Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Holy Father, Saint Paul, pray for us sinners.
So, back to Saint Paul.
I don't know if you've read that section in St. Catherine's Dialogues where God the Father talks about Saint Paul.
He calls him, my trumpet.
That's his Saint Paul, he's God's trumpet.
Have any of you been to Rome?
Yes?
You know that church?
That church of Saint Paul.
Saint Paul's outside the walls.
And that statue that they have.
You know, when you go into this big house.
Because you know it all burned down in the 19th century.
They had to build it all over again.
And they built it bigger and better.
But it's kind of, that's just Saint Paul.
Completely destroyed.
Then he gets up again.
Because that's what happened to him.
You know, reading in the Acts of the Apostles, right?
And they take him and they stone him and they leave him for dead.
And he just gets up.
And walks back into the city.
And that church is kind of the same.
But it's a beautiful.
But then there's a statue of Saint Paul out there.
I'm sure you can get it on the internet.
Just put Saint Paul's outside the walls.
And then he speaks with his sword.
You know, that's Saint Paul.
Look out.
So let's listen to Saint Paul talking.
Speaking to the Colossians.
Therefore we also from the day that we heard it cease not to pray for you.
And to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will.
In all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
That you may walk worthy of God.
In all things pleasing.
Being fruitful in every good work.
And increasing in the knowledge of God.
See how he puts the two things together.
It's this knowledge.
And.
Pleasing.
Being fruitful in good works.
To go together they're not.
In opposition.
Knowledge.
Is necessary.
In order to do good works.
And to do good works is necessary in order to increase knowledge.
This love and knowledge go together.
But he does talk a lot about the knowledge of God.
Amen.
Strengthened with all might.
According to the power of his glory.
In all patience and long suffering with joy.
Giving thanks.
And he goes like these long.
Phrases especially at the beginning of his epistles.
That's kind of the style.
You know we were looking at the Hebrews this morning.
Giving thanks to God the Father who made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light.
As a light.
That's what heaven is you know.
It's simply the vision of God.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.
See there again in darkness.
Let me see that tomorrow with St. Dominic.
He did it this year.
he delivered us from the power of darkness. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do,
you know, deliver people from the power of darkness, as Dominicans. But to do that, obviously,
you have to be delivered first yourself. And study. Who have delivered us from the power of darkness
and have translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Now, we've got another example
of those funny genitives, which are, in fact, are adjectives.
Into the kingdom of the son of his love. Well, what does that mean? Well, it means his beloved son.
It's an adjective. The son of his love is his beloved son. Because it doesn't really
make sense, the son of his love. What does that mean, really?
In whom we have redemption through his blood, through remission of sins. So, here he's talking,
now he's talking about the son. In whom we have redemption through his blood, through remission
of sins. See how important he is. But this is the part we're going to meditate on now. Because you
can talk about who he is.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. And we mentioned that a little
bit, the image of the invisible God. We talked about the image, right? Well, we're going to go
into this more now. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
Well, that's going to take a while to figure that out.
For in him were all things created. Now, we have another question there. In him, in, we're talking
about whether it means instrumental. He created in the sun, what we saw before. In the sun there
meant God being actually physically there.
Or physically, well, actually really there. In his sun doing things. Well, here it's an
instrument. When he talks about here in him. For in him were all things created. Well, it's an
instrumental here. In the sense that, well, we're going to talk about it. But it's by his word that
he created. Because he creates in the word. By the word.
For in him were all things created. In heaven and on earth. Visible and invisible. Whether thrones or
dominations or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and in him.
Now, the Greek there is a little bit different. It's not by, it's,
it's for him.
It's for him.
Not, all things were created by him and in him, but by him and for him.
And he is before all.
And by him all things were created.
And they were created and....
by him.
And they were created and...
things consist. So you see, this is not just a man. This Jesus is something else. Obviously,
in him all things are created. And we're going to see he's not just some great being
who's between us and God. He's God himself. This is what St. Paul is going to say. It's
not just St. John. St. Paul says it clearly. I mean, we already saw it this morning with
Hebrews, but he says it here as well. And he is before all, and by him all things consist.
And then he goes on, finishes, and he is a head of the body of the church, who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy.
