Word of the Week

Epiphany

Mystery: Mysterion (Gk.): meaning “inexhaustible or hidden reality; secret”

Mystery i s the unfolding revelation of God's eternal design for married persons and the Church. Marital love expresses that divine language so that human beings can learn to speak the language of God honestly and fluently. It is a communion of persons consummating their love to bring forth life. In procreation, we are a reflection of the eternal exchange of love in the Trinity (CCC 2205). The Church throughout her history communicates God's salvific plan, which gives witness to the saving work of Christ in the mystery that is divine sonship. The Church as bride, sacrament, and sign, is constantly “ contemplating” (CCC 772) the hope that Christ offers the world to restore the people of God back to their Creator and Father (CCC 772, 774-775).

Mystery is found 8 times in the Old Testament, all in Daniel's prophetic book, and 28 times in the New Testament. Mystery is often associated with parables, because Christ revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of God through the teaching of his parables (Mt.13:11; Mk.14:11). Paul often teaches his readers about the hidden plan of God manifested in the incarnation of Jesus and his bride--the church, which makes present sacramentally the Paschal Mystery ( Rom.16:25; Eph.5:32; Col.2:2). The OT background to Daniel offers us insight into the context of Paul's usage. In Daniel, the mystery was relevant to a dream the great Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar had in which there was a huge statue of a human body that represented all the great empires of the earth. Daniel would ultimately speak of this great dream as the future coming of the messianic Kingdom of God (Hahn and Minch , 40). Paul's understanding of OT mystery comes through like a spigot as he treats the Church established by Christ as the ushering in of the new body, the bride of Christ (Eph.1:9, 3:4).

The inexhaustible mystery of God is like a wellspring of hope that pours forth into the heart of man. This wellspring offers a lifetime of renewal and restoration in God's gratuity--His love. When drawing from this wellspring, there is a current of grace rooted in divine sonship--belonging to God in a supernatural--father to son relationship. This relationship of divine sonship calls out man to grow in holiness until the end of days. In the Christian journey, the Church offers itself as a sacrament to the world so that all people are reminded of His saving love; a love that is mystery in its origin and revelation in its purpose.

“Within the mystery of the cross, the full grandeur of vocation is realized.”

-Pope John Paul II

Primary Texts Consulted

• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2 nd Edition, 1997. 
• Hahn, Scott and Minch , Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The letters of St. Paul to the Galatians & Ephesians , RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005.
  

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