Consubstantial? I mean, you're talkin' about Him like He was GOD or something!

Fr Z on the word "Consubstantial," coming soon to a faithful Roman Catholic parish near you.

Jesus isn’t just human. Jesus is God.

The Son was ever God. There was never a time when He was not. Jesus, the Incarnate Son, was God from the instant of His conception.

"Consubstantial" will impress on people the fact that Jesus is God.Let’s consider the claim of the liturgical left that people started finally to understand Mass when it was in the vernacular, and then their crystal-ball-gazing claim that "Joe and Mary Catholic" won’t be able to understand "consubstantial".

We must ask, with a little shudder, "What do they understand now?" If you ask them what they understand about who Jesus is, what answer will they give?

Can liberals offer a prediction?

It is worth thinking about this.

Yeah, it's worth thinking about.

Short personal anecdote: when my husband went through RCIA he had been busy and had had a wierd schdule, and so missed a number of sessions, (since he was not a potential convert, but a baptized, believing Methodist, he needn't have gone at all,) and so the very next year since he was free he wanted to take our parish's "church tour," given to the inquirers, which he had missed out on, an evening that takes place a couple months into the catechesis.

So, there has been a turn-over in RCIA personnel, new members & new leader, DRE in charge instead of associate pastor, a much more "organized," (and somewhat less flexible,) program.

Anyway, we invite ourselves along, hanging back and listening. (It's a beautiful church, by the way, gorgeous, too much to ever see in one visit, lots of symbolism, iconography, evidence of interesting ethnic devotions and parish history throughout.)

I'm a bit taken aback by the manner of the tour, people lounging on the edge of the baptismal font, leaning on the altars, etc.

Anyway, the Pooh-Bah is explaining something about a statue of Christ to her charges, when one of the guys who's been making this spiritual journey under her guidance suddenly gets a weird look on his face, like he's just caught on to something, and interrupts her -- wait a minute! he says squinting at her quizzically, you're talking about Jesus like He was, I dunno, like He was GOD or something...

Somehow, in whatever... Faith Sharing had been going on up to that point in RCIA, they hadn't gotten around to that, I guess.

Priorities, doncha know.

So I repeat, yeah, it's worth thinking about.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine... (and earworm I've got today!;o))