God is in flesh. He is not active at intervals as he was among the prophets. Instead he possesses a humanity connatural and united to himself, and restores all humanity to himself through flesh the same as ours in kind. So then, one might say, 'How did the splendour come to all by means of... Continue Reading →
The Genealogy of Christ in My Life
If this was the story of a mere man, it would be right and pious to hide the ‘gory details’, but if of God come to descend to our weakness (cf. Phil 2.7) then this is to be glorified. Because it is Christ’s entry into all the brokenness of humanity we should not be surprised to read of his entry through this broken, but very human line of individuals.
The Human Being: Halfway Between Greatness and Nothingness
"The great Architect of the universe conceived and produced a being endowed with both nature, the visible and invisible: God created the human being, bringing its body forth from matter which He animated with His own Spirit... Thus in some way a new universe was born, small and great at one and the same time.... Continue Reading →
He in All and All in Him
"For who is so simple-minded as not to believe, when he considers the universe, that the Divine Being is in every thing, clothing Himself with it, embracing it, and residing in it. If then all things are in Him and He in all things, why are they ashamed of the plan of our religion which... Continue Reading →
We Become That Which We Love
In St. Gregory of Nyssa's works there is a beautiful, little known work. This is his commentary on The Inscriptions of the psalms (we probably miss these as we read but these are the texts, some small some large, written in tiny font above the Psalm in most of our Bibles). He sees these inscriptions... Continue Reading →
The Trinitarian Foundation of Creation and Salvation
For many of us, the doctrine of The Trinity is shrouded in mystery and seemingly not exactly ‘spelled out’ in the Bible. Is this perhaps because we miss what is being said in the text? Have we become so familiar with the words that we do not really grasp them or have we just stepped... Continue Reading →
You are The Dwelling of The Lord
"If you renounce the life you are leading today and if you persevere in your prayer, you will feel that your effort is securing you great restfulness. You will discover in these slight pains and fatigues a joy and a happiness that are immense. God's tender love is ineffable. He offers Himself to those who... Continue Reading →
Uniting man to God
"He that is God by nature became, and is in truth, a man from Heaven; not merely inspired [ie by the Holy Spirit], as some of those who do not rightly understand the depth of the mystery imagine, but being at the same time God and man, in order that, uniting as it were in Himself things widely opposed by nature, and averse to fusion with each other, He might enable man to share and partake of the nature of God." St. Cyril of Alexandria, On John 17.20
He is Transfused in Us
That Deity should be born in our nature ought not reasonably to present any strangeness to the minds of those who do not take too narrow a view of things. For who, when he takes a survey of the universe, is so simple as not to believe that there is Deity in everything, penetrating it,... Continue Reading →
Humanity Ascends in Him
"Our Lord Jesus Christ consecrated for us a new and living way... it is not then that He may present Himself to God the Father, that Christ has ascended upon high; for ever was and is and will be continually in the Father, in the sight of Him Who begat Him, for He it is... Continue Reading →
Our Death to Death and Rising to Life
“We must therefore avoid love of glory, the sister and neighbour of arrogance, which is not far distant from its borders. Let us flee the illustrious honour of the present life as something unjust, and instead let us seek the holiness found in humility, yielding to each other as the blessed Paul admonished us: ‘Each... Continue Reading →
The Life-Giving Blessing: Genesis and The Eucharist
We have already seen that the first chapters of Genesis have much to teach us. In extending our dialogue to the Eucharist we move to a consideration of food, Divine food. Following Genesis: The Book of The Promise we see what is revealed about the food which God once offered to us through the law... Continue Reading →