He goes, in him it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, and
through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross,
both as to things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven. So that's quite
a passage. I mean, that's a lot. So we're going to try to, with the help of St. Thomas,
to understand that.
1st Corinthians, 6.9-11.
understand what this means.
I don't know if you know
I think it's in her autobiography
St. Teresa of Avila where she says that our Lord
told her that all evils in the
world come from ignorance of scripture.
I tell that to the seminarians.
Look. Do your Lectio Divina.
And you should do it too, huh?
Read scripture. You should read a little bit
every day at least. A chapter every day.
It doesn't take long.
And as the imitation of Christ says,
even if you don't know,
if you don't understand something,
well, just keep going. Don't worry.
I mean, sometimes it's good
even to sit down and make that your study
to actually sit down with a commentary
and actually read
what it really means.
But Lectio Divina
is simply you just read the Bible.
The Benedictines do it.
They have this little ceremony.
They light a candle and they kneel and they read.
That's Lectio Divina.
So we're going to do some Lectio Divina
with the help of
St. Thomas.
So we're going to take simply
the key passage
verse 15
to 17
who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn,
the firstborn of every creature.
For in him were all things created
in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
where there's thrones of domination,
the principalities and powers.
All things were created by him and in him.
And he is before all,
and by him all things consist.
This tells us who our Lord Jesus Christ really is.
So St. Thomas
divides this
into three
parts.
Actually the last part goes on farther than what I just read.
He says here,
St. Paul commends the author of grace,
that is, Christ.
First,
in comparison with God,
was the image of the invisible God.
Secondly, generally,
in comparison to all creatures,
firstborn of every creature,
for in him all things created in heaven and earth,
said of the principalities, all that.
So first with regard to God,
then with regard to creatures,
all creatures,
and then thirdly,
especially with regard to the church.
And that starts in verse 18,
and he is the head of the body of the church, etc.
So the part we're going to look at especially is
Christ in comparison to God,
he's the image of the invisible God,
and then in comparison with all creation.
The firstborn of every creature.
See, and that's going to be tricky,
because the Arians took that and ran with it.
He's the firstborn of every creature,
so he's a creature,
because he's the firstborn of every creature.
It's in the Bible.
See?
Well, that's not what the church says.
And that's not what St. Paul says either.
If you read a little bit farther.
Because he says,
you know, he just says after that,
and he is before all,
and by him all things consist.
Anyway, we're going to see that.
St. Thomas is going to explain this.
So first of all,
in comparison with God,
he's the image of the invisible God.
Concerning this first point,
it must be noted that God is said to be invisible
because he exceeds the image of the invisible God.
He exceeds the capacity of vision
of any created intellect.
Such that no created intellect can,
by natural knowledge,
attain to his essence.
We're going to read later.
He's in the...
About the son being in the bosom of the father.
This hidden place in the father.
But that's later.
We'll see that later.
And he quotes Job.
Behold, God is great,
surpassing our knowledge.
See, that's the error of rationalism.
Rationalism says,
well, if it's something that I can't understand,
well, it doesn't exist.
Well, that's not very rational to say that.
That's just proud and stupid.
Just because I don't understand it
doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
And in 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 16,
he dwells in unapproachable light.
That's a beautiful phrase.
He dwells in unapproachable light.
See, which is another way of saying, you know,
he's just above us.
We're too stupid to understand.
It's that simple.
We won't get it.
Okay?
Which is, okay,
that doesn't seem to be such a great surprise to us.
I mean, we're not infinite.
But put that in practice, it's, you know.
And so St. Thomas responds,
therefore he is seen by the blessed through grace,
not through nature.
It's true grace that we can see him.
He's invisible.
I remember there's this line.
It took me a long, long time to read this line.
It's in this horrible book by James Joyce,
who's a horrible author, an apostate Catholic.
But he was taught by James Joyce.
He's a man of faith.
Jesuits at the beginning of the 20th century, St. Thomas Aquinas,
and it comes out in his book sometime.
And he talks about the ineluctable modality of the visible.
That's a phrase.
Ineluctable means, you know, you can't express it.
The ineluctable modality of the visible.
Visibility is just a kind of being.
It's not everything.
It's a certain genus.
And in fact, things are visible because they're colored.
If they're not colored, they're invisible.
What you see is color, and you see things insofar as they're colored.
