Catholic Convert Ponderings

Commentary of the Day

2009-05-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

Commentary of the day :

Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church

The Way of Perfection §34 (©Washington province of Discalced Carmelites, 1980)

"We have come to believe"

Let whoever wants be concerned with asking for this bread. As for ourselves, let us ask the Eternal Father that we might merit to receive our heavenly bread in such a way that the Lord may reveal himself to the eyes of our soul and make himself thereby known since our bodily eyes cannot delight in beholding him, because he is so hidden. Such a knowledge is another kind of satisfying and delightful sustenance that maintains life...

I know a person to whom the Lord had given such living faith that when she heard some persons saying they would have liked to have lived at the time Christ our Good walked in the world, she used to laugh to herself. She wondered what more they wanted since in the Blessed Sacrament they had him just as truly present as he was then... She considered she was at his feet and wept with the Magdalene, no more nor less than if she were seeing him with her bodily eyes in the house of the Pharisee. And even though she didn't feel devotion, faith told her that he was indeed there.

If we don't want to be fools and blind the intellect there's no reason for doubt. Receiving communion is not like picturing with the imagination, as when we reflect upon the cross or in other episodes of the Passion, when we picture within ourselves how things happened to him in the past. In communion the event is happening now, and it is entirely true. There's no reason to go looking for Him in some other place farther away. Since we know that Jesus is with us as long as the natural heat doesn't consume the accidents of bread, we should approach Him. Now, then, if when He went about in the world the mere touch of His robes cured the sick, why doubt, if we have faith, that miracles will be worked while he is within us and that He will give what we ask of Him, since he is in our house?

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Commentary of the day

2009-05-01T20:10:00.001-07:00

Commentary of the day :

Saint Columbanus (563-615), monk, founder of monasteries
Spiritual instructions 12, 2, 3

"My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink"

Beloved brethren, quench your thirst at the waters of that divine spring we want to tell you about: quench it but don't extinguish it; drink, but don't become satisfied. The living spring, the source of life calls us and says: «Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink» (Jn 7,37). Understand what it is you are drinking. Let the prophet tell you and let the source itself tell you: «Listen to the word of the Lord: they have forsaken me the source of living water» (Jer 2,13). So the Lord our God himself, Jesus Christ, is he who is that source of life and that is why he invites us to come to him so that we might drink him. Whoever loves him, drinks him; whoever feeds on the Word of God, drinks him... Drink, therefore, from this source that others have forsaken.

That we might eat of this bread and drink from this spring... he refers to himself as «the living bread that gives life to the world» (cf. Jn 6,51) which we are to eat... See from where this spring flows! see from where this bread comes down! For one and the same person is both bread and spring, the Only-begotten Son, our God, Christ the Lord, for whom we should ceaselessly hunger.

It is our love that gives him as food to us, our desire that makes us eat him, and when we have been satisfied we desire him still. Let us go to him as to a fountain and drink of him in our overflowing love, let us drink him always with ever-new desire, finding our joy in the sweetness of his love. The Lord is gentle and good. We eat and drink him without ceasing to hunger and thirst for him for we cannot exhaust this food and drink. We eat of this bread yet do not run out of it; we drink at this spring yet it does not run dry. This bread is eternal; this stream flows without end.

Senses

2009-03-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Catehism Senses: click here

Catechims Senses of Scripture: Click here

Meditation for the Day

2009-03-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." For rest from the care of life, you can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real relaxation and serenity come from a deep sense of the fundamental goodness of the universe. God's everlasting arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes for your life. Be sure of God's strength available to you, be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that true rest from God fills your being.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be conscious of God's support today. I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein.

Forgiveness

2009-03-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Forgiveness does not depend on feeling forgiving; rather it is a matter of the will, determining to extend forgiveness and asking the Lord to help our emotions line up with our actions.”

Kimberly Hahn
Chosen And Cherished: Biblical Wisdom For Your Marriage, Servant Books

2009-03-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

“God is pure spirit, but he loved us so much that he sent us the revelation of himself in Jesus. So we can know God through Jesus, who had a body just like us. He got hungry, tired, and maybe even cranky. He suffered bodily pains. Now God has a face. And the way we can come to Christ is through our bodies. That’s why we celebrate the Sacraments. Sacraments are, after all, concrete tangible ways to God.”

Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR and Bert Ghezzi
Every Day Encounters with God: What our experinces teach us about the Divine, The Word Among Us Press

The Holy Spirit is Love between the Father and the Son

2009-02-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

.......The common teaching of the great theologians like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas is that the holy Spirit proceeds from the will or from the mutual love of the Father and the Son. Accordingly, there is a special relationship between the Holy Spirit and acts of the will, especially the act of love which proceeds from the will and not from the intellect.

The Roman Catechism teaches that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the divine will inflamed, as it were, with love" (I,9.7). The biblical name of the third Person, "Holy Spirit" (pneuma = wind, breath, principle of life), designates a principle of activity. An act of will is an inclination to some known good.

The word "holy" in the personal name of the third Person indicates a relationship to the will, since holiness resides in the will. Also, works of love are attributed to the Holy Spirit. Thus, St. Paul says, "The charity of God is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us" (Rom. 5:5). The attribution of the works of love to the Holy Spirit is based on his origin from the will of the Father and the Son. We infer therefore that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son by an act of love. Thus, the Fathers of the Church, relying on Scripture, call the Holy Spirit: love, charity, gift, living fountain, bond of love, kiss of love. A gift, for example, is directly related to love since a gift is a visible sign of love. Thus, St. Peter uses the word "gift" in his sermon on the first Pentecost: "You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). The other titles given to the Holy Spirit also indicate some relationship to an act of the will -- to love in one way or another.

....The term "spiration" designates the loving activity between the Father and the Son which results in the term of their love, namely, the Holy Spirit. So they say that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son through spiration. This doctrine was taught clearly by the Second Council of Lyons in 1274.

