Who is Jesus?

‘We believe and confess that Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a daughter of Israel at Bethlehem at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, a carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, is the eternal Son of God made man. He 'came from God', 'descended from heaven', and 'came in the flesh'. For 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. . . and from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.’’

Catechism of the Catholic Church [423]

Almost everyone knows that the Church is about Jesus Christ, founded by Him, inspired by His witness and called to offer the way to union with Him. It is a bold claim but one that many have lived and died for which is that Jesus is God and His Gospel teaches us how to live and love. We have many life decisions and critical moments in our lives and in an extraordinary and remarkable way, each of those moments can be embraced and informed by the Gospels of Christ namely his teaching, miracles, life and witness. He taught us above all that we are loved by God and that we find our dignity and beauty when we go on our knees, confess our sins and ask for His blessing which flies in the face of evil and darkness.

The proponents of darkness did not want Christ to be humble, to wash the feet of his disciples and to let the woman with a bad name anoint his feet with precious ointment for this did not suggest a world of pomp, power and authority. The one who is God chose the way of humility, simplicity and being a servant, to teach us how to live and he paid for it by the Cross. That Cross, we believe as Catholics, was vindicated on Easter Sunday by the Resurrection which means that our world is not the end but the beginning of the journey into Heaven.

We meet Jesus in prayer, in the poor, in the Church and at Holy Mass in the same way as his disciples met him 2000 years ago on the side of the Sea of Galilee. We hope that your journey into St Patrick’s, united in prayer, joined with the poor and meeting our community will help you in this encounter with Jesus. This Church building, beautiful, dignified and solemn has the only purpose of helping you in that meeting so that you may come into a life-giving and eternal relationship with Christ. The Church in all its richness, complexity and simplicity is about helping you have that meeting.