In Light of the Incarnation
Bl. Columba Marmion once wrote:
"It is as if he [Christ] said: 'You will never attain to the Divinity save in passing through my humanity.'" (Christ the Life of the Soul, Conference on Prayer, ch. 7)
In this, Bl. Marmion is going to show what the Body of Christ really means. To be one with Christ as a piece of His body is to gain eternal life. That is the path. That is what is meant by the idea, so often wrongly interpretted, that there is no salvation outside the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ after all. So through it, salvation comes because salvation was given as a gift by Christ Himself.
But, for the main thought here, we can look at the words "passing through my humanity." St. Ambrose made this comment in light of Christ saying, "No man cometh to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). This is remarkable when we think about the body. Christ took on a body through His humanity. It is by passing through that humanity that we are brought to the Divinity.
In other words, by living as Christ lived, not just in a spiritual sense as is so often thought, but rather through a personal sense (personal meaning the whole person, body and soul), we can truly live our calling in life. It is by living as Christ lived, by passing through His humanity that we can be brought before the Beatific Vision.
This is extremely important for us all in our growth in holiness. The call to holiness extends to all facets of our life. It incorporates all that we do. It is who we should be. We should all be holy, and to achieve that, we need to look to what holiness is.
We can see that in Christ and His Blessed Mother, who was immaculately conceived. She was born free from original sin and suffered none of its effects. This was Christ's greatest sign of salvation. He chose His mother who participated in giving Him His humanity. For her, she was on the other end. Part of her DNA was inscribed in His. She passed on genes to Him. He fed off her milk and nourishment. She participated in giving Him His humanity so that we could likewise live our humanity to the fullest.
On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we should look to the Immaculate Conception and seek her assistance to become more like her Son in all things, especially His humanity.
"It is as if he [Christ] said: 'You will never attain to the Divinity save in passing through my humanity.'" (Christ the Life of the Soul, Conference on Prayer, ch. 7)
In this, Bl. Marmion is going to show what the Body of Christ really means. To be one with Christ as a piece of His body is to gain eternal life. That is the path. That is what is meant by the idea, so often wrongly interpretted, that there is no salvation outside the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ after all. So through it, salvation comes because salvation was given as a gift by Christ Himself.
But, for the main thought here, we can look at the words "passing through my humanity." St. Ambrose made this comment in light of Christ saying, "No man cometh to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). This is remarkable when we think about the body. Christ took on a body through His humanity. It is by passing through that humanity that we are brought to the Divinity.
In other words, by living as Christ lived, not just in a spiritual sense as is so often thought, but rather through a personal sense (personal meaning the whole person, body and soul), we can truly live our calling in life. It is by living as Christ lived, by passing through His humanity that we can be brought before the Beatific Vision.
This is extremely important for us all in our growth in holiness. The call to holiness extends to all facets of our life. It incorporates all that we do. It is who we should be. We should all be holy, and to achieve that, we need to look to what holiness is.
We can see that in Christ and His Blessed Mother, who was immaculately conceived. She was born free from original sin and suffered none of its effects. This was Christ's greatest sign of salvation. He chose His mother who participated in giving Him His humanity. For her, she was on the other end. Part of her DNA was inscribed in His. She passed on genes to Him. He fed off her milk and nourishment. She participated in giving Him His humanity so that we could likewise live our humanity to the fullest.
On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we should look to the Immaculate Conception and seek her assistance to become more like her Son in all things, especially His humanity.
Labels: Liturgical Year, Saints
posted by Matthaeus Evangelista at 10:47 AM
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