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But if the Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son, how can God as a whole be called Love? Each person shares equally in the divine nature, so that each person shares equally in the perfections of the others. The only distinction between the persons of the Trinity is their mutual relations. None of the persons exists in respect to himself alone, but each exists relatively to the other two:
...the ``three persons'' who exist in God are the reality of word and love in their attachment to each other. They are not substances, personalities in the modern sense, but the relatedness whose pure actuality... does not impair unity of the highest being but fills it out. St Augustine once enshrined this idea in the following formula: ``He is not called Father with reference to himself but only in relation to the Son; seen by himself he is simply God.'' Here the decisive point comes beautifully to light. ``Father'' is purely a concept of relationship. Only in being-for the other is he Father; in his own being-in-himself he is simply God. Person is the pure relation of being related, nothing else. Relationship is not something extra added to the person, as it is with us; it only exists at all as relatedness.
....the First Person [the Father] does not beget the Son in the sense of the act of begetting coming on top of the finished Person; it is the act of begetting, of giving oneself, of streaming forth. It is identical with the act of giving. (Joseph Ratzinger Introduction to Christianity, pp. 131-132; cf. Augustine, Enarationes in Psalmos 68; De Trinitate VII, 1, 2.) Each of the persons of the Trinity lives completely for the others; each is a complete gift of self to the others. The complete self-giving not only constitutes the individual persons of the Trinity, but also their inseparable oneness.

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Distance yourself from that which afflicts you

2009-02-24T03:55:00.000-08:00

WHEN THERE ARE HIDDEN BLOCKS IN YOUR LIFE, IT MAY BE DUE TO A SPIRIT OF 'CLINGING'

Are you being blocked? Are you in bondage? Did you know that there can be a "spirit of clinging"?

It's our meditation this week.

Perhaps you haven't thought of it in those terms.
But it's true: many of us tend to cling to people, places, and things -- or we have someone clinging to us. It's all equally harmful.
We're called to cleave to our spouses and above all to the Lord the Almighty, but even with a spouse, it should never be obsessive. When we marry, we're told to stop clinging to our parents and shift to the wife or husband (in a balanced fashion).
But after that, we're to exercise discretion. Always pray for balance! Love everyone and be open but do not let yourself be tugged toward an orbit into which you do not want to be pulled. That can be very damaging.
Meanwhile, always know your place.
Don't force yourself on others (nor let them force themselves on you)! You'll only get hurt.
We can cling in an unhealthy fashion to brothers and sisters, children, friends, co-workers, old romantic relationships, and even enemies -- all to our detriment (and often theirs) if the hold is obsessive.
Obsession equals idolatry. Really, cling to God alone.
When we are clinging to someone, we are defining the relationship; we are demanding closeness (one that may not be in God's designs); we're forcing ourselves into a situation.
It rarely works. Interjection leads to rejection. Know your place!
In fact, the more you cling to someone, the more prone they are to resist any contact with you, or to develop resentment.
That's because the inner knowing senses an over-attachment in a spiritual dimension.
For clinging often means an obsession or oppression and an obsession is an unhealthy, exaggerated emotion (hear the hiss): the inability to let others get on with their own lives and to live independently. By the by, it is also the root of cults.
Pride clings, while love releases. Love is true and the truth sets a person free (as opposed to holding him or her into an orbit). Do you feel stymied when certain people contact you? Do you feel oppressed? Are you made to stay close to someone out of guilt?
If so, you need to pray to break that bondage.
Clinging is a form of control. There is a soul tie. We are nearly "one flesh." And the spirit of control, says the Bible, can be the spirit of witchcraft.
That's why you may feel an actual dark force when someone is trying to meddle in your affairs -- to be a part of your inner circle when they are not meant to be part of your inner circle, or trying to share what you have (including your family).
Hear the hiss: possession. Obsession.
Some people cling to us by "helping" or being "generous." "Gifts often create an unhealthy obligation," write Bill and Sue Banks in Breaking Unhealthy Soul-Ties. "Jewelry is often such a gift. Rings particularly are used to bind someone, and often called, excused, or disguised as rings of 'friendship.'"
How many have had relationship whereby a person defined the relationship and exercised an unhealthy control (without our input)?
Answer: all of us.
Remember, love does not always mean closeness. We are to love everyone. But when there are problems -- when there is an unhealthy soul tie -- distance yourself from that which afflicts you.
Also, don't cling to negative emotions. Don't cling to a grudge.
Don't cling to hurts.
That too will bind you.
Especially, don't cling to a material object (nor become obsessed with a pet).
There are those who believe that when there is an obsession, such an obsession can go beyond death -- that there are souls bound to the earth because they insist on clinging to people or places or things.
In Jewish folklore, a spirit that wanders the earth (instead of moving on to the Light of God) is known as a dybbuk, which means "cleaving" or "clinging." The ancient Jews believed that an over-attached soul could cause problems after physical death. In 1 Samuel 16, a bad spirit attaches to King Saul to trouble him!
That's for your discernment. What we know is that we are called to let go and let God. When something bothers you, don't cling to the aggravation. When you're disturbed, release what's disturbing you.
Let it pass. Don't let it bind you. And don't let it disturb what God has designed. Don't let the "spirit of clinging" affect what you do, where you go, where you move, who you are.
Don't let it prevent you from finding your mission in life, nor prevent you from your place of blessing, which the Lord has marked for you in time.
[resources: Breaking Unhealthy Soul-Ties]
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Distressed Soul

2009-02-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

For a distressed soul
Our soul is in this world through a body provided to us by God. And this soul comes ready to act on the things of this world through what we call personhood, ready to be configured into a particular personality. We create the character of our own personality by the way we act with respect to the real things of this world. The model for that configuration has to be freely chosen, it is Christ, the God Incarnate. We are always "in" God whether we recognize it or not, and at the same time God is always "in" our human reality. If we live in His presence we will be able to handle anything the world can throw at us, and at the same time elaborate our personality so that His personal presence becomes even more manifest to ourselves every day as we recognize we are living "in" Him, in His presence. I tell you this because you must not let the things of this world unsettle you to the point of obscuring that divine spark that is always shining in your soul. That awareness is what we call "prayer" and is achieved in many ways, sometimes through words, and proper images, but others through our actions towards things in conformity with the way Christ took them. That conformity as conformity is itself a "presence" of Christ "in" us, through the images those personal actions leave in our full memory and become subject of our examination of conscience. Life becomes a prayer and prayer a life. This is the one thing necessary. Do not be unsettled.

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Intellect

2009-02-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas Aquinas says: “Nothing is in the intellect that did not first come to us through the senses.”

