Vigils Reading – St John Paul II

THE ONE SAVIOR OF ALL
An excerpt from “Redemptoris Missio” by St John Paul II3

The Church’s universal mission is born of faith in Jesus Chhrist, as stated in our Trinitarian profession of faith: “I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father… For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven…” The redemption event brings salvation to all. “For each one is included in the mystery of the redemption and with each one Christ has united himself forever through this mystery.” It is only in faith that the Church’s mission can be understood and only in faith that it finds its basis.

If we go back to the beginnings of the Church, we find a clear affirmation that Christ is the one Savior of all, the only one able to reveal God and lead to God. In reply to the Jewish religious authorities who question the apostles about the healing of the lame man, Peter says: “By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well… And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given men by which we must be saved”. This statement, which was made to the Sanhedrin, has a universal value, since for all people – Jews and Gentiles alike – salvation can only come from Jesus Christ.

The universality of this salvation in Christ is asserted throughout the New Testament. St Paul acknowledges the risen Christ as the Lord. He writes: “Although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth – as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’ – yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist”. One God and one Lord are asserted by way of contrast to the multitude of “gods” and “lords” commonly accepted. Paul reacts against the polytheism of the religious environment of his time and emphasizes what is characteristic of the Christian faith: belief in one God and one Lord sent by God.

In the Gospel of St John, this salvific universality of Christ embraces all the aspects of his mission of grace, truth and revelation: the Word is “the true light that enlightens every person”. And again: “no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known”. God’s revelation becomes definitive and complete through his only-begotten Son… In this definitive Word of his revelation, God has made himself known in the fullest possible way. He revealed to mankind who he is. This definitive self-revelation of God is the fundamental reason why the Church is missionary by her very nature. She cannot do otherwise than proclaim the Gospel, that is, the fullness of the truth which God has enabled us to know about himself.

Christ is the one mediator between God and mankind… No one, therefore, can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s one, universal mediation, far from being an obstacle on the journey toward God, is the way established by God himself, a fact of which Christ is fully aware. Although participated forms of mediation of different kinds and degrees are not excluded, they acquire meaning and value only from Christ’s one, universal mediation.

3
Encyclical Letter of John Paul II – Redemptoris Missio – Pauline Books & Media – Boston – 1990 – pg 13.