Full transcript
0:06I want to tell you about our Lord .
0:09First , I'll read a passage from Saint
0:11Paul , which you might not understand .
0:14We like to take away some great words
0:16from lectures , don't we ? So I'll tell
0:19you what you can do . There are many
0:23boys and girls who didn't come to this
0:25lecture . So you might be much wiser
0:30than them , because I'll give you a word
0:32and explain what it means . And then you
0:36can ask them if they know what it means
0:38. And these poor , unlearned children
0:41know nothing . And that word is kenosis .
0:51Now I'll explain to you what it means .
1:00First , I'll read a passage from Saint
1:02Paul's letter to the Philippians .
1:08Incidentally , the passage I'm reading
1:10to you was once a hymn of the early
1:12church . Scholars found rhythm and
1:15poetic structure in it . Just think :
1:19Paul wrote his letters before the
1:21Gospels existed . This text was , in a
1:25way , a confession of faith for
1:26Christians in the East , before the New
1:29Testament as we know it existed . And
1:32here is the passage . Let this
1:37aspiration animate you . It was also in
1:39Christ Jesus . He , existing in the form
1:45of God , did not seize the opportunity
1:47to be equal with God , but emptied
1:49himself , taking the form of a servant ,
1:52being made in human likeness . That is ,
1:59our Lord was always God . He did not try
2:03to become like God , because he was God .
2:08And who tried to usurp equality with
2:10God ? Satan . Satan wanted to usurp
2:15equality with God . Adam too , because
2:19the devil told Adam , " You will be like
2:21gods . " But our Lord was God by nature ,
2:27and then he emptied himself . This is
2:31where the word kenosis comes in . He
2:34emptied himself , emptied himself . He
2:38made himself nothing and took on the
2:40nature of a slave . A slave . What does a
2:46slave do ? A slave does two things : He
2:50performs dirty work and heavy labor .
2:55Therefore , our blessed Lord , who was
2:58always God , became man . This means that
3:03he emptied himself of his glory ,
3:05humbled himself , became nothing , became
3:08, as it were , nothing . Now I'll give
3:13you an example that you young people
3:15can understand . Imagine if you could
3:22leave , if you had the power to leave
3:24your own body and keep only your soul .
3:30And imagine if you wanted to perform
3:32your kenosis , this self-emptying , and
3:34placed your soul in the body of a dog .
3:41Think of the humiliation that would be .
3:45You would have your own mind , you would
3:47understand things , but in the body of a
3:49dog , you would not exceed the limits of
3:51the dog and of nature . You could speak ,
3:56but you would not speak , you would only
3:58bark . You would have reason , you would
4:13know what was right , and yet you would
4:15have to act within the limits of
4:17instinct , and then another humiliation
4:18would come . You would have to spend the
4:24rest of your life among dogs , running
4:26with your kind , knowing that you were a
4:28thousand times superior to them . If ,
4:35then , you considered it humiliating to
4:37enter the body of a dog , how great a
4:40humiliation was it for God to become
4:42human ? And when he took on human nature
4:54, he resolved never to exceed its
4:56limitations . That's why God could
4:59suffer . When people suffer today , they
5:09ask if God knows anything about pain ?
5:13Has God ever gone three or ten days
5:15without food ? Has God ever suffered
5:18thirst ? Does God know anything about
5:21the wounds of people who end up in
5:23hospitals after accidents and wars ? Has
5:27God ever been mocked and ridiculed ? Has
5:31He ever been in exile ? Does God know
5:34what it means to be in prison ? Yes .
5:40When He became man , He could suffer .
5:48And on top of this humiliation , He also
5:50had to spend His life among people . You
5:55children know that when you don't know
5:57the answer to a question , a teacher can
5:59sometimes get impatient because it's
6:01difficult for her to be with students
6:03who don't understand . So think about
6:07how difficult it was for God to be with
6:09people who don't understand . Infinite
6:14intelligence among people who were so
6:16slow to understand that they asked Him ,
6:18" What does this simple message mean ? "
6:23Such is the person of our Lord . And
6:26this gives you some idea of what
6:28Christmas is . For you see God in the
6:33form of a child . But why did He take on
6:37our nature ? Saint Paul says that He
6:41became a slave , and a slave does hard
6:44work . Our Lord became man to take on
6:50our burdens . What is such a take-on ?
