An Ommatidium View of Jesus, the Christ (A bee’s eye view of Jesus)

By Cornelius McQuillan

Written during this past lent, these thirty-three meditations on Christ were posted each day on Facebook. Each meditation looks at the mystery of Christ from a unique perspective. This is not an academic study nor a theological compendium, but rather the daily meditations of a missionary priest-psychologist, who have been a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit for over 50 years. The author spent the first 37 years of his priesthood in Puerto Rico and the last six in Southern Calfornia working in a bi-cultural parish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cornelius McQuillan
• Release date: Jul 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463994009

Cornelius McQuillan

The author is a licensed priest/psychologist who worked as a missionary for 35 years in Puerto Rico. Fr McQuillan was director of his Religious Community's Formation Community and wrote his master's thesis on the prevention of Clerical Sexual Abuse of Children. His doctoral studies included studies on the prevention of the Cycle of pedophilia. He has also posted free courses on the Prevention of CSA in Spanish at www.adiestrarte.com and in English at http://www.slideshare.net/neilmcq

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An Ommatidium View of Jesus, the Christ

(A bee’s eye view of Jesus)

By

Rev. Dr. Cornelius (Neil) T. McQuillan, C.S.Sp., Psy.D.

An Ommatidium View of Jesus, the Christ

(A bee’s eye view of Jesus)

By

Rev. Dr. Cornelius (Neil) T. McQuillan, C.S.Sp., Psy.D.

Nancy South

ed.

with Permission of

Very Rev. Jeffery Duaime, C.S.Sp.

Provincial Superior

Forward

I offer for your consideration my meditations as we walk through this Easter season. Please do not expect to see any signs of an academic or theological research project. Rather my intention is to force myself to spend approximately one hour each day, meditating on the various attributes that we associate with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thus what follows are my thoughts about Jesus and the mystery of his being. I make no claim that they are complete, but I do thank the many priests, religious, teachers, professors, and saints who have contributed to my limited understanding of the greatest gift that God the Father has given us in his Son, Jesus Christ.

An Ommatidium View of Jesus, the Christ

(A bee’s eye view of Jesus)

© 2018

Cornelius T. McQuillan, C.S.Sp.

ISBN: 9780463994009

Contents

I ..........God

II .........The Blessed Trinity

III.........Mystery of the Incarnation

IV.........Jesus is God and Man, our Savior, our Redeemer

V..........Jesus, our Teacher

VI.........Jesus, the Good Shepherd

VII........Jesus, the High Priest

VIII.......Jesus, the Lord and King

IX..........Jesus, the Prophet

X...........Jesus, a Man of Prayer

XI .........Jesus, the Judge

XII .......Jesus, the Lamb of God

XIII ......Jesus called Emmanuel

XIV ......Jesus, the Son of his Earthly Parents

XV .......Jesus, the Messiah

XVI ......Jesus, the True Bread from Heaven

XVII .....Jesus, the Healer

XVIII....The Church is the Body of Christ

XIX.......Christ’s Passion

XX .......Jesus, the Mediator

XXI.... ..The Risen Christ

XXII .....Christ, the Light of the World

XXIII ....Jesus Loves Us

XXIV ...Jesus, the Reformer

XXV ....Jesus, Spirit Filled

XXVI. ..Christ, the True Vine

XXVII...Jesus, the New Moses

XXVIII..Jesus, the Son of Mary

XXIX ...Jesus, a Man of Virtue

XXX .....Jesus, the Miracle Worker

XXXI ....Jesus, the Sentinel

XXXII....Jesus, the Alpha and Omega

XXXIII ..The Church

Meditation I

God

Everything that exists has its opposite. Gravity is a force that exists and can be demonstrated. The opposite poles of magnets attract while their like poles repel. We know that evil exists as well as its opposite. The opposite of evil is known as God. God is described as a pure being that is all good. Anything or any person that opposes God or good is defined as evil.

For Christians, Jesus is God made-man, or you might say that he is God, making man good again! All that oppose Jesus are either evil or agents of evil. Some oppose Jesus because they prefer evil, but many oppose him because they have been led by evil to believe that evil is good, and therefore, Jesus is evil.

A being that is all good cannot use evil for good purposes because that would make one evil. Evil, however, can disguise itself as good by lies, half-truths and all kinds of deceit. God reveals himself via truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Evil can be unmasked when it contradicts Jesus, the truth or the value of life. Jesus died for all men and women, not just some of them. He has come to save all races and the peoples of every nation. He calls us to love everyone making no exceptions, including our enemies. He even expects us to love sinners, to pray for their salvation, to announce the Good News to them and even to go so far as to forgive them. Anyone who does not ascribe to this does not stand with Jesus; they do not stand for good.

Jesus said, Unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life in you. He had already said that he is the True Bread from Heaven. At the Last Supper he said, taking a piece of unleavened bread, this is my body. The evil one would have you believe the opposite. Evil does not want people to be made good. No one can make himself or herself good. Evil cannot do or be good. God can and does transform those who allow him to save them. He told us to listen to his Son. By listen he means to obey. You cannot say that Jesus is your Lord and then not listen to him or disobey him. To say that he is your Lord, you declare that he has authority over you and that you will follow what he says.

Many so-called Christians ignore what Jesus said, and listen to others who say that he didn’t mean what he said in a literal way. However, he said, My body is true food and my blood is true drink. If you ascribe to a faith community which tells you not to follow those Scripture verses literally, ask them to show you in the Bible where it says that those words are not meant to say just what they state.

Jesus said, holding the cup of his blood, that the blood is the New Covenant. All biblical covenants since Abraham require the sign of blood. If there were no blood in the cup that Jesus offered to his disciples to drink, then there could not be any New Covenant. Furthermore, if you haven’t drunk of his real blood, then you have not signed the covenant which is eternal. He said, He who eats my body and drinks my blood will not die and if he dies, I will raise him up!

Only a fool, or a person completely led astray by the evil one would ignore these words of Christ. He revealed the work that his Father wants us to do, that is, believe in his word, and not those of others.

Meditation II

The Blessed Trinity

Like plant nature, animal nature, and human nature there is only one divine nature. That is to say that there is only one God! Like human nature, the divine nature is shared by more than one person. In the Godhead, there are three persons. Unlike humans, the three persons are equally infinite and eternal. There was never a moment when God was not three persons. The Father could not be a father without a son.

Like humans who can be aware of themselves and their thoughts, the Father is conscious of his own thoughts which are co-eternal with him. Unlike our self-consciousness which is flawed, the Father’s understanding of himself is in one word: I Am that I Am, or Yahweh in Hebrew.

The Word was with God at the beginning and the Word is God. God’s Word or Son became man and we know him as Jesus. Jesus’ Hebrew name is Joshua, which means Yahweh saves.

Created beings can never be equal to God because they have a discernable beginning, i.e., they were created. However, through Baptism and Eucharist we are incorporated into Christ and therefore do become god-like, that is able to live forever. Eternal life is never achieved by human effort. Nothing we can do or say can make this happen. It is a pure gift given to us when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is also co-eternal with the Father and Son. He is the perfect love which unites them. Because the love between the Father and Son is truly perfect in the absolute sense, he has all the qualities of both the Father and the Son who give their whole selves to each other. Therefore, like them, he is a person who is equal to them in all ways.

Meditation III

The Mystery of the Incarnation

When the second person of the blessed Trinity became man, God became man. This occurred in the womb of the Virgin Mary. At that instant, her child inherited from her his human nature which became joined to the divine nature that he always