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Researching to understand more
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The causes which the writer of Wisdom , probably an Alexandrian Jew living in the second century B. C. , assigns to the idolatry prevalent in his time and environment, are sufficient to account for the origin of all idolatry. Man's love for sense images is not a vagary but a necessity of his mind. Nothing is in the intellect that has not previously passed through the senses. All thought that transcends the sphere of direct sense knowledge is clothed in material garments, be they only a word or a mathematical symbol. Likewise, the knowledge of things impervious to our senses, that comes to us by revelation, is communicated and received through the senses external or internal, and is further elaborated by comparison with notions evolved from sense perceptions; all our knowledge of the supernatural proceeds by analogy with the natural. Thus, throughout the Old TestamentGod reveals Himself in the likeness of man, and in the New, the Son of God, assuming human nature, speaks to us in parables and similitudes. Now, the human mind, when sufficiently ripe to receive the notion of God, is already stocked with natural imagery in which it clothes the new idea. That the limited mind of man cannot adequately represent, picture, or conceive the infinite perfection o God, is self-evident. If left to his own resources, man will slowly and imperfectly develop the obscure notion of a superior or supreme power on which his well-being depends and whom he can conciliate or offend. In this process intervenes the second cause of idolatry: ignorance. The Supreme Power is apprehended in the works and workings of nature ; in sun and stars, in fertile fields, in animals, in fancied invisible influences, in powerful men. And there, among the secondary causes, the "groping after God " may end in the worship of sticks and stones. St. Paul told the Athenians that God had "winked at the times of this ignorance " during which they erected altars "To the unknown God ", which implies that He had compassion on their ignorance and sent them the light of truth to reward their good intention ( Acts 17:22-31 ). As soon as the benighted heathen has located his unknown god, love and fear, which are but the manifestations of the instinct of self-preservation, shape the cultus of the idol into sacrifices or other congenial religious practices. Ignorance of the First Cause, the need of images for fixing higher conceptions, the instinct of self-preservation — these are the psychological causes of idolatry.

Listen with the ear of our heart

2009-02-16T06:50:00.000-08:00

We listen reverently with the ear of our heart.

Often the first act of understanding is often careful, focused listening. It is not surprising, then, that the first sentence in the Prologue admonishes the monks to "listen with the ear of your heart..." (RB Prologue: 1). This imagery captures the notion that our listening cannot be an exercise of the mind only. It must engage the whole person, the whole heart--the integrating center of thought, feeling, imagination, and will. This imagery captures the notion that our listening cannot be an exercise of the mind only. It must engage the whole person, the whole heart-the integrating center of thought, feeling, imagination, and will. In his reflection on the first step of humility, Benedict also encourages monastics to be mindful of God's presence in their lives and never forget what God is asking of them (RB 7:10-11, 13).

For the monastic, this listening occurs in the daily process of doing lectio divina (holy reading),12 at community prayer, and in the countless interactions with other human beings. It is also the basis for obedience to the abbot or prioress and other members of the community. Esther de Waal has written: "To listen closely, with every fiber of our being, at every moment of the day, is one of the most difficult things in the world, yet it is essential if we mean to find the God whom we are seeking. If we stop listening to what we find hard to take, then, we are likely to pass God by without ever noticing."13 For example, it is a challenge to hear the cry of the poor and give a creative response. In the face of overwhelming world poverty it is difficult to imagine and respond in a way that makes a difference. In addition, the environmental destructiveness on a global scale presents enormous challenges. Careful listening can enable us to examine these issues in an integrated multi-strategy approach rather than searching for single-strategy solutions. Thus, listening with the ear of our heart might also encourage all of us, as concerned citizens, to make ethical decisions and to act on them.

Application. Listening carefully yields a more accurate understanding of self and the world around us. Mindfulness means being truly present in the moment, understanding or intuiting what needs to be said or done; not said nor done. We may be called to listen in situations such as these: the chemistry student struggling to recrystallize an unknown compound; the chorus of birds waking in the early morning; the developing tension in shoulders needing some stretching; a professor trying to discover a way to motivate a particular student; staying in a conversation in the midst of conflict. For students, listening to oneself may mean re-evaluating a sequence of decisions that have led to the choice of a major. This is a kind of obedience to oneself, to pay attention to an "obligation which urges us to become more than we already are."14 At other times it means suspending judgment and being willing to live through uncertainty in one's perceptions of "good" and "bad." Sometimes listening will mean attention to the word of God in the Scriptures, as in the practice of lectio divina. This practice of reading the Scriptures and other related texts in a prayerful, reflective manner accompanies and amplifies the listening integral to community worship. The word, through whatever channel it comes, awaits a response. Hence, we note Benedict's gently insistent encouragement as he recalls the psalmist's plea, "If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts" (RB Prologue: 10). A significant portion of listening is done in solitude, in reflective moments of reading, studying, and writing. In a Benedictine environment, however, the gathering of the community is also an important environment for listening and can in itself be a sacramental experience.

Questions for reflection:

In many ways, attentive listening is the key to being a learner. How has active listening helped you in learning?

What is your experience of listening to God?

We want to have a culture of listening at CSB/SJU. What attitudes/actions inhibit or support such a culture?

Source click here

Commentary of the day

2009-02-11T04:47:00.000-08:00

Commentary of the day :

Baldwin of Ford (? – 1190), Cistercian abbot
Tractate 10 on the Song of Songs 8,6; PL 204, 513s (copyright Cistercian publications)

"A clean heart create for me, O God" (Ps 51[50],12)«

Set me as a seal on your heart, for love is strong as death» (Sg 8,6). Love is strong as death, for the love of Christ is the death of death... The love with which we love Christ is also strong as death, for inasmuch as it is the extinction of our old life, the abolition of our vices, and an end to dead works, it is itself a sort of death. This love of ours for Christ is a sort of exchange - however unequal- of his love for us. It is a likeness of his love, patterned on its image. «He loved us first» (1Jn 4,10) and by the example of that love which he offered to us, he was made a seal for us which enables us to be conformed to his image...

This is why he says, 'Set me as a seal upon your heart'. It is as if he said, 'Love me as I love you. Have me in your mind, your memory, your desire, your yearning, your sighing, and your sobbing. Remember, mankind, how I made you, how I put you before all other creatures, how I ennobled you with such dignity, how I crowned you with glory and honor, how I made you only a little less than the angels, how I subjected all things under your feet (Ps 8,6-7). Remember, too, not only the many things I made for you, but what harsh and undeserved things I endured for you, and see if you are not being unfair to me if you do not love me. Who loves you as I do? Who wants you to love them as I do? Who created you, if not I? Who redeemed you, if not I?

