Christ the Logos

“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God.” 

One of the gifts of seminary formation is the opportunity to study philosophy, the love of wisdom.  It is through these studies that these words proclaimed by John, which identify Jesus Christ as the Word, have grown in profundity. In philosophy we often discuss questions of ultimate meaning: what is truth, what does it mean to exist, how best is man to live? Our discussion of this first question always contains a certain Greek word, logos. The word has many meanings which are all poetically united, but it is most often translated as “word” or “reason.” Reason here does not simply mean “purpose” as we so often use it, i.e., in the reason behind going to work. Reason is that which makes us human, it is our intellect, our soul. It is through the power of reason that man can grasp universal truths. What then does it mean for God the Son to be identical to reason? It means that He is the source of reasonability and thus the source of all that is reasonable. This is why Christ says “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” It is only due to God’s nature as truth that we can understand anything; for without truth there can be no reason. To say the Son is the Logos is to say no less than God is the creator of all there is. A canticle from Colossians that we often pray together for Vespers reminds us of this fact:
Since Christ is the embodiment of truth, all that He does is an act of teaching, for teaching is making known what is true. All of Christ’s actions are done in the mode of a teacher, from His lectures to His own expression of emotion. The greatest lesson that Christ gives us comes in the form of the new commandment: love one another. Christ became incarnate not only to redeem mankind but also to show us the fullest expression of human life. He came as an example of how we are all to live; He showed us what it means to be human. This is the meaning of His commandment: man was made for love. Why else would John write that “God is Love,” if not to show how Christ’s life as fully man and fully God indicates a potentiality latent in every person? If we follow Christ’s command and imitate Him then we will actualize what God intended by making us in His own image and likeness.

As a seminarian, the question “what does God want me to do,” is often on my mind. I want to do what God wants me to do, because that is the best way for me to live. Thanks to the intense study, prayer, and spiritual direction I have received here at Saint John Paul II seminary I have come to realize that God’s will for me is the will He has for everyone: we are called to love another just as He has loved us. We were made from love and we are made for love; let us always remember this truth that Christ the Logos has taught us.

Mr. Lloyd is a College IV seminarian for the Archdiocese of Washington.