REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF EASTER ST ATHANASIUS 2nd May 2024

 HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF EASTER, (ST. ATHANASIUS 

Acts 15:7-21; Ps.96; John 15:9-11

Jesus Christ is truly God and truly Man

The life and contribution of St. Athanasius makes us realize that the creed that we profess today, was not formulated without fierce theological debate. Every statement in the creed was arrived at after so much theological deliberations. Today, we are celebrating the contribution of St. Athanasius to the growth of the Faith particularly in the formulation of an article of the faith, namely, that Jesus Christ is truly and fully God.

Athanasius wrote and taught to refute the heresy of Arianism. Arianism taught that the incarnation is not possible and sensible because the world is saturated with evil and so, God cannot soil himself by becoming man. Therefore, the Jesus who was truly and fully man, could not have been God. Their rejection of Jesus as God was in a bid to safeguard the divinity of God. However, since Jesus was quite extraordinary, they taught that Jesus was just a mediator between God and the world. He is just a mediator, he is not equal to God; He did not exist with the Father from all eternity; he was created at some point in time in history. Thus Jesus could be the son of God but not God himself.

Athanasius answered Arianism by saying that redemption can only be possible through God’s active presence with the people. A creator who is afraid to mingle with its creatures cannot be said to be omnipotent. Hence incarnation is reasonable and possible. Redemption can only be possible if that which became man is itself truly and fully God. If Jesus is not God, then he will not be able to redeem man. To reject incarnation is to reject redemption; to reject redemption is to reject God’s providence and mercy. So, when Arianism rejected the divinity of Jesus Christ, just because they wanted to safeguard the divinity of God the Father, they were actually underrating the essence of God.

John 3:35-36 clearly says that the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands such that he who believes in the son has eternal life. To say that Jesus is the Son of God does not mean that God gave birth to Jesus. It is only a way of describing his redemptive role.

Beloved, the encounter between Arianism and Athanasius teaches us something about our relationship with God. We are not Christians to defend and define God, we are Christians to know, love and serve God. It is in knowing, loving and serving Him that we understand Him more and then be able to speak of Him to others. That is witnessing! Witnessing is testifying to what we have experienced. If we do not encounter Jesus, we cannot understand Him; and when we don’t understand Him, we cannot speak properly about him. Therefore, a Christian is first and foremost, a man of prayer.