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Á¦¸ñ The King Jesus Christ and A New Eve, B.V. M(2015-03-29)
ÀÛ¼ºÀÚ °ü¸®ÀÚ ÀÛ¼ºÀÏ 2015-04-02



The King Jesus Christ and A New Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary

(29th March 2015)


My dear brethren,


The triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem is a celebration of Christ the King. He was acknowledged as the ¡°Son of David¡± by the crowds of the Jews, that is, the heir of the throne of David, as the Angel had announced to Mary: ¡°the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end¡±(Lk. 1:32-33).


 The Jews were willing to acknowledge his kingship, yet many were not willing to acknowledge his Divinity. However the Angel had also said to Mary: ¡°He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High¡¦ the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God¡±(Lk. 1:32-35).

It is essential to the true Faith to acknowledge that Christ¡¯s kingdom is a heavenly kingdom, ¡°the Kingdom of God¡±, of Christ Who is God. ¡°My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence¡±(Jn. 18:36).


Pilate who heard these words – in today¡¯s gospel – must have been impressed by the dignity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and said to Him: ¡°Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice¡±(Jn. 18:37).

Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns over the world, but not from the world, not in a worldly way. Our Lord¡¯s Kingdom does not destroy human kingdoms and empires, but rather reigns over them all, and ought to be acknowledged by all of them. His Kingdom is the rule of Divine Authority over every human authority: ¡°all authority comes from God¡±(Rom. 13:1), especially the highest human authorities, such as that of kings and emperors. Man is not the source of law and obligations: one man does not have the right and power to impose his own personal will over that of others – because of the natural equality of all men, having the same human nature.


The authority of one man over others comes from the fact that he has been established by Divine Providence to provide for the common good of those over whom He presides. The Church teaches that human authority does not come from the people – even if the leader is elected by the people – but rather comes from above, from God who possesses supreme authority and delegates it, and to whom every human person having authority will have to give an account of how they used it!.

Indeed every law requires a legislator: in order to be able to impose a rule on others, that legislator must be superior to the others. Now by his own nature, no man is superior to another. Hence no man can have authority over other men, unless he received it from above, from God, Who is above all and thus has authority over all.


If one rejects this truth, viz. that God is the source of all true authority, there only remains physical power: one man imposes his will over others because he is physically stronger: this is the law of the jungle, the law of tyrants, not a proper and just law! In our modern world, that has rejected God, one can see more and more this tyranny of anonymous power of money, destroying morality and imposing worldwide all kinds of immoral practices, such as abortion, gay-rights, etc. Such human laws are not real laws, they are the perversion of order, perversion of laws.

The best preservation from tyranny is to acknowledge Christ the King, to acknowledge that God, that Jesus-Christ Who is God, is the source of authority, and thus also the model of authority. When earthly rulers acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ as King, then they are no longer tyrants, but learn to use their authority for the true good of their people, providing for the true common good: the true common good of a nation consists in a social order such that it fosters a virtuous life, leading to eternal salvation. Such social order is founded on the Law of God, on the Ten Commandments, and the Law of Christ, the Law of Charity.

Now sin is the opposite of charity: charity is the love of God above all things, sin is the love of the creatures more than God; thus sin is the first evil and the cause of all other evil, all sufferings. Thus sin destroys social order, either leading the subjects to disobey proper orders, or leading the leaders to abuse of their authority, no longer serving the common good but their own selves. There is need of a Saviour, who would overcome sin, repair for sin and heal human souls and human society.


Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour, and He saved us by His Cross: the offering of His Sacrifice on the Cross was a true victory of Charity over sin, true love of God above all things and perfect obedience to God¡¯s command, to the Father¡¯s command even unto the death on the Cross, to pay for our sins and repair the evils of sin. ¡°For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father¡±(Phil. 2:9-11).

Hence our Lord Jesus Christ now reigns by His Cross: he conquered us, delivering us from sin, He reigns by right of conquest. We owe Him every grace, every supernatural benefit, and through Him we can go back to the Father: ¡°I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me¡±(Jn. 14:6).

In this Holy Week, meditating on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us see Him as the King who conquers us, conquers our heart, delivering us from sin by His death on the Cross, and granting us grace, the seed of eternal life by His Resurrection from the dead. We no longer belong to ourselves; we belong to Him: ¡°For to this end Christ died and rose again; that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living¡±(Rom. 14:9). ¡°Christ died for all; that they also who live, may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again¡±(2 Cor. 5:15). Cleansed by the waters of baptism and washed in the Blood of the Lamb by the Sacrament of penance, let us offend Him no more, but rather strive in all things to be obedient to His Kingly rule, rule of truth and virtue, rule of charity and of life, rule of justice and of peace.

In all this work of Redemption, our Lord Jesus Christ as the New Adam has a ¡°helper like unto Him¡± (Gen. 2:18), a new Eve, the blessed Virgin Mary, who is also the ¡°Queen standing at the right hand of the King¡±(Ps. 44:10). This doctrine of Our Lady as the new Eve is very antique in the Church. Not even 100 years after the death of the Apostles we see it explicit and clear in the earliest Fathers of the Church.


St Justin  makes the parallel between the first Eve and Mary the second Eve: the first Eve listed to the bad angel, and brought disobedience and death; the second Eve listened to the good angel, and through obedience brought us life, Jesus Who is Life and in whom and through whom alone can one find eternal life: ¡°[Eve] having become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race; so also did Mary, having a man betrothed [to her], and being nevertheless a virgin, by yielding obedience, become the cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race.¡± 

Then St Irenaeus has very strong words on Mary as the new Eve: ¡°the knot of Eve¡¯s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith.¡±  Thus Our Lady sets us free from sin! And this other passage even stronger: ¡°Just as the former was led astray by the word of an angel, so that she fled from God when she had transgressed His word; so did the latter, by an angelic communication, receive the glad tidings that she should bear God, being obedient to His word.


 And if the former did disobey God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience.¡±  Clear words from the very early church: ¡°the human race is rescued by the Virgin Mary¡±, not alone, but as Christ¡¯s helper, as new Eve on the side of the New Adam.


Thus when we contemplate the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us not forget to see with them the sufferings of Our Lady at His side¡¦ both for us, because of our sins, and in order to obtain pardon and healing for us, so that Christ may reign in us unto the glory of the Father.

This whole mystery of Redemption through the Cross of Jesus is rendered present and offered each day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: sin is being forgiven, grace is given in abundance and Christ¡¯s reign is extended. God reigned through the Cross! By contrast we understand why the Devil fears nothing as much as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and strove to destroy the Mass by changing the liturgy, especially hiding its sacrificial character. So there is need of a general return to the Mass of all times, to the Traditional Mass, in order to extend the kingdom of Christ and to save souls. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Corredemptrix, obtain for us all these graces!


 Amen.  Fr. F. LAISNEY (SSPXASIA)