Take from me, O Lord, my heart of stone. Take away my hardened heart. Take away my uncircumcised heart. Give me a new heart, a heart of flesh, a pure heart (Ez 36,26)! You who purify the heart, you who love the pure heart, possess my heart and dwell within it, enclosing it and filling it, higher than what in me is highest, more inward than my most inward part. O form of beauty and seal of sanctity, seal my heart in your image, seal my heart under your mercy, «O God of my heart, O God my portion for ever» (Ps 73[72],26).

Source http://www.dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM

Grow in Love

2009-02-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

It takes some effort to grow in this love, for as the art of painting is cultivated by painting, and speaking is learned by speaking, and study is learned by studying, so love is learned by loving. It takes considerable asceticism to banish all unloving thoughts and to make us eventually loving. The will to love makes us lovers.

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Death to Self

2009-02-04T04:24:00.000-08:00

“Our whole life and our work can and should be a prayer, an act of adoration and thanksgiving and offering to God but they are not that simply by declaring them so. Prayer, as with salvation, doesn’t come by changing our language. It comes by death to self, minute by minute, fidelity and obedience, and for most of us, only through times of personal prayer. Personal prayer isn’t all of prayer and isn’t supposed to be. But [no one can succeed] in having their whole life and work as genuine worship without definite time spent in regular personal prayer.”

Ralph Martin
Hungry for God, Servant/St Anthony Press

Commentary of the day Saturday Jan 31, 2009

2009-01-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

Commentary of the day :

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church Sermon 63 (©Friends of Henry Ashworth)

The wind dropped and there was great calm

Your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune - shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten his presence.

Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him... You have forgotten that when Christ was being crucified he said: «Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do» (Lk 23,34). Christ, the sleeper in your heart, had no desire for vengeance in his. Rouse him, then, call him to mind. (To remember him is to recall his words; to remember him is to recall his commands.) Then, when he is awake within you, you will ask yourself, "Whatever kind of wretch am I to be thirsting for revenge?... He who said, 'Give and it shall be given you; forgive and you will be forgiven,' would indeed decline to acknowledge me. So I will curb my anger and restore peace to my heart." Now all is calm again. Christ has rebuked the sea... This is the moment to awaken Christ and let him remind you of those words: «Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey him» Who is this whom the sea obeys? «It is he to whom the sea belongs, for he made it» (Ps 95[94],5); «all things were made through him» (Jn 1,3). Try, then, to be more like the wind and the sea; obey the God who made you. The sea obeys Christ's command, and are you going to turn a deaf ear to it?... Words, actions, schemes, what are all these but a constant huffing and puffing, a refusal to be still at Christ's command? When your heart is in a troubled state, do not let the waves overwhelm you.

If, since we are only human, the driving wind should stir up in us a tumult of emotions, let us not despair but awaken Christ, so that we may sail in quiet waters and reach at last our heavenly homeland.

2008-12-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

Dec 23, '08, 8:39 pm
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How can you say we "choose" hell?
I know Catholics believe that God does not send people to hell, but that people choose hell by their sins. But I don't think when a person decides to skip church he is also deciding to spend eternity in fire and torment.
Last edited by Michelle Arnold : Dec 23, '08 at 10:10 pm.
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Dec 23, '08, 10:20 pm
Michelle Arnold
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Re: How can you say we "choose" hell?
Perhaps not so directly as that, but such a person is choosing himself over God because he is choosing to neglect his duties to God in favor of doing whatever he prefers. It is the choice for self over God that is the essence of hell. The pain of hell, whether or not it is literal fire, is a consequence of the choice to separate oneself from God. This is not because God is inflicting the pain on a defiant soul but because the soul is made for God and eternal separation from him for who one is made is, ipso facto, painful. For example, if a fish is separated from water, he dies -- not because nature is punishing the fish for leaving the water, but because the fish is made to live in water. In analogous fashion, if a soul is eternally separated from God (which can only happen by that soul's free choice to choose self over God) then the soul is damned and in eternal torment by eternal separation from him for whom he was created.Recommended reading:Why is repentance after death "too late"?
__________________"If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him." --St. Edith Stein

Saturday, 27 December 2008 Saint John, apostle and evangelist - Feast

2008-12-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

Commentary of the day :

Duns Scotus Erigena (?-c.870), Irish Benedictine Homily on the Prologue to Saint John's Gospel, §2

«What was from the beginning..., what we looked upon..., we proclaim now to you» (1Jn 1,1-3)

Peter and John both run to the tomb. Holy Scripture is the tomb of Christ where the darkest mysteries of his divinity and humanity are defended, if I might put it that way, by a surrounding wall of rock. But John runs faster than Peter because the power of a wholly purified contemplation penetrates the secrets of the divine work with more piercing and sharp a gaze than the power of action still in need of purification.

Nevertheless, Peter enters the tomb first; John follows him. Both run, both enter. In this case Peter is an image of faith, John stands for intellect... For faith must be the first to enter the tomb, which is an image of Holy Scripture, and intellect follows...

Peter, who also represents the practice of virtue, sees by the power of faith and the action of the Son of God, ineffably and wonderfully confined within the limitations of the flesh. But John, who represents highest contemplation of the truth, marvels at the Word of God, who is perfect in himself and infinite in origin, that is to say in his Father. Peter, led by divine revelation, simultaneously considers both eternal things and the things of this world, united in Christ. John contemplates and proclaims the eternity of the Word so as to make it known to believing souls.

Thus I would say that John is a spiritual eagle with rapid flight, who sees God and I will call him 'theologian'. He is lord over all creation, visible and invisible, he exceeds all the faculties of the mind, and he enters divinised into God who gives him a share in his own divine life.

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2008-12-19T06:47:00.001-08:00

2100 Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. . . . "17 The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor.18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our salvation.20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.

Source click here >> the mind toward God

___________________________

Sacrifice

(Latin sacrificium; Italian sacrificio; French sacrifice.)

