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So the theme of this whole retreat is the meaning of death and eternal life.

For this talk, I want to focus on the death that wins eternal life for us, the death of Jesus Christ, and our participation in that death.

So this talk is going to bring us to the cross, and then to the baptismal font, and then to everyday life, and the strange sort of in-between state that we inhabit as those who have been united to Christ, saved by him, but still struggle along in this valley of tears.

So the death of Jesus Christ.

St. Peter writes that Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,

that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.

St. Paul adds, while we were yet helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good

man one will dare even to die, but God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. Since therefore we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more.

Now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?

Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.

We're justified. We're made right with God through the death of Jesus Christ. Why? Why is Christ's death so important?

Who or what is Jesus Christ that makes his death matter to us more than anyone else's death?

Every Sunday we say, I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, born of the Father before all ages,

God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made consubstantial with the Father. Why does Jesus' death matter? Because Jesus is God. He's God. And for us, men, and for our salvation,

he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.

Jesus is the God man. He is true God and true man. In his person, he unites human nature and divine nature in his person. The Book of Wisdom has this really awesome. I can actually use that word because it is talking about God. It says awesome, awesome description of the word. The book ofdom says, he is the all-powerful word who

leaped down from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed,

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