7:01I'm sure many of you have seen the
7:03picture of a boy carrying another ,
7:05smaller boy on his back . Someone says
7:09to him , " But he's heavy . " And the boy
7:13replies , " He's not heavy . " He's my
7:16brother . That's what taking on
7:19someone's burden is . Our blessed Lord
7:23took on three kinds of evil . All the
7:26misfortunes of the world can be reduced
7:28to three categories : physical evil ,
7:30such as pain ; mental evil , such as
7:37disability or mental suffering ; and
7:39moral evil , such as guilt and sin . So
7:45let's examine our Lord's life and see
7:47how he took on these misfortunes . First
7:50, physical suffering . We read in the
7:54Old Testament from the prophet Isaiah .
7:58And Saint Matthew repeats this : our
8:00blessed Lord took on our sicknesses and
8:02sufferings . Was our Lord ever sick ?
8:09Most likely not . Why ? Because until his
8:15Passion , our Lord did not give people
8:17authority to do anything to him . Only
8:22when the hour came and he entered the
8:24garden did he allow people to do with
8:26him as they pleased . Earlier , they had
8:31tried to throw him off a rock . He
8:33walked among them . Three times they
8:37tried to stone him , but failed . How
8:42could he then take upon himself our
8:44illnesses and sufferings , when he
8:46himself likely remained unsick out of
8:47deep compassion ? When you were very
8:55little , much smaller than you are now ,
8:57and had stomach aches , you also had
8:58other childhood illnesses , and then
9:00your mother was worried . Moreover , your
9:07mother often suffered more than you .
9:11And why ? Because she understood your
9:14suffering . A mother suffers more than a
9:18daughter who has strayed from the path
9:19of evil . In the same way , our blessed
9:24Lord , when he encountered the blind ,
9:26the deaf , the paralyzed , or the
9:28fashionable , loved them so much that
9:30their pain , as it were , passed on to
9:32him . That is why we read that when he
9:37healed the blind and the deaf , he
9:42sighed , wept , and groaned . He felt all
9:56these sufferings . I am certain that
10:00when he healed the blind man , he felt
10:02something like Milton's blindness . When
10:05he healed the deaf man , he was
10:07sensitive to Bethoveven's deafness . Our
10:18blessed Lord therefore took upon
10:20himself all the sufferings we can ever
10:22experience , so that we can never say , "
10:24God does not know what suffering is . "
10:31And then , overcoming all this in the
10:34resurrection , he gave us an example of
10:36patiently enduring trials . Our Lord
10:41therefore took upon himself physical
10:43sufferings . Now let us turn to the
10:46sufferings of the mind and soul . These
10:52can include mental retardation , doubt ,
10:55atheism , a deep sense of loneliness
10:57after losing faith , and despair . All
11:03these people , too , must be redeemed .
11:07How could they be saved if the Lord had
11:09not taken upon himself the consequences
11:11of sin ? And he did so at the very
11:16moment when the sun seemed ashamed to
11:18shine upon the crime committed on
11:20Calvary and hid its light at high noon .
11:30In the darkness , our blessed Lord cried
11:33out : My God , my God , why ? All the whys
11:41ever asked in this world he then took
11:43upon himself . He uttered that cry ,
11:49which is the verse of the psalm . But
11:53remember , this psalm ends with joy . It
12:02is a reminder that suffering of the
12:04mind , like suffering of the body , can
12:05be lifted in the light of the
12:07resurrection . And then our Lord took
12:12upon himself moral evil , guilt . This
12:15was the primary reason for his coming .