This term is identical with the English offering (Latin offerre) and the German Opfer; the latter is derived, not from offerre, but from operari (Old High German opfâron; Middle High German opperu, opparôn), and thus means "to do zealously, to serve God, to offer sacrifice" (cf. Kluge "Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache", Strassburg, 1899, p. 288). By sacrifice in the real sense is universally understood the offering of a sense-perceptible gift to the Deity as an outward manifestation of our veneration for Him and with the object of attaining communion with Him. Strictly speaking however, this offering does not become a sacrifice until a real change has been effected in the visible gift (e.g. by slaying it, shedding its blood. burning it, or pouring it out). As the meaning and importance of sacrifice cannot be established by a priori methods, every admissible theory of sacrifice must shape itself in accordance with the sacrificial systems of the pagan nations, and especially with those of the revealed religions, Judaism and Christianity. Pure Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Protestantism here call for no attention, as they have no real sacrifice; apart from these there is and has been no developed religion which has not accepted sacrifice as an essential portion of its cult. We shall consider successively:

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the sacrifice of Christ must somehow result in a kenosis, not in a glorification, since this latter is at most the object of the sacrifice, not the sacrifice itself;

since this postulated kenosis, however, can be no real, but only a mystical or sacramental one, we must appraise intelligently those moments which approximate in any degree the "mystical slaying" to a real exinanition, instead of rejecting them.

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Christ retained in Him also the weaknesses of the soul, the passions of His rational and sensitive appetites, but with the following restrictions: (a) Inordinate and sinful motions are incompatible with Christ's holiness. Only morally blameless passions and affections, e.g. fear, sadness, the share of the soul in the sufferings of the body, were compatible with His Divinity and His spiritual perfection. (b) The origin, intensity, and duration of even these emotions were subject to Christ's free choice. Besides, He could prevent their disturbing the actions of His soul and His peace of mind.

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God's Word

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“The more conformed we are to God’s Word, the more docile we become. Our ears are unstopped, the scales fall from our eyes, and we can begin to see and hear in conformity with God’s will. This gives the Holy Spirit freer reign in us. We grow in wisdom of heart as we remove ourselves from the sewage of this world and put ourselves under the fountain of living water. Believe me, the difference is as great as that analogy.”

Sr. Ann Shields, S.G.L.Deeper Conversion Extraordinary Grace for Ordinary Times, St. Anthony Messenger Press

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How to Forfgive our Brothers

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By Monsignor Charles M. ManganCatholic Online

The Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate (http://www.parishvisitorsisters.org/), an inspiring Religious Institute of Women whose Motherhouse is located in Monroe, New York, publish The Parish Visitor, a helpful quarterly magazine.

In the issue dated Fall 2005, there is on page 18 a beautiful reflection by the Most Reverend James Timlin, D.D., the Bishop Emeritus of Scranton (Pennsylvania), entitled “Love One Another.” This meditation derives from his Homily that was given on the first evening of World Youth Day—not a WORLD away, a retreat held August 18-21, 2005 on the grounds at the Sisters’ Marycrest Motherhouse attended by 95 young people in conjunction with World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany.

Let’s allow the Bishop to speak to us.
* * *
When the allied soldiers found the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck where about 92,000 women and children died, they found a note tied to a rock alongside a dead woman and child. It is actually a prayer written by one of the women:
“O Lord, when I shall come with glory into Your kingdom, remember not only the men and women of good will; remember also those of ill will.
“But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us. Remember the fruits we bought thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which have become part of our lives because of our suffering here.
“May the memory of us not be a nightmare to them when they stand in judgment. When they come to judgment, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen. Amen. Amen.”

Those are the exact words of the prayer that was written on that note.

You look at yourself. Put yourself up against that kind of great love and forgiveness to see how far we have to go. How much road we have to travel to become people who can be so loving and forgiving under those horrendous circumstances, just like our Lord as He was being nailed to the Cross. “Father, forgive them,” He said. “They don’t know what they are doing.”
This is what we mean by “love one another.” It’s not easy; it never was easy to love your enemies, to love your neighbor. It’s not ever going to be easy. Yet, that is what we are called to be. To be people like that . . . to be young people like that.”
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We can’t forgive our brothers and sisters unless we are first rooted in the grace of Christ. And what is the primary source of God’s sanctifying grace for us? The Seven Sacraments! When we receive the Sacraments worthily and often, we increase in conformity to Jesus Our Risen Lord.

We ask Our Blessed Lady to intercede for us before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, that we may grow in the likeness of Christ Our King.

Galatians Chapter 5

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GalatiansChapter 5
1
1 2 For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
2
It is I, Paul, who am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
3
Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcised that he is bound to observe the entire law. 3
4
You are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
5
For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness.
6
For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. 4
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5 6 You were running well; who hindered you from following (the) truth?
8
That enticement does not come from the one who called you. 7
9
A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.
10
I am confident of you in the Lord that you will not take a different view, and that the one who is troubling you will bear the condemnation, whoever he may be.
11
As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, 8 why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.
12
Would that those who are upsetting you might also castrate themselves! 9
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10 11 For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.
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For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 12
15
But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.
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I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. 13
17
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.
18
But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
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14 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,
20
idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,
21
occasions of envy, 15 drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
23
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24
Now those who belong to Christ (Jesus) have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
25
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
26
Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.

The Major Obstacle to receiving hte Spirit: The Flesh and Unforgiveness

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"The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; the two are directly opposed." —Galatians 5:17

The self-centered desires of the flesh are directly opposed to the Spirit. Therefore, to receive the Holy Spirit much more deeply we must be docile to the Lord's command that we "make no provision for the desires of the flesh" (Rm 13:14). We must make the decision to do more than control the flesh. We are to crucify it with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24). This means we must have the courage to reappraise our life-styles with a view to solidarity with the poor in the spirit of the Beatitudes (Mission of the Redeemer, 60). Pope John Paul II has taught: "In a word, we can say that the cultural change which we are calling for demands from everyone the courage to adopt a new life-style, consisting in making practical choices —at the personal, family, social and international level —on the basis of a correct scale of values: the primacy of being over having, of the person over things" (The Gospel of Life, 98). We may be led by the Spirit (see Gal 5:25) to tithe, give alms, simplify our lives, stop or severely curtail watching TV, get out of debt, move to another house or apartment, offer hospitality to the poor, etc. At first, the necessity of choosing a new life-style may seem to be a great blow to many of us who have spent years working to develop our present life-styles. However, we are not only giving up pleasures and conveniences but also enslaving compulsions, distractions, and pressures. Therefore, it is both a privilege and a hardship to adopt a new, gospel life-style.

