Pope Leo XIV continued his weekly catechesis series on the documents of Vatican II, explaining Jan. 21 that Jesus Christ’s life reveals that the Father invites all to become His sons and daughters.
The address focused on paragraph 2 of Dei Verbum, the dogmatic constitution on divine revelation.
“God’s revelation of himself to his people through words and deeds over the centuries reached its fulfilment in the incarnation of the Word, when God became man,” the Holy Father explained.
He said that the truth about God and salvation shows forth in the person of Jesus. Through the Incarnation, Christ offers knowledge of the Father.
“The Son, through his incarnation, life, death and resurrection, not only allows us to see the Father in him, but also invites us to enter into his very own relationship with the Father, by virtue of the action of the Spirit,” Pope Leo said. “By accepting this invitation, we become sons and daughters through the Son and participants in God’s nature.”
The Pope then reflected on the words of Christ in Matthew 6:4, “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you,” according to Vatican News. He also discussed Galatians 4:5, in which Saint Paul says that Christians are adopted by the Father.
He said that, in addition to revealing the Father to man, Christ’s incarnation reveals mankind to itself.
“Precisely because He is the Word incarnate who dwells among men, Jesus reveals God to us with His own true and integral humanity,” he said, according to Vatican News.
“In order to know God in Christ, we must welcome His integral humanity,” he added.
He explained that man is not saved and unified only through Christ’s death and resurrection, but also through Jesus’ incarnation.
The incarnation also communicates truth, the Pope said.
“If Jesus has a real body, the communication of the truth of God is realized in that body, with its own way of perceiving and feeling reality, with its own way of inhabiting and passing through the world,” Pope Leo said, according to the outlet.
The Pontiff then prayed that the faithful would be filled with gratitude as they reflected on their status as children of God.
After the address, Pope Leo greeted pilgrims and prayed for Christian unity.