12:21We owe God a debt . A debt we cannot
12:24repay on our own . Our Lord takes upon
12:28himself this debt . In fact , because of
12:32sin , we deserve death . Therefore , our
12:35Lord takes upon himself death as a
12:37penalty . In the Garden of Olives , he
12:42allowed all the sins of the world to
12:44enter , as it were , into his soul . I
12:49think all the thefts of the world were
12:51placed in his hands , as if he were the
12:53thief . All the blasphemies of the world
12:58were infused into his mouth , as if he
13:00had spoken them . And the anguish caused
13:07by the weight of this guilt , even
13:09though he himself was innocent , was so
13:11great that drops of blood flowed from
13:13his body , falling on the roots of the
13:15olive trees in Gethsemane , creating , as
13:18it were , the first bloody rosary of
13:20redemption . And then , on the cross , he
13:25paid the ultimate debt , death . But how
13:30can we explain the fact that the
13:32innocent takes upon himself our sin ?
13:41Let's go back to the Burma Road during
13:43World War II . The Japanese were holding
13:47a group of prisoners of war . At the end
13:51of the workday , the guards noticed that
13:53one shovel was missing . They gave an
13:56order : If the shovel was not returned
14:05within five minutes , ten men would be
14:07shot . Three minutes passed . No one
14:14confessed . Then one man stepped forward
14:20. He was beaten to death . When the
14:26prisoners returned to the camp , they
14:28found that all the shovels were there .
14:34The man took the burden upon himself ,
14:36accepting the accusation of theft as if
14:39guilty , in order to save others . And
14:45that is precisely what our blessed Lord
14:47did on the cross . And that's why
14:50crosses have such great significance in
14:52our lives . Let's summarize what the
14:56word kenosis means . You already know
15:00the Greek , right ? What does kenosis
15:02mean ? What does it mean to empty ? To
15:14strip . This is how our Lord emptied
15:17himself . He made himself nothing .
15:22That's the meaning of this word . We've
15:25told you all this so you can understand
15:27the life of Christ more deeply . And the
15:33application of this to our own lives is
15:35that we often have to take on the
15:37burdens of others . Every soul in the
15:44world has a price tag . Some souls are
15:50cheap , but others are very precious ,
15:52and we must bear their burdens , pray
15:55for them , make sacrifices for them . I
16:02remember an incident . I was once
16:04hearing confessions on the eve of the
16:06first Friday of the month . A young
16:09woman came into the confessional and
16:11said , " I don't want to confess . I just
16:14want to kill some time . " I asked how
16:17much time you'd like to kill ? About
16:20five minutes . Who are you trying to
16:26deceive besides God ? She replied , " My
16:30mother . " She thought I'd come to
16:33confession . I asked , " Are you afraid ? "
16:38Yes . I said , " I could probably hear
16:42your confession for you if I saw you , "
16:44she replied , but from Father Mondral . I
16:48said , " I don't know , let's try . Give me
16:51a chance . I'll pull back the curtain ,
16:54turn on the light , and look at you . " I
17:00looked at her and said , " Are you a
17:02prostitute ? " She replied , " Yes , that's
17:07how I live . " But that wasn't all . There
17:13was something else , something much more
17:15serious . I begged and pleaded with her ,
17:18but to no avail . I asked her to go and
17:21kneel for a few minutes at the
17:22communion rail . She said , " I'll think
17:26about it . " I met her later on the
17:29church steps . I asked her again . After
17:34a while , she said , " I'll tell the
17:36priest what I've done , and then I'll
17:38run away . " And she said , " I've made a
17:41pact with the devil . I'm scared to
17:44death . " And she ran away . And that
17:48evening I was hearing confessions and I
17:50asked each penitent : " Will you pray the
17:52rosary for the conversion of a certain
17:54sinner ? " One person refused .
17:59Interesting , isn't it ? One refused . I
18:03finished confessing around 9:00 p.m. I
18:07went to the communion rail and knelt . I
18:10prayed . 9:00 , 10:00 , 11:00 , 12:00 ,
18:16until 1:00 a.m. , and suddenly I heard
18:19the church doors open . It was that girl
18:24. I returned to the confessional , and
18:27she had confessed . This is an example
18:31of taking on the burden of another
18:33person . That is why prayer for one
18:37another is so important , especially for
18:39those who have fallen morally and
18:41spiritually . Just as clouds gather
18:48moisture from the sea , carry it over
18:50the mountains , and then drop rain on
18:52the parched earth , so too our prayers
18:54are lifted by the spirit and fall upon
18:56other souls who need them . In this way ,
19:01the work of redemption continues .