While a willingness to adopt a new life-style is necessary to let the Spirit be more active in our lives, this is only part of crucifying the flesh. Of the fifteen works of the flesh mentioned in Gal 5:19-21, eight of the fifteen are not related to self-indulgence and impurity but to a lack of love in personal relationships. "Hostilities, bickering, jealousy, outbursts of rage, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy" strongly oppose the life in the Spirit (Gal 5:20-21). I believe that the heart of most of these inter-personal conflicts is unforgiveness. Consequently, in order to let the Spirit work freely in our lives, we must forgive everyone for everything done against us. This would take a miracle, for "to err is human, and to forgive is divine."

True forgiveness is to make a decision to accept God's grace to let go of hurts due to sins committed against us and then to express this decision by acts of love and mercy. Forgiveness is being like the father of the prodigal son who embraced his son, gave him gifts, and honored him with a special celebration (Lk 15:20 ff). Obviously, "to forgive is divine," and therefore impossible for human beings to do, but Jesus will give us the miracle of forgiveness. (See our pamphlets, Unforgiveness is the Cause and 14 Questions on Forgiveness.)

In preparation for receiving the Holy Spirit anew, decide to accept God's grace to forgive. Say: "By the power of Jesus, I decide to forgive ________ for ________." Continue making these decisions until you have accepted God's grace to forgive everyone for everything. Then go to Confession. You will be forgiven as you have forgiven those who have sinned against you (Mt 6:12). You may have one of the best Confessions of your life and immediately receive the Holy Spirit in a deep way, or you will be well prepared to receive the Holy Spirit in power at the last seminar.

(If possible, do this last seminar following Mass.) Source click here

Veritatis splendor

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120. Mary is also Mother of Mercy because it is to her that Jesus entrusts his Church and all humanity. At the foot of the Cross, when she accepts John as her son, when she asks, together with Christ, forgiveness from the Father for those who do not know what they do (cf. Lk 23:34), Mary experiences, in perfect docility to the Spirit, the richness and the universality of God's love, which opens her heart and enables it to embrace the entire human race. Thus Mary becomes Mother of each and every one of us, the Mother who obtains for us divine mercy.

Sanctifying Grace, Actual Grace

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Sanctifying Grace

A supernatural state of being infused by God into our soul that gives us participation in the divine life. The participation in the divine life is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Sanctifying grace belongs to the whole soul, including the intellect and will. It is greater than the virtue of charity because charity belongs only to the will.

Sanctifying grace is a permanent part of our soul as long as we cooperate with its effects. When we have sanctifying grace in our soul we are said to be in the state of grace. If we pass into eternity while in the state of grace we will go either to purgatory or directly to heaven. When we commit a mortal sin, the offended Holy Spirit departs from us and we lose our sanctifying grace. If we pass into eternity while in the state of sin we will, objectively speaking, send ourselves to hell.
Actual grace helps us grow in sanctifying grace.
Sanctifying grace is sometimes called habitual grace or justifying grace.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1996-2005
New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

Actual Grace

God’s temporary enlightenment of our mind or strengthening of our will to perform supernatural actions that help us obtain, retain, or grow in sanctifying grace.

For example, God may give us actual grace that strengthens our will to go to Daily Mass. If we do go, our attendance and reception of the Holy Eucharist strengthens our sanctifying grace.

Actual grace with which we freely consent to cooperate is called efficacious grace, because it accomplishes God’s purpose in granting it. Actual grace to which we freely refuse consent is called sufficient grace, because it would have been sufficient to accomplish God’s purpose. Our decision to cooperate or not cooperate belongs to the will.
More...
Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2000, 2024
New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

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Got it!!! "Original Sin" Now What???

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"The struggle against the self is not the aim but simply the means of reaching the aim, which is represented by the full development of love”

We cannot meditate properly on the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Mother of Christ, if we do not bear in mind the true meaning of the term we are using. Conception means the beginning of human life and is not limited simply to the biological or bodily aspect but concerns also the spirit created by God at the moment when the parents generate a new body. The spirit constitutes the soul of this body or organism-the basis and the source of all life and of all those elements characteristic of the human person.

The conception of a human being is the beginning of existence for a new spirit, and here we find the basis for understanding the meaning of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Every human spirit could have begun in the state of sanctifying grace; in other words, it could have shared in the divine nature from the first moment of its existence and possessed a real capacity to participate in the interior life of God. The essence of sanctifying grace is in fact the divine life as grafted into the human soul, and if we do not understand this, it is impossible to view the Immaculate Conception correctly. The supernatural mystery of grace forms the immediate context for gaining an understanding of the privileged condition of the Mother of Christ...........................................................

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How about us, you and me? Do we live in the grace of our Redeemer, or do we persist in living out the disorder caused in us by original sin?

Baptism restores us to the grace of God so that we can once again live in intimate friendship with Him. But baptism did not heal all the wounds left in our nature by original sin. We still suffer from concupiscence, the inclination to evil. We are summoned to a spiritual battle.
As Vatican II (GS 37, 2) puts it: “The whole of human history has been the story of dour combat with the power of evil…. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield, man has to struggle to do what is right and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.” (GS 37, 2)
Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, has won the victory over all evil, and His victory will be ours if we carry on the fight. “Where sin abounded, grace abounds still more.” (Rom 5:20)
This grace flows to us abundantly in the sacraments. But grace always puts us to work.
Just one example of how we must carry on the fight against evil:
As soon as we become aware of a temptation, the lure of evil, we need to be prompt in saying “No” to it. Every “No” to sin is a “Yes” to God.
If we are not prompt in rejecting a temptation or in repenting of a sin, the evil tendency becomes stronger in us and may eventually master us completely.
But if we are quick to reject a temptation, or repent of a sin, the evil tendency grows weaker, and love of God grows stronger.
[Let us make every effort to live in the harmony of grace, and not in the disorder of sin.]
[Note: Text in brackets added by editor to complete the author’s thought.]
© Fr Paul G. Hinnebusch. O.P.: 12th Sunday Ord A-Original Sin

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Original Sin and Our need for Redemption

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EFFECTS OF SANCTIFYING GRACE

Adopted Children of God: The Scriptures frequently refer to the fact that through sanctifying grace we are “begotten of God" (1 Jn. 3:9). Only Christ, the Divine Word made man, is begotten of the Father by natural generation, possessing the same divine nature as the Father, and equal to the Father in all things. We, on the other hand, are children of God, not by natural generation, but by adoptive generation or filiation.