But that's it.
That's not all there is.
And we get tricked into thinking, at least without even realizing it,
that that's all there is.
But no, just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
There can be information.
There can be invisible things.
If they don't have color, we'll learn they're invisible.
That can get you out of your head a little bit.
Okay.
But it must be considered how he is said to be the image of God,
because that's what he says.
He's the image of the invisible God.
What does that mean?
And why he is said to be invisible?
Indeed, the notion of image involves three things.
First, that there is likeness.
Second, that the likeness is derived from or expressed by that of which it is a likeness.
See, image doesn't just say likeness.
It also includes being derived from or expressed by that of which it is a likeness.
You can explain that.
And the third thing,
is that it is derived in something pertaining to the species.
I was going to explain these things.
First of all,
that the likeness is derived from or expressed by that of which it is a likeness.
For if there are two similar things,
and one is not derived from the other,
we do not say that one is the image of the other.
As an egg is not said to be the image of the other.
It is the image of another egg.
It's got a likeness, but because it doesn't come from it, it's not an image.
So you see how this applies.
He's the image of the invisible God because he proceeds from him.
It's not just a likeness.
He's derived from him.
Remember that species expressa?
That we use to explain, to call our Lord?
That he's this conception that God brings forth.
When he knows, just like we do, when we know something,
we have this concept that we produce when we know.
The species expressa, well that's, you know,
image includes that idea.
Image is not just a likeness.
It's a likeness that's derived from that of which it is a likeness.
It's an image.
So when St. Paul says he's the image of the invisible God,
that's what he's talking about.
It's an image of the invisible God and the image of the invisible God.
It's a likeness of the image of the visible God.
It's a likeness of the image of the invisible God,
because it's the image of God.
It's a likeness of God.
Then with regard to the pertaining to the species,
it has to be a likeness that pertains to the species explains.
If there is not this likeness with regard to the species,
it's not an image.
For an example, in a human, there are many accidents.
Such as color, quantity, and so on.
but none of these are called an image
of a man
but if someone takes on his figure
then it can be image
because figure
is a likeness of the species
or a sign of the species
the way he puts it
it's a likeness that has to do with the species
a statue of man is a likeness
it's just a likeness
but it's a likeness according to the species
it's not just the same color
so an image
includes that likeness according to the species
and he explains
now a son is similar to the father
and the father to the son
but the son has this similarity
from the father
and not the other way around
so here he's explaining
the second condition
which was it's a likeness that's derived from
or expressed by
that which is a likeness
remember we talked about that before
when we said that the word
is the exemplar of the things it makes
that are made by the word
it's the exemplar
but it's an image with regard to the father
because it comes from the father
and it's a likeness
well that's the same thing he's saying here
an image is a likeness
that's expressed from
that of which it is a likeness
and that applies obviously to our Lord
because he comes from the father
that's what he's going to say
now a son is similar to the father
and the father to the son
but the son has this similarity from the father
and not the other way around
therefore properly speaking
we say the son is the image of the father
and not that the father is the image
of the son
that's the way we talk
because the likeness is derived
and proceeds from the father
you know he sees the spitting image of his father
right
we don't see that way around
so image involves this
derivation from
or expression by
so again
with regard to the father
and with regard to this idea of the image
is a likeness according to the species
he explained that this is the case
with the son in the blessed trinity
because he is the word
also this likeness is according to the species
because the son in the divine order
is represented in a certain way
although imperfectly by the word of our mind
the word of our mind is formed
when we form in act
the form of a thing we know
and this we signify
by an exterior word
this is what we've been talking about before
and this word so conceived
is a kind of likeness of the thing
that we hold in our mind
and it is similar according to its species
not just according to exterior accents
we were talking before
that's the senses
it's a likeness according to something
exterior like the color
whereas the concept is likeness
according to the essence of the thing
the species of the thing
therefore the word of God
is said to be the image of God
because it's a likeness according to the species
of what he is
of his essence
the word of God is the image of God
of his nature
it's according to the species
because the image is according to the species
and the word of God is according to the species
so
the image of God is the word of God
