Pastor's page: "Jesus of Nazareth: God Enters into Our Suffering"

It should not come as a surprise to you that Jesus of Nazareth, whom we know as Lord and
Savior, Messiah and the second person of the Trinity, is my all consuming love and passion. I
hope and pray and believe that for you the same is true.
I was raised in a traditional home following the Second World War, with dad as breadwinner and
mom as homemaker. My mother spent a great deal of time at the church when she wasn't busy
caring for her children. I can recall an argument between my mother and father over exactly that
topic. My dad said, "You’re spending so much time up at the church, Joan that I'm beginning to
think you love Jesus more than you love me. My mother answered, "That's right, Jim."
We believe that in Jesus of Nazareth, God became a human being. It is very important that we are
challenged and inspired by the kind of human being God became.
For three centuries, since before the time of the American Revolution, various thinkers influenced
by the Enlightenment, began to turn a critical eye on the Jesus of the New Testament. Using the
tools of scientific research, they try to puncture what they perceive to be "the overinflated balloon
of Christological doctrine". Using a skeptical and non-believing approach to the Gospels they
profess that history alone reveal a Jesus as another failed prophet or a misguided revolutionary
defeated by the Roman Empire. Their scientific approach attacked a faith based understanding of
Jesus Christ. Scholars in recent times have countered this ‘history alone’ approach to Jesus with a
‘faith over history’ understanding of the Jesus who is at the center of Christian life.
Jesus is one in being with God the father and the Holy Spirit, and divine. Three persons, yet one
God. Jesus is fully human and fully divine.
He is one in being with us as a human being. He shows us how to live with confidence and trust
in God, while feeling fear and anxiety. The Vatican Council states clearly that Jesus "thought with
a human mind and felt with a human heart." Full humanity means just like us, in all things but
sin.
Jesus did not know exactly what lay ahead for him in his human journey. He had to make
decisions, through prayer and consultation with others before he acted, without knowing
precisely what the consequences of his actions would be. When the consequences became dire,
Jesus had to trust that God's love would triumph over his adversaries.
Peace and love,
Father Bruce

Peace and love,
Father Bruce