“You did not receive a spirit of slavery leading you back into fear, but a spirit of adoption through which we cry out ‘Abbe’ (i.e. Father). The Spirit Himself gives witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom. 8:15)

By the gift of sanctifying grace we are admitted into the family of the Divine Trinity, as children of the Father, and brothers and sisters of Christ. But this is much more than being adopted into a family in the human sense. Adoption as we understand it in our society confers on the one adopted into the family the rights of a legitimate child, but does not confer on such a one anything resembling a blood relationship, any sharing of one’s own natural qualities or characteristics with the adopted child. Yet, one who is adopted into the family of the Divine Trinity through sanctifying grace shares in a mysterious way in the nature of God Himself. As St. Peter testifies: “We are sharers in the divine nature.” (2 Pet. 1:4) It is a spiritual birth, a true begetting on the part of God that makes us truly children of God. “See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God. Yet that is what we are.” (1 Jn. 3:1 ) It was because of this that St. Leo the Great exclaimed: “Recognize your dignity, O Christian, and having been made the participant of the divine nature, do not desire to return to the baseness of your former condition.”

Source click here ( I really don't get it - I have n0 idea what I am doing. When I started this blog I thought well if I was adopted at birth and had a horrible life. What if I were an adopted child of God. So there is hope for me.)

Freeing the intellect from original sin

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How about us, you and me? Do we live in the grace of our Redeemer, or do we persist in living out the disorder caused in us by original sin?

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Darkening of the intellect because of original sin

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The State of Man in Fallen Nature

.........As regards spiritual faculties this deterioration consists in a darkening of the intellect's capacity to know the truth, and in a weakening of free will. The will is weakened in the presence of the attractions of the goods perceived by the senses and is more exposed to the false images of good elaborated by reason under the influence of the passions. However, according to the Church's teaching, it is a case of a relative and not an absolute deterioration, not intrinsic to the human faculties. Even after original sin, man can know by his intellect the fundamental natural and religious truths, and the moral principles. He can also perform good works. One should therefore speak rather of a darkening of the intellect and of a weakening of the will, of "wounds" of the spiritual and sensitive faculties, and not of a loss of their essential capacities even in relation to the knowledge and love of God. ...................

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Darkened intellect

It is important to recognize that our capacity to make correct judgments has been wounded. That is, the effects of original sin have darkened our intellect making the discovery of truth more difficult. We are so easily swayed by what caters to our fallen nature that we often choose the path of least resistance and do not sufficiently search for the truth as we should. With a swollen pride, we overestimate our ability to arrive at the truth and arrogantly make ourselves the measure of all things. All this helps to explain why Christ established a teaching Church that we might attain certainty about the truth in all that pertains to our salvation. The Church teaches us that our ultimate happiness is not in this world, but in the next. This life is but a pilgrimage, a “a vale of tears.” Also, it is impossible by human means alone to reach this heavenly goal; only by our cooperation with God’s grace is this possible.

It is painfully apparent that most of the world is on the wrong path, and that the majority of people have been seduced by anti-Christian errors that have become the ruling point of their lives. They have been spiritually blinded. St. Augustine recalled his life of sin in his book, Confessions, where he writes, “And this is why I lost you, because you will not be possessed together with a lie” (Confessions, Bk. X, Chap. 41). Certainly today many have succumbed to a multitude of lies and errors, but these errors soon manifest their shallowness and emptiness. As Dietrich von Hildebrand states:

For all subjection to illusions, and in particular, all misconceptions of our situation relative to God, necessarily imply a privation of freedom. (Transformation in Christ)

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Meditation Forty-seven, Fourth Week of January 2004

The Effects of Baptism

Begin with prayer to the Holy Spirit

Readings: Rom. 8:12–17; Gal. 3:26–29; 1 Peter 1:3–11; Catechism §1262–1270

When we consider that Baptism is one of the most important and everlasting things that can happen to us, it is surprising that we think so little of its effects. Through Baptism we have the possibility of eternal life, which is really a divine prerogative. Eternal life is not an essential component of human nature. It is very far from being a human right. It is an absolute gift of God, an almost incredible promise. Second, we have the forgiveness of sins from the past and the promise of forgiveness of future sins if we are repentant. The terrible effect of original sin—the loss of the possibility of eternal life— is removed. In this sense we become new creatures, and the presence of the Holy Trinity comes to dwell in our inmost being. We are able to believe in God, hope in Him, and even love Him with a love beyond our own self-concern. We can perform virtuous actions in union with Christ, which then become part of our salvation. Christ operates in us. He is the vine; we are the branches.

Because of these spiritual realities, we can be said to be part of the mystical or mysterious body of Christ. This is a deeply mysterious concept, since there is nothing else in our human experience that resembles it. Christ lives in us and we in Him. Our good deeds become His good deeds. We pray that His mind will be in us (see Phil. 2:5).

Because of the lasting effects of original sin, which are not removed by Baptism, the Christian is in an endless struggle. Our Lord tells us to carry our cross, and St. Paul encourages us to fight the good fight (1 Tim. 6:12). What are we fighting if we have “become a new creation in Christ”? St. Augustine gives us an insight. He teaches that the effects of original sin that remain become the battle ground of the spiritual life. They are 1) the darkening of the intellect, 2) the weakening of the will, 3) emotional confusion, 4) discord among human relationships, especially close ones.

The seven capital sins—pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth—are part of the drama of the spiritual battle. Baptism prepares us for battle, and Confirmation, which in the early Church was given with Baptism, strengthens us for the battle, which continues until we close our eyes on this world and render an account to our blessed Savior in the world to come.

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............. All of human life and history is marked by original sin. 9) The human intellect has been darkened by sin, so that people come up with distorted concepts of God and twisted notions of morality.

The intellect has been darkened in this way, 10) the will is prone to malice, choosing to love not the true good, but what is sinful and, therefore, harmful. The human emotions have become disordered and rebellious against the guidance of right reason. We are inclined to evil concupiscence, the inclination to evil.................

