The Merit of Christ's Humanity

        In becoming Catholic, one realizes the necessity of knowing the heretical doctrines that the Church has struggled against throughout her history. Of the more critical are those revolving around the Person of Christ. Was he divine? Was he human? Was he both? The Church distinctly has received through revelation that Christ is both fully divine and fully human, since his conception and forever. According to the universal Church, Christ has two natures and two wills, one divine and the other human, unified in one Person. Oftentimes, though, we are tempted to believe that Christ's perfection while on earth was mainly the source of his divine will without any human struggle. Yet, we know that he is true man, and his struggles were truly human.
        “Jesus was perfect, because he was God,” we are tempted to say. “His suffering was easier, and his endurance unfailing, because he was perfect.” This is the logic born out of a misunderstanding of who Christ is. The Scriptures are clear, though, that his perfection was something to be maintained throughout his entire life, rather than some permanent disposition. No, instead, he was born without sin and had to struggle to remain perfect. He is one who “in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15 NRSVCE). He truly took on our humanity, and truly humbled himself in every way.
        The letter to the Hebrews goes very much into detail how Christ merited his perfection through obedience in suffering: “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:8-9 NRSVCE). We know that Christ was sinless his whole life, yet he still merited his sinlessness. The concept of “merit” is a wholly Catholic one. While the belief in the inherent “merit” of his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection is widely accepted among Christians, the “merit” of his entire life and everyday struggle leading up to his passion beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane, is often overlooked. Yet, his sacrifice of love on Calvary would be really null and void if he had not been faithful and obedient throughout his entire life. So, we see that even from a small child, his obedience to his parents was part of his sacrifice on the Cross, or the accomplishment of his other daily duties. How else could he then call us to “take up your daily cross” (Luke 9:23)?
        Christ truly had to deny himself, to humble himself continually, in order to submit to the Father's will. This constant struggle against the world and evil would be present in his daily life as a carpenter, later in his ministry of teaching and healing, while he endured the ridicule and hatred of those around him, and culminating at his Passion. In his agony at the Garden of Gethsemane, the night he was betrayed, he prayed “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42 NRSVCE). In this prayer, the Church has recognized the presence of his two wills. She has understood that Christ's humanity was complete and full; his humility in becoming one of us was perfect, limiting himself unto weakness and lowliness. His struggle against trial and temptation was great, greater than anyone has endured, knowing full well who he was and what was to happen to him.
        Every drop of his blood, then, is not only precious because of his divinity, but also because of his great struggle over sin and death as a man. Let us not, then, commit the mistake of perceiving Christ as having won the fight before it started. Every day of his life, every moment of agony in the Garden, every step along the path to Calvary, carrying his cross, every tear shed in suffering was an act of enduring obedience to God the Father out of love. His will was not opposed to the Father's, but he had to submit his will to the Father's. Through his constant devotion of love to the Father, he was able to conquer the entire world, to conquer sin, to overcome all suffering and even death. And by his obedience in suffering, he was made perfect.
        Let us take part in his perfected humanity that he shares with us. If we unite our own sufferings with his – all of our trials and temptations, cares and concerns – we can conquer victoriously over all things in the world, even death. There is nothing that can separate us from his love. There is nothing that Christ the King of kings can not conquer through us and in us. Take heart; we are his vessels, carrying about in our bodies his death, so that his life may be abundant through us and our joy may be complete. Let us cherish his flesh and his blood given for us this day.