When I call upon the Name of Jesus Christ, in prayer, this is the faith that I profess:God Incarnate in the human nature of Jesus of Nazareth, in Whom the ultimate subject is the divine Person of the Word of God.
Jesus Christ, the immediate presence of the invisible God in our world of space and time.
The Son, the radiant Image of the Father, eternally engendered by the Father, and Source, with Him, of the Spirit. He is the manifestation of the Father with a human Face, in human history.
A Face that is fully human: the Son accepted the total reality of our human condition – except for sin – with all its finitude, its limits, its succession in time, its subjection to suffering and death. This was the first Sacrifice of Love.
A Face of poverty and, on the human level, of impotence in presence of the forces of destruction and evil, respecting their autonomy and their liberty of action.
A Face of absolute faith and trust in the Father and in His will for the eternal happiness of all humanity.
A Face of love and forgiveness freely bestowed, to the point of sacrificing His life for us in total gift.
The promise of eternal life through a sharing of grace in the life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Promise realised first of all in Jesus, by His Resurrection from the dead on Easter morning.
Promise realised, in faith, in each of those who believe, by the gift of His Spirit; pledge already here on earth of the divine life of knowledge and love; power within us for living and for acting in the Image of Christ; the bond uniting humankind to form the Church, the Body of Christ, whose sacramental actions are the actions of Christ in the Spirit.
Promise fulfilled in our souls when they come face-to-Face with God in the plenitude of light, at the moment of death, or after a purification; and fulfilled for the totality of our humanity at the end of time; at the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ, when God will be all in all.
When I say Jesus Christ, I proclaim all this.
~ Interior Prayer: Carthusian Novice Conferences ~
