![]() ![]() Therefore, this sacred synod, proclaiming the noble destiny of man and championing the Godlike seed which has been sown in him, offers to mankind the honest assistance of the Church in fostering that brotherhood of all men which corresponds to this destiny of theirs. Hence the focal point of our total presentation will be man himself, whole and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will. For the human person deserves to be preserved human society deserves to be renewed. The council brings to mankind light kindled from the Gospel, and puts at its disposal those saving resources which the Church herself, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, receives from her Founder. Hence, giving witness and voice to the faith of the whole people of God gathered together by Christ, this council can provide no more eloquent proof of its solidarity with, as well as its respect and love for the entire human family with which it is bound up, than by engaging with it in conversation about these various problems. Though mankind is stricken with wonder at its own discoveries and its power, it often raises anxious questions about the current trend of the world, about the place and role of man in the universe, about the meaning of its individual and collective strivings, and about the ultimate destiny of reality and of humanity. Therefore, the council focuses its attention on the world of men, the whole human family along with the sum of those realities in the midst of which it lives that world which is the theater of man's history, and the heir of his energies, his tragedies and his triumphs that world which the Christian sees as created and sustained by its Maker's love, fallen indeed into the bondage of sin, yet emancipated now by Christ, Who was crucified and rose again to break the strangle hold of personified evil, so that the world might be fashioned anew according to God's design and reach its fulfillment.ģ. For the council yearns to explain to everyone how it conceives of the presence and activity of the Church in the world of today. Hence this Second Vatican Council, having probed more profoundly into the mystery of the Church, now addresses itself without hesitation, not only to the sons of the Church and to all who invoke the name of Christ, but to the whole of humanity. ![]() That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.Ģ. ![]() United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. For theirs is a community composed of men. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Now, like Johns disciples, it surely compels us, in the very depths of our souls, to behold the Lamb of God, and follow Him.Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word-Gaudium et Spesġ. In fulfillment of all these ancient sacrifices and types, the once-for-all Lamb of God came, and ∼hrist our passover is sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7). Then when God was ready to set His people free in ancient Egypt, He told them to place the shed blood of a spotless lamb on the doorpost of each home and said: When I see the blood, I will pass over you ( Exodus 12:13). God did just that 2000 years later, when Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world ( Revelation 13:8), came into the world to save sinners (I Timothy 1:15). Long before this, Isaac once asked his father, Where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham answered, God will provide Himself a lamb ( Genesis 22:7,8). ![]() Yet, even on His throne as our King, He is still the Lamb, and we can never ever forget that He once died for us that we might live with Him. He is called the Lamb 30 more times in the New Testament, the final time no longer viewing Him on the altar but on His eternal throne ( Revelation 22:3). This is the first use of the word lamb in the New Testament, and it is significant that it refers here to the Lord Jesus as the one great sacrifice for our sins. On the previous day, when John had first seen Jesus coming, he had said, apparently to all his disciples: ∻ehold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world ( John 1:29). ∺nd the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus ( John 1:37). ∺nd looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! ( John 1:36).Īs he spoke to two of his followers, John the Baptist was, in effect, telling them that they should henceforth leave him to follow Jesus. ![]()
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