Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Destined to live for the praise of God's glory in Christ Jesus

It's funny how things work, but this morning, in the aftermath of posting about theosis last night, as I was reading Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis' The Way of the Disciple, I came across a passage in which the author writes about what this means in Christian terms.

Merikakis insists that Jesus wants us "to recognize the truth of our full humanity," which He inseparably unites with His divinity, making it already present in our humanity by grace. Hence, it falls to us "to realize the incredible glory of the mystery of our own transformation." He turns to a passage from Ephesians to show this:
When we were dead through our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ..., and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (2:5-6)

from one of my all-time favorite films, Wenders' Wings of Desire

What is remarkable in this passage, the author observes, is that these things are written about in the past tense, thus indicating that it is a present reality, something already begun, something that has occurred in us by grace. "In other words, we recognize the glorification of our humanity in Christ only at once to realize the real presence now of his divinity." St. Paul emphasizes "how very literally Christ's personal Resurrection and Ascension to God's glory is also our personal destiny and present identity as members of his Body, because we are found in Christ Jesus."

This is also what I noted Monday on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by quoting this same author, who also wrote: "the Resurrection of the Son has already worked its full effect in the Mother who bore him in faith and love, and this, too, is our own path and destiny if we want it to be and if we are willing to live accordingly." Our observance of the Assumption is not cheer-leading for our Blessed Mother, our way of collectively saying, "Way to go, Mary, good for you." At its deepest level it is an expression of our own desire as well as my acknowledgement that only Christ can satisfy my existential yearning, which constitutes my humanity at its deepest level.

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