§333From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God "brings the firstborn into the world, he says: 'Let all God's angels worship him.'"196 Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the Church's praise: "Glory to God in the highest!"197 They protect Jesus in his infanc…

§394Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father.273 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."274 In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.

§2849Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony.159 In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is "cu…

2. Having then found Him in the wilderness, and in a pathless wilderness (for that the wilderness was such, Mark has declared, saying, that He was with the wild beasts Mark 1:13), behold with how much craft he draws near, and wickedness; and for what sort of opportunity he watches. For not in his fast, but in his hunger he approaches Him; to instruct you how great a good fastin…

1. Beloved, we need much care, much watchfulness, to be able to look into the depth of the Divine Scriptures. For it is not possible to discover their meaning in a careless way, or while we are asleep, but there needs close search, and there needs earnest prayer, that we may be enabled to see some little way into the secrets of the divine oracles. Today, for instance, here is n…

1. The Parable of the Tares: the House of Jesus. Then He left the multitudes and went into His house, and His disciples came unto Him saying, Declare to us the parable of the tares of the field. Matthew 13:36 When Jesus then is with the multitudes, He is not in His house, for the multitudes are outside of the house, and it is an act which springs from His love of men to leave t…

Is it fitting that Christ should be a priest? The victim offered by this priest The effect of this priesthood Does the effect of His priesthood pertain to Himself, or only to others? The eternal duration of His priesthood Should He be called "a priest according to the order of Melchisedech"? Article 1. Whether it is fitting that Christ should be a priest? Objection 1. It would …