see they're all saying the same thing
which is good right
because otherwise
our religion wouldn't be true
they're contradicting themselves
they all say the same thing
St. John
St. Paul
St. Thomas
okay
now
here it gets a little bit complicated
wow did I start at 3.15 already
anyway
time flies
St. Thomas adds
that the Arians
used this phrase
he is the image of the invisible God
to say that he was not equal to God
because God is said here to be invisible
and the sun to be his image
and therefore visible
and therefore a creature
to the Arians
and he refutes them by quoting
what we saw this morning
Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3
he is the splendor of his glory
and the figure of his substance
and he is the splendor of his glory
and so he's not only the image of the invisible God
but invisible himself
like the father
because he's equal
a character is a perfect resemblance
so if he's a perfect resemblance
of the invisible God
then he's invisible too
he's not sort of just a
representation
he's the figure of his substance
and as we saw that means
he's perfectly equal to him
or he couldn't represent him
so he's invisible as well
so then he goes on
to explain
the second part
this Christ
in comparison to all creatures
first we saw him in comparison with God
now we see him in comparison with all creatures
afterwards he talks about
in comparison with the church
so in comparison with creatures
first he said
he is the first born of all creatures
and then he
he's the first born of all creatures
then he explains
more what that means
but first he just says it
with regard to God
he's the image of visible
then
and he's the first born of all creatures
concerning this first point
it should be known
that the Aryans understand this
as if it were being said
first born
because he is the first creature
but this is not the correct meaning
as will become clear
therefore two things must be examined
namely
how this image is begotten
guess what it says
genitus
such as any old image
it's an image that's begotten
and secondly
how it is the first born of all creation
and secondly how it is the first born of all creation
so firstly
he is begotten
because God's word
shares his nature
so you can't leave apart
the genitus
genitus is on the level of nature
so he's on the level of God's nature
so he's not a creature
all right
from the word genitus
take that Arius
for starters
this is just
the beginning
so regarding the first
it should be known
that in everything
generation occurs
according to the mode of its being
and its nature
for the mode of generation
is different in humans
different in plants
and so on and other things
now this is something
we will recognize
from what we said before
but the nature of God
is different in humans
is to be
the very act of understanding
okay we talked about that before
his act of understanding
is not different from his act of being
it's all one thing
the nature of God
is to be the very act of understanding
and therefore
his intellectual generation
or conception
must be the generation
or conception of his nature
so
this makes sense
right
his act of understanding
is the same thing
as his nature
so the intellectual
generation or conception
is a generation or conception
of his nature
because it's the same thing
identically
in us however
intellectual conception
is not the conception
of our nature
because in us
understanding is one thing
and our nature is another
and so
since this image
is a word
an intellectual conception
we must say that
it is an offspring
of the nature
germen nature
is the word he uses in Latin
and that's necessarily
begotten
because it receives
its nature
from another
it's what I was saying before
but he explains it
right
because understanding
and being in God
is the same thing
is intellectual conception
is a natural conception
and so it's begotten
that's why he uses
the word genitus
it's on the level of nature
so it's not just
an idea
or even just an idea
it's just a creature
it's another god
in a sense
it's God
I mean that's the problem
we always come back
to the same thing
it's this mystery
that you've got
two gods
sort of
we don't
but
you kind of sort of do
and that's where the problem is
that's where the mystery is
and if you don't accept the mystery
and you want to be like the Aryans
and try to understand everything
well then you're going to go
off
the board
see but that's what theologians do
they say where the mystery is
you've got two gods
sort of
but you don't really
but you sort of do
and how that goes together
well that's the mystery
but that's what
Neville Latham tells us
and theology can help us
to understand how that
can not be a contradiction
but it can't help us
it can't make us understand
what it is
because
it's up there
where we don't understand
and we know that there's things
we don't understand
see and theology
can always disprove
anything that
pretends to prove
that a mystery is false
because you can't prove
something that's true is false
but you can't prove
that it's true
you can prove anything
that they say
isn't
a necessary
truth
that follows from
what is necessarily true
that doesn't mean
you can prove
the truth
and what is
because it's of all our nature
you see what I mean right
okay
now that's the easy part
then he goes on
and this is where
the problem comes in
he is first born
of every creature
because by
this intellectual generation
God knows
not just himself
but all creatures
that's what it means