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The Creation, Nature and Fall of Man
by Rev. William G. Most
Nature and Origin of the Human Race

...................Original sin also resulted in a darkening of the mind and weakening of the will, in comparison to what it might have been. Hence John Paul II also said in a General Audience of October 8, 1986: "According to the Church's teaching it is a case of a relative and not an absolute deterioration, not intrinsic to the human faculties . . . not of a loss of their essential capacities even in relation to the knowledge and love of God." In other words, original sin took our race down only to the essential level, the first level we described. It did not make it positively corrupt, surely not totally corrupt as Martin Luther thought..........

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Doxology

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..............................The earliest examples are addressed to God the Father alone, or to Him through (dia) the Son (Romans 16:27; Jude 25; I Clement 41; Mart. Polyc., xx; etc.) and in (en) or with (syn, meta) the Holy Ghost (Mart. Polyc., xiv, xxii, etc.). .............................

Source click here >> Doxology

Catechism - How is our prayer efficacious?

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2740 The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition. He is its model, he prays in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son seeks only what pleases the Father, how could the prayer of the children of adoption be centered on the gifts rather than the Giver?

Source click here >> Part Four Christian Prayer

Adoptionism

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Adoptionism

Adoptionism, in a broad sense, a christological theory according to which Christ, as man, is the adoptive Son of God; the precise import of the word varies with the successive stages and exponents of the theory. Roughly, we have (1) the Adoptionism of Elipandus and Felix in the eighth century; (2) the Neo-Adoptionism of Abelard in the twelfth century; (3) the qualified Adoptionism of some theologians from the fourteenth century on.

Source click here >> Adoptionism

Discursive thinking

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Discursive thinking

In its general sense, therefore, reason may be attributed to God, and an angel may be called rational...............

Source click here >> Discursive thinking

The Way of the Cross

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OFFICE OF THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

WAY OF THE CROSS

Source click here >> The Way of the Cross

Reason

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...... The word has been used in this sense in a definition of the Vatican Council (Denzinger, "Enchiridion", 11th ed., Freiburg, 1911, nn. 1785-6); but already in Aristotle we have a clear distinction between intellect (voûs), as the intuitive faculty, and reason (lógos), as the discursive or inferential faculty. ......

Source click here >> Reason

Hypostatic Union

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Hypostatic Union

Resource

A theological term used with reference to the Incarnation to express the revealed truth that in Christ one person subsists in two natures, the Divine and the human. Hypostasis means, literally, that which lies beneath as basis or foundation. Hence it came to be used by the Greek philosophers to denote reality as distinguished from appearances (Aristotle, "Mund.", IV, 21). It occurs also in St. Paul's Epistles (2 Corinthians 9:4; 11:17; Hebrews 1:3-3:14), but not in the sense of person. Previous to the Council of Nicæa (325) hypostasis was synonymous with ousia, and even St. Augustine (On the Holy Trinity V.8) avers that he sees no difference between them. The distinction in fact was brought about gradually in the course of the controversies to which the Christological heresies gave rise, and was definitively established by the Council of Chalcedon (451), which declared that in Christ the two natures, each retaining its own properties, are united in one subsistence and one person (eis en prosopon kai mian hpostasin) (Denzinger, ed. Bannwart, 148). They are not joined in a moral or accidental union (Nestorius), nor commingled (Eutyches), and nevertheless they are substantially united. For further explanation and bibliography see: INCARNATION; JESUS CHRIST; MONOPHYSITISM; NATURE; PERSON.

Incarnation

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The Catholic faith

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Thus far we have that which is of Faith in this matter of the nature of the Incarnation. The human and Divine natures are united in one Divine Person so as to remain that exactly which they are, namely, Divine and human natures with distinct and perfect activities of their own. Theologians go farther in their attempts to give some account of the mystery of the Incarnation, so as, at least, to show that there is therein no contradiction, nothing that right reason may not safely adhere to. This union of the two natures in one Person has been for centuries called a hypostatic union, that is, a union in the Divine Hypostasis. What is an hypostasis? The definition of Boethius is classic: rationalis naturae individua substantia (P.L., LXIV, 1343), a complete whole whose nature is rational. This book is a complete whole; its nature is not rational; it is not an hypostasis. An hypostasis is a complete rational individual. St. Thomas defines hypostasis as substantia cum ultimo complemento (III:2:3, ad 2um), a substance in its entirety. Hypostasis superadds to the notion of rational substance this idea of entirety; nor does the idea of rational nature include this notion of entirety. Human nature is the principle of human activities; but only an hypostasis, a person, can exercise these activities. The Schoolmen discuss the question whether the hypostasis has anything more of reality than human nature. To understand the discussion, one must needs be versed in scholastic Philosophy. Be the case as it may in the matter of human nature that is not united with the Divine, the human nature that is hypostatically united with the Divine, that is, the human nature that the Divine Hypostasis or Person assumes to Itself, has certainly more of reality united to it than the human nature of Christ would have were it not hypostatically united in the Word. The Divine Logos identified with Divine nature (Hypostatic Union) means then that the Divine Hypostasis (or Person, or Word, or Logos) appropriates to Itself human nature, and takes in every respect the place of the human person. In this way, the human nature of Christ, though not a human person, loses nothing of the perfection of the perfect man; for the Divine Person supplies the place of the human.
It is to be remembered that, when the Word took Flesh, there was no change in the Word; all the change was in the Flesh. At the moment of conception, in the womb of the Blessed Mother, through the forcefulness of God's activity, not only was the human soul of Christ created but the Word assumed the man that was conceived. When God created the world, the world was changed, that is. it passed from the state of nonentity to the state of existence; and there was no change in the Logos or Creative Word of God the Father. Nor was there change in that Logos when it began to terminate the human nature. A new relation ensued, to be sure; but this new relation implied in the Logos no new reality, no real change; all new reality, all real change, was in the human nature. Anyone who wishes to go into this very intricate question of the manner of the Hypostatic Union of the two natures in the one Divine Personality, may with great profit read St. Thomas (III:4:2); Scotus (in III, Dist. i); (De Incarnatione, Disp. II, sec. 3); Gregory, of Valentia (in III, D. i, q. 4). Any modern text book on theology will give various opinions in regard to the way of the union of the Person assuming with the nature assumed