Sacrifice of the Cross and the work of Redemption(2) - 9th Sunday after Pentecost(7- 21- 2024) 

by mode of merit and by mode of atonement

Dear faithful, last Sunday we talked about the creation of man and the Original Sin as the background story of ‘the Sacrifice of the Cross and the work of redemption’.

From the first instant, man was created as child of God, having the life of God in himself. Man’s mission was to beget a child of God into the world and establish the kingdom of God on earth.

This plan was frustrated due to the Original Sin. Man became enemy of God and fell into the hopeless state, not being able to get out of it by one’s own power.

From today, we will talk about the modes by which the Sacrifice of the Cross works our salvation. Among these modes, we will look at the mode of merit and of atonement.

1. By the mode of merit : obtaining the life of God

(1) Obtaining divine life through the death of Christ on the Cross Our Lord died on the cross after suffering all His passion. At this point, let us zoom-in to the relationship between God (the Father) and Our Lord. 

- Our Lord, who was all innocent, lost His life due to all the tortures which He endured. He suffered injustice from others.

- God, who governs whole universe and who is all-just Judge over all, intervenes whenever there happens some injustice. Human judge has a limitation in restoring the justice. He may command a crminal to return or pay back the stolen goods, or may inflict punishment for a crime. But he cannot give back a life to a man who lost it unjustly.

However, God is the creator of universe and all-mighty. He governs every life in the world. He restored the life to Christ who offered it for the sake of Justice. “Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:10)

Our Lord merited to gain His life back by His death on the Cross. God, as the Supreme Judge of the universe, in His providence of Justice, restored this life to Christ.

(2) Application of the merits of Christ : the doctrine of Mystical Body of Christ Let us ask ourselves one question here. We can easily understand that the life should be given back to Our Lord, but how about the sinful human race? In strict justice, the mankind seems to be in the same state. It was Our Lord who merited 

His life, not the mankind.In order to answer this question, let us remind what we talked in the sermon last Sunday: Adam was created as the head of whole human race, and that’s why the Original sin was to pass down to whole mankind. Jesus Christ also came into the world as the head of new human race. 

Therefore, this act of His death on the cross was done as the head of whole human race which is to be renewed spiritually, and the effect of this meritorious work could be applied to all the people of this spiritually renewed human race.

At this point, there is an important truth at which we should look closely. A certain condition should be fulfilled in order for this merit of Our Lord to be 

applied to us. Before that, let us first compare the headship of Adam and that of Our Lord.

The way in which the sin of man passed down to his descendants was at the physical level. By the process of begetting a child, each descendant was connected to Adam in physical scope thereby belonged to the society of mankind having Adam as its head.

But for Our Lord’s case, the way was one of spiritual one. By being united to the Mystical body (of His) which has Christ as its head, each soul could participate in the life of Christ. This life is the very life of Our Lord who regained it after His death on the cross, which is not a mere human life, but a Divine life. Soul re-obtains the Sanctifying grace which Adam lost.

Therefore, each soul which is in the state of sin must be united to Christ. By 

being united spiritually to Christ, it belongs to the new mankind which is endowed with Divine life. What is the way for soul to be united to Christ? It is the sacrament of Baptism. Through this sacrament, one becomes the member of the Mystical Body of Christ(the Catholic Church) and be born anew as a child of God.

2. By the mode of Atonement

So far, we talked about our redemption by the mode of merit of Christ. The next mode which we are about to talk is ‘Atonement’.Christ offered His own life in order to atone for sins of mankind committed against God. He offered not only by His utmost charity and obedience, but also in the most painful way. Besides, the life of Christ which was offered is the most precious gift among all the things in the world. Nothing is more important than human life, and His life was the one of the most innocent and holy person. 

Not only that, this life was not a mere human life but Divine life. By this offering, He atoned superabundantly for the sins of mankind. The doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ is crucial at this point as well. In order to have the effect of this atonement of Christ, a soul has to be united to Him as His member. Though man remains as enemy of God when he is not united to Christ, once he is united to the Mystical Body, he participates in the atonement of Christ and have the effect thereof applied to himself. By this, man can communicate with God again with this reconciled relationship with God, and by the remission of sin he can avoid the eternal punishment. 

Dear faithful, let us remind ourselves about the modes by which the Sacrifice of the Cross works our salvation.

1) The most fundamental mode is the mode of merit (of Christ).

This merit of His death on the Cross provides a new beginning of hope to mankind who were in desperate situation. The possibility of eternal life is now open to us.

However, each soul must be united to the Mystical Body of Christ in order to enjoy this effect of His merit. Unless one belongs to His Mystical Body, he can’t be born anew as a child of God.

Concerning this, there are some errors which we should beware of. - (Religious) Pluralism : ‘All the religions are equal and everyone can be saved through his own religion, no matter what it is.’ - Universalism : ‘All men are united to Christ by mere coming of Christ into the world (without His death on the cross) and everyone is saved by this.’

These are errors which are against the doctrine of Mystical Body of Christ. 

Without our union in Christ, without belonging to the Church which He Himself established, we cannot think about our salvation.

2) We also talked about the mode of atonement.

The life which Christ offered on the Cross was the best gift pleasing to God. By this, Our Lord made the atonement for the sins of mankind. In order to have this effect applied to us, we have to be united to Our Lord. That’s why all the sins. – Original sin and personal sins - and all the punishment of sins are remitted to those who are baptized.

Let us regard our faith as most precious treasure and try to lead a faithful 

spiritual life, based on this understanding of the Sacrifice of the Cross. The only thing which truly matters for us is the eternal life, and we can’t have it without true faith in God.

“Even when we were dead in sins, (God) hath quickened us together in Christ, by whose grace you are saved.” (Eph 2:5)

“(Christ) is the head of the body, the church, ... that in all things he may hold the primacy.” (Col 1:18)

 Fr.  Longinus  Kim