“The LORD begot me, the beginning of his works, the forerunner of his deeds of long ago ...” (Proverbs 8:22.)
Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:
First we must know this, that in Christ there is one nature, his deity, because he is the only begotten Son of the Father, and another human nature, which in very recent times he took upon him to fulfill the divine purpose. He is called “wisdom,” as Solomon said. He is also called “firstborn,” as the apostle Paul says: “who is the firstborn of all creation.” The firstborn is not, however, by nature a different being from wisdom but is one and the same. Finally, the apostle Paul says, “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
If he is an “image of the invisible God,” he is an invisible image, and I would dare to add that as he is a likeness of the Father there is no time when he did not exist. Let the man who dares to say “There was a time when the Son was not” understand that this is what he will be saying: “Once wisdom did not exist, and word did not exist, and life did not exist.” (On First Principles)
If he is an “image of the invisible God,” he is an invisible image, and I would dare to add that as he is a likeness of the Father there is no time when he did not exist. Let the man who dares to say “There was a time when the Son was not” understand that this is what he will be saying: “Once wisdom did not exist, and word did not exist, and life did not exist.” (On First Principles)
Collect
God our Father, Who by sending into the world
the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification
made known to the human race Your wondrous mystery,
grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith,
we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory
and adore Your Unity, powerful in majesty.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
the Word of truth and the Spirit of sanctification
made known to the human race Your wondrous mystery,
grant us, we pray, that in professing the true faith,
we may acknowledge the Trinity of eternal glory
and adore Your Unity, powerful in majesty.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