it doesn't mean like the Aryans say
he's the first born
creature
he's the first born
of every creature
meaning
in this intellectual generation
God knows
all his creatures
what are you going to explain
second it must be considered
how he is called
first born
for God knows all his creatures
for God does not know himself
by one way
and creatures by another
but knows all things
in his own essence
as in the first effective cause
I mentioned this before
God knows everything
in knowing himself
so you see how this is going to help us
understand what this means
because
in knowing
himself
in his word
he knows all creatures
and in that sense
he knows all creatures
he's the first born
of every creature
this is what he's going to explain
God does not know himself
by one way
and the creatures by another
but knows all things
in his own essence
as in the first effective cause
but the son
is the intellectual conception of God
according to which he knows himself
and consequently
every creature
therefore
insofar as he is begotten
he appears as a kind of word
representing the whole of creation
and this word is the principle of every creature
for if he were not begotten in this way
the word of the father would not be the
would be the firstborn only of the father
not of the creatures
and he quotes Ecclesiastic with chapter 24
verse 5
I came forth from the mother of most
of the mouth of the most high
the firstborn before every creature
so again St. Paul isn't just making this up
it's referring again to the Old Testament
I came forth from the mouth of the most high
the firstborn before every creature
so the whole argument is
the son is the image of the unseen God
insofar as he is his intellectual conception of himself
that's the first part
now in creatures
this sort of conception is simply an accident
an act of the intelligence
of the creature
who knows himself right
but in God there are no accidents
everything in God is God
as St. Thomas puts it
so this conception that he forms of himself
in knowing himself
is him
this is what we said before
there only remains these opposing relations
between God as principle of this act
which is identical to himself
we try to make it clear that God is God
which means God is principle
but the principles of the creation of God
God is the principle
I'm gonna try and get this right here
God is the principle
yeah ok
I'm sorry
the opposing relations between God as principle of this act
and the act, insofar as it's produced by him.
That's what I said before.
It's the same act, and you consider it,
the principle of the act is God the Father.
The same act as being produced is the Son.
Again, produced, not being created, but coming from.
Now, this is his firstborn,
the fruit of his intellect, conception, begotten.
It's this concept by which he knows himself,
and it's identical to him, as we said.
It's one God with him,
and all that remains are these opposing relations,
which are the divine persons.
Okay.
But this concept doesn't just represent God.
It also represents every creature, as I said, right?
God knows his creatures in his Son, in this word,
by which he knows himself.
He also knows every creature that way.
And so, St. Thomas says,
therefore, insofar as he is begotten,
he appears as a kind of word
representing the whole of creation.
So, he's not just the firstborn
as an image of his Father.
He's the firstborn as the exemplar of all the creatures.
The word is the principle of every creature.
And then St. Thomas quotes St. Paul, who goes on.
You see, it doesn't end here.
Because he says, he goes on to say,
for in him were all things created.
That for is very important,
because it explains why he said
he's the firstborn of all creation.
For in him all things were created.
He's the firstborn of all creation
because in him all things were created.
So, he's not the firstborn as a creature,
as of the creatures, as the Aryans say.
He's called the firstborn, St. Paul adds,
for in him all things were created.
So, it certainly doesn't mean
he's the firstborn of the creatures,
the firstborn of the creatures,
because the reason he calls him
the firstborn of creatures is because,
St. Paul says,
in him all things were created.
So, it can't mean what the Aryans say it means.
That's what St. Thomas said.
Then when he says, for in him,
he explains what he had said earlier,
namely, that he is the firstborn,
for he is begotten as the principle of creation.
And it's interesting,
a commentary on the Greek,
mentions that the genitive word here in Greek
is a comparative genitive.
It means generated first,
or generated before all creatures.
It's not generated, you know,
the first generated of,
it's generated before all creatures.
So, there's a grammatical explanation,
as well.
It's what he calls it,
a genitive comparative.
The firstborn man,
all creatures, if you will.
And as I said,
the key word here is for.
For,
in him all things were created.
He is the firstborn,
because all things in him,
were created.
So, St. Paul is going to give us the reason why
Christ is called the firstborn,
namely, because in him all things were created.
So, it doesn't mean that he's a creator.
It means precisely the opposite.
He's called that because everything was created in him.
An exegete called Father Fouillet,
I think I quoted him earlier,
quotes an author,
who insists on the fact that this,
because,
haughty in Greek,
indicates the absolute distinction between the firstborn,
and creation.
