. This perfect obedience was of infinite merit. See Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. Feeling apprehensive, He cries out: Father, let this cup pass away from Me! But immediately, Not My will, but Thine be done.14 Let us contemplate Our Lord from the crib to the crucifixion. From Him we will learn to know our Heavenly Father, to pray to Him, to obey Him. Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. May this be our passion, our vehement desire. We shall learn from Our Lord how to love and serve God the Father – not out of constraint, but with a great love, a filial love. This is the secret of happiness, in this world and in the next. From a sermon given at the Monastery of the Magnificat on the feast of the Eternal Father – January 1, 2024 14. St. Matthew 26:39; St. Luke 22:42. JESUS, OUR MODEL “Jesus is our model. Even though He is the Son of God incarnate, He was obedient to His creatures. He was obedient in Nazareth until the age of thirty. God continues to be obedient at the altar to all the priests who make the consecration. There is no one more obedient than God Himself.” Father John Gregory of the Trinity
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