Monday, September 4 : Faustinus of Rome

Our Savior was truly made the Anointed One according to the flesh, becoming true king and true priest. He was both so that nothing might be lacking in the Savior. Notice therefore that he became king, when he says: “I was set by the Lord as king on Zion, his holy mountain” (Ps 2,6 Vg). Learn that he is also priest from the witness of the Father: “You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110[109],4)… He is therefore our Savior according to the flesh, and both king and priest, but his anointing is spiritual and not bodily. The kings and priests of the Jews were given their position by bodily anointing with oil. One man was not both: each was either king or priest. To Christ alone belong perfection and fulness in all things, for he came to fulfill the law also. Although they could not as individuals be both at the same time, they were called “Messiahs” or “anointed ones” because they had received bodily anointing as kings or priests (cf. Ps 89[88]). Our Savior, on the other hand, who is truly Christ, the Anointed One, was anointed by the Holy Spirit, that he might fulfill what was written of him: “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows” (Ps 45[44],8). That he was anointed more than those who share the same name “Messiah” lies in the fact that he was anointed with the oil of gladness, which properly means the Holy Spirit.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team