19:06Perhaps in another lecture I will show
19:08you how the cross is , in a way ,
19:10prolonged in our own lives . But let us
19:17conclude this meditation with one
19:19feeling : gratitude to the Lord ,
19:21gratitude for having humbled himself ,
19:23for having made himself , as it were ,
19:26null and void for us , for having died
19:28for us , and then given us his life .
19:35After the resurrection , he appears to
19:37us , then sends his spirit , and we live
19:40in the spirit of Christ . Know his life
19:45well . Read the Gospel . You will never
19:50achieve a deep spiritual life without
19:52Holy Scripture , especially without the
19:54New Testament . Read it in silence , read
20:03it in your family . In silence , we
20:08discover God best . And when you begin
20:12to see in your personal lives that our
20:14Lord is not primarily a teacher , not a
20:17revolutionary , not a sociologist , you
20:23will understand that our Lord is above
20:25all a savior . He saves us from our sins
20:31. That's why the Church , after several
20:36years of considering allowing children
20:38to receive Communion without prior
20:40confession , officially recommended
20:41confession before Communion . Why ?
20:48Because who exactly are these children
20:50receiving ? Buddha . Who is Christ if he
20:55isn't the Savior ? If he isn't the
20:58Savior , he's nothing to us . And when
21:03you say children have no sense of sin ,
21:05that's not true . There's a little girl
21:10here . How old could she be ? Two , three ,
21:14four , nine . Praise God . You certainly
21:18don't look that old . But if there were
21:22a two - or three-year-old girl here and
21:23her mother told her , " Mommy doesn't
21:25love you anymore , " the child would
21:27immediately burst into tears . Why ?
21:36Because a child understands what a
21:38broken relationship is , and that is
21:40precisely what sin is . So when we
21:44receive Communion , we receive the
21:46Savior . That is the meaning of Christ .
21:52And now , when you get home , take your
21:54Holy Bible , dust it off , and read the
21:57second chapter of Philippians , starting
21:59with verse six . Then recall the sermon
22:04I preached to you today , and you will
22:06more easily remember this word " kenosis
22:08. " May God love you . And now for
22:12something truly special . On the
22:14occasion of Fulton Shin's beatification
22:16, a monumental new book by Father
22:18Robert Skrzypczak is being published ,
22:21dedicated to one of the greatest
22:22Catholic preachers of the 20th century .
22:25A man who , not without reason , was
22:27called God's microphone . It's over 500
22:30pages , with hundreds of extraordinary
22:32stories , photographs , and priceless
22:35archival materials . The first part
22:37takes us through the life , work ,
22:39mission , and teachings of Archbishop
22:41Shin . The second , written by Sheryl
22:43Hughes , shows him from a completely
22:45different perspective through the
22:47people he led to conversion : artists ,
22:50intellectuals , communists , people in
22:52the media , politics , and even showbiz .
22:54And that's precisely why this book is
22:57so timely . Shin perfectly understood
22:59the crisis of his era . He staunchly
23:02opposed modernist tendencies , but he
23:04also opposed the left and attempts to
23:06dilute the Catholic faith . He did not
23:10adapt the church to the world . He
23:12showed the world the fullness of
23:13Catholicism and attracted millions of
23:15people . This book was prepared for the
23:18unique moment of Fulton Shin's
23:20beatification . If you want to meet a
23:24man who was able to conquer modern
23:26media for the Gospel , don't wait , order
23:28it now from the White Raven store ,
23:30because only here and only in pre-order
23:32, the book is 25 złoty cheaper . The
23:36link is in the pinned comment and in
23:37the video description . Whom I truly
23:42need is you , my king . You healed my
23:51wounds , gave me new life . You filled
23:59the void in my heart . Now I exist for
24:04you . O my God , only you are worthy . M.