26. Fourth Sunday of Lent: Christ with His Passion opened the door of heaven IV Sunday of Lent "Therefore, brothers, have confidence to enter the Sanctuary by the blood of Christ." (Hebrews 10:19) The closing of a door is an obstacle that prevents people from entering. Now, men were prevented from entering the kingdom of heaven because of sin, for, as Isaiah says (25:8): "They will call it a holy way. The unclean will not pass over it." There are two sins that prevent entry into the kingdom of heaven. One is the sin of our first father, a common sin to all of human nature that closed the entrance to the heavenly kingdom for man. Therefore, it is read in the book of Genesis that after the sin of the first man, "God placed cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." The other is the special sin of each person, committed by the personal act of each man. By the Passion of Christ, we are liberated not only from the common sin of all human nature, in relation to guilt and in relation to the debt of the penalty, since He paid the price for us, but also from the personal sins of each one who participates in His Passion through faith, love, and the sacraments of faith. Consequently, by the Passion of Christ, the door to the heavenly kingdom was opened to us. And this is precisely what the Letter to the Hebrews tells us (9:11): "Christ, the high priest of the good things to come, entered once for all into the sanctuary by His own blood and obtained eternal redemption." This is what the book of Numbers implies when it says that the murderer "shall remain there," that is, in the city of refuge, "until the death of the anointed high priest" (Numbers 35:25); after the death of this one, he shall return to his home. It should be said that the Patriarchs, by performing acts of righteousness, deserved to enter the heavenly kingdom through faith in the Passion of Christ, according to what is stated in the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:33): "By faith, they conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness"; through it, each of them was cleansed of sin, as it pertains to the purification of the person. However, the faith or righteousness of none of them was sufficient to remove the impediment arising from the debt of all human creatures. An impediment that was removed by the price of the blood of Christ. Therefore, before the Passion of Christ, no one could enter the heavenly kingdom, that is, attain eternal bliss, which consists in the full enjoyment of God. Christ, through His Passion, earned for us the opening of the heavenly kingdom and removed the impediment; but through the Ascension, He somehow introduced us into the possession of the heavenly kingdom. Thus, it is said that "He has already ascended, ahead of them, the one who opens the way" (Micah 2:13). III, q. XLIX, a. 5 #God #Deus #Isten #Gott #Jesus #Católico #Catholic #Katholik #katholisch #Katolikus #catholique #Faith #Fé #foi #信仰 #Latin #Latim #Gospel #Evangelho #Evangélium #évangile #Dieu #福音 #日本 #カトリック #Bible #Biblestr #Nostr #Grownostr