Some weeks ago, after a very tiring day at Mater Dei, going from ward to ward attending to the patients, relatives and staff's spiritual needs, I had the grace of attending an adoration. As Saint John Paul II said in his encyclical letter about the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church, Ecclesia De Eucharistia: "It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the 'art of prayer', how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support" (no. 25).

Dear Saint John Paul II, I can assure you that even I find a lot of strength, consolation and support when I have the grace of adoring Our Eucharistic Lord. And, this loving solace and care of Jesus is much felt when the adoration is well organized and anointed by the Holy Spirit! As certainly was the adoration I attended after one of my most busiest of days. How can I not remember that heavenly, sweet and powerfully reassuring song called in Hebrew שוע המשיח - Yeshouah Hamashiah (Jesus is the Messiah)!

Let us take a look at its healing lyrics: שוע המשיח, האדון, הודון, ליכבוד אלוקים, ליכבוד אלוהים (Yeshouah Hamashiah, Houadon, Houadon, Likhvod elohim, Likhvod elohim haav). The English translation would be: "Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Lord. He is the Lord. For the glory of God. For the glory of God the Father."

Even if the lyrics are few, they are replete with theological significance and spiritual power. Jesus is the Messiah! Many biblical verses confirm this foundational truth. The name Jesus, which in Hebrew means "God saves", embraces his identity and mission. In fact, the angel Gabriel says to Mary: "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:31-33). In the Pauline letters, Jesus is the only vehicle through whom sinful humanity is reconciled with God. Hence, the letter to the Romans tells us: "Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith" (Rom 3:23-25). How apt is the love of our Eastern Christian brethren for Jesus when they ardently pray to him: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner'."

Jesus is "Lord", κύριος (Kyrios). He himself confirmed it when he said to his apostles: "You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am" (Jn 13:13). From her earliest days, the Church preached this basic truth. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter, "standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice" (Acts 2:14) and bore witness to this truth in front of his Jewish audience: "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" (Luke 2:36). 

Since Jesus, the Lord, said: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30), the Father showed Jesus dominion by resurrecting him from the dead and exalting him into his glory. The letter to the Philippians instructs us: "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:9-11).

Visit YouTube and type Yeshouah Hamashiah - Figli del Divino Amore. You will be surely empowered and renewed!

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap