2 May 2019
Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
“He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.” (Jn 3:35)
From the very beginning, Christ and His Apostles made shocking claims about the relationship between Him and the Father. In the Gospel of John these shocking claims are frequently on clear display, as when Christ claims, “The Father and I are one.” (Jn 10:30) And today, the Church contemplates the claim that in the relationship between Father and Son, the Father has not held back anything from the Son.
Around the time of the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire, a shadow of doubt began to grow in the minds of certain Christians concerning this mystery of the Father’s love. ‘Surely,’ the doubt suggested, ‘the Father has given much to the Son, but not everything. Surely, the Son has not received equality with the Father, does not possess the greatness of the Father’s majesty, etc.’ The great champion of this doubt was a priest by the name of Arius. Arius’ doubts were addressed by the faithful bishops gathered at the first council of Nicea, and the following creed was given; the creed which we still recite every Sunday at Mass, in which we profess our belief that today’s Gospel is correct. The Father’s love for the Son is infinite, holds nothing back, gives everything to the Son. Thus we can profess that we believe in Jesus Christ, the Father’s only begotten Son, our Lord as “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God.”
Why is St. Athanasius, who we celebrate today, such a great patron for us during Easter? Because, in the tumult after Nicea, he never wavered in his belief in the Father’s love for the Son, and so he could see clearly the promise of the Father’s love for us in Christ. As Jesus tells the disciples at the Last Supper, “As the Father has loves me, so I also love you.” (Jn. 15:9) The Father does not hold back from the Son. Christ holds nothing back from us, but loves us with the full extent of the Father’s infinite love. That love is the Son’s own being. (Jn. 5:26) By that love, Jesus rises from the dead, and will raise us, too. That love is heaven’s delight from all eternity, and is promised to be the cause of our eternal joy, too, if only we have hearts open to it. As St. Athanasius wrote of the Son, “He was made man that we might be made God.”Today, let us pray for an increase in faith in Christ’s divinity, that we might have the courageous hope of St. Athanasius, and so enjoy the Father’s love now and forever.