He's distinguishing the firstborn and creation,
by using that word because.
And so, it refutes the Aryans.
The title of firstborn of all creation,
is explained in the clause with haughty.
Because, in the following verse,
Christ is thus called because all creatures,
without exception, owe their existence to him.
That's why he's called firstborn,
because all things were created in him.
And not merely because he preceded them in existence.
As you might imagine,
if you just read firstborn of all creation,
which is what the Aryans did.
You know, one might think that it would mean what they say,
namely that he's just the first of all creatures.
But St. Paul goes on to say precisely,
for in him were all things created.
So, firstborn can't mean he's a creature because,
in him all things were created.
So, that's what he's saying.
Christ cannot, without contradiction,
be regarded both as universal media and creation
as the first of all creatures.
Okay.
And that's exactly what St. Thomas just said,
when we quote it, right?
When he says, for in him all things were created,
he explains what he said earlier,
namely that he is a firstborn because,
he is a God and has a principle of creation.
So, I hope that,
suffices to clear up that Aryan heritage.
And, I'm going to read this text to you,
because it's kind of a conspiracy.
Because if he's the principle of creation,
in him all things were created,
well, he can't be a creature.
And there's a whole,
St. Augustine has a beautiful thing about this, too, right?
He makes fun of them, as he knows how to do.
Now, this Father Fourier explains how,
the Aryans used this text,
and became a real battleground.
And even some of the fathers,
in order to respond to them,
started to interpret this text
as referring to the humanity of Christ.
The firstborn of all creatures,
meaning talking about his humanity
as the firstborn of all creatures.
He is a creature, but it's the firstborn.
But that, before the Aryans came along,
nobody was interpreting it that way.
It was referred to the divinity of Christ,
that is, the generation of the word
in the most holy trinity.
He's called the image of the unseen God
and firstborn of all creatures
insofar as he is the word.
It is the term of the intellectual operation
by which God knows himself
and in himself all he creates.
So Father Fourier talks about this.
I won't go into detail.
But he says, you know,
in their context they must be taken
in the sense that we see St. Thomas takes them
and the sense in which they were taken
before the Aryans started to twist this.
He writes,
Nevertheless, along with the vast majority
of commentators and also in full agreement
with the earliest exegesis of the text,
the one that was unanimously
accepted before the Aryan controversy,
we believe this interpretation
of St. Athanasius and others
to be impossible,
even though it is at first sight
the most obvious.
It is, in fact, ruled out
by the immediately subsequent context
because the text reads,
the firstborn of every creature
because in him all things were created.
Now, it was not as incarnate
that Christ participated
in the creation of the world.
If you just read the text,
in fact, it's obvious.
He's the firstborn of creation
because in all things were created
in the sense that we explain,
that St. Thomas explained
insofar as this concept
according to which they were created.
And he sees the solution, in fact,
to this problem.
This is interesting, these exegetes.
I mean, I'm sorry to get into this
because I've got a lot of time.
I've got a lot of time.
I've got to start to teach this stuff.
He goes back to the Old Testament.
And he says that's where you have to find
the true interpretation of these words
because it's certainly St. Paul
who knew the Old Testament
is referring to this text
in Proverbs chapter 8,
verse 22 to 25,
which says,
it says,
the Lord possessed me
or in Greek it says created
or formed.
Also, there's a whole thing about that word.
But in fact, it doesn't mean created.
It's made from nothing.
It means formed.
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways
before he made anything from the beginning.
I was set up from eternity and of old
before the earth was made.
The depths were not as yet
and I was already conceived.
Neither had the fountains of water
as yet sprung out.
The mountains with their huge bulk
had not yet been established
before the hills I was brought for.
So that's another text in the Old Testament
that's talking about the word.
We saw the text in Proverbs,
I mean in Wisdom,
chapter 7,
and this is Proverbs chapter 8.
Yeah, Proverbs chapter 8.
And he quotes the fathers of the church,
the church that give this interpretation
to this text of the Old Testament
and say that it applies
to this text of St. Paul
that we're studying.
And then he refers also to this text we saw before,
Wisdom 23.
25 to 26.
Chapter 7, 25 to 26.
In Colossians 1.15,
which is this text we're trying to wrestle with,
the perfection of the image results
from the reference to divine wisdom
we have already made.
You know, in this text.
That text, remember, was
wisdom is the vapor of the power of God
and a certain pure emanation
of the glory of the Almighty God
and therefore,
no defiled thing cometh into her.
She is the brightness of eternal light
and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty
and the image of his goodness.
And another commentator quotes this.
The best commentary on the Colossians phrase
is probably this text of Wisdom,
where the terms emanation, reflection, and mirror
are used alongside image.
So when St. Paul talks of brightness,
of that, I mean, firstborn of all creation,
he says this is what he's talking about.
Wisdom is an emanation of God's glory,
a reflection of his eternal light,
a mirror of his activity,
an image of his goodness.
Attention then turns
to the very notion of wisdom,
to what would constate her personality
if she were truly a hypostasis,
which means a person.
We can say that the fact of being an image
concentrates Christ in his reality as a person.
So you see, this is what,
it says already in Hebrews,
the splendor of his glory, the figure of his substance,
and he says it's the same thing that's going on here.
Or just read what Fr. Fourier says.
The perfection of the image in this text of Colossians
results from the affreferences of divine wisdom
we have already made,
as well as from the immediate context
of the only begotten son of the heavenly father,
because that's what he said before, his beloved son.
That's what St. Paul's talking about.
Who collaborates with him in the creation of the universe.
He's already said that,
so he's not talking about a creature.
He's talking about someone who helps him create the universe.
He creates together with him.
So he can't be talking about a creature.
The qualification of image is here
inseparable from divine filiation,
understood in the strict sense,
and expresses Christ's being
in his relation with the father
in the same way as the gloria,
gloria doxa, in the fourth gospel.
And precisely in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4,
image and glory were associated
and attributed together to Christ.
And he talks about that later, earlier.
And in this text, St. Paul speaks of
the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.
To give the light of the knowledge of God.
That's what Christ does.
And since in the Bible doxa,
glory,
is nothing other than divine essence
as it manifests itself,
eikon and doxa,
you know, image and glory,
similarly mean that Christ is in himself
the perfect expression of God
on a par with wisdom, capital W.
Okay.
So you see what these,
like I said, you get underneath the car
and you get grease all over
to make sure exactly what,
nail down what this really means.
Okay.
And it's a little bit confusing maybe, but.
There's nothing left of the Aryans, in fact.
It's especially this, the word haughty,
because he's the perfect,
he's the firstborn of every creature
because everything's created in him.
That's what the text says.
So he's not a creature.
The firstborn of every creature.
If he's the firstborn of every creature
because he's the principle of creatures,
well, that's,
firstborn of every creature
doesn't mean that he's a creature.
It means something else.
It means what St. Thomas says.
It's this,
he's begotten
as the image of God
and insofar as God creates
in that word,
he's the principle
of every creature.
Okay.
That's what it means.
I think that's enough for now.
That's almost an hour.
But we had to do a little bit more.
Getting a little bit greasy.
To understand
who our Lord Jesus Christ really is.
He's God,
but that's what he does
with regard to us.
He's the firstborn
of every creature
because in begetting him,
he's our principle.
For in him,
all things were created.
In him, meaning
in the word,
God created us.
Amen.
I guess we can say the answer this time.
Oh, is it Sunday already, right?
It's Saturday evening, though.
Saturday evening is Vespers.
We say,
the answer is standing up.
It's already Sunday.
It's a little bit early,
but four.
In Italy,
when you get up after the siesta,
you already say
Vesera,
which means evening.
So it's the evening.
And it's time for Vespers.
So it's the first Vespers.
So we stay Sunday.
The angel, Lord,
declared unto Mary,
And Jesus, the only called host.
Hail Mary, for the grace
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women.
Blessed is the fruit
of thy name, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and for ever.
Amen.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be a done to me,
according to thy word.
Hail Mary, for the grace
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women.
Blessed is the fruit
of thy name, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and for ever.
Amen.
And the words may come to you.
Both among us.
Amen.
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour.
Amen.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
And may we be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
For, forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts, that, reaching the
incarnation of Christ, thy Son was made known by the messenger of the angel.
May, by his passion and cross, be brought to the glory of his resurrection, to the
same Christ.
Amen.