Daily Retreat 02/14/09
2009 Feb 15 SUN: SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Lv 13: 1-2. 44-46/ Ps 31(32): 1-2. 5. 11 (7)/ 1 Cor 10: 31 – 11: 1/ Mk 1: 40-45
From today’s readings: “...he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the priests among his descendants.... Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered.... Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.... go, show yourself to the priest.... ”
Divine Prerogatives and Human Agents
“Incarnation” is a big word, but with a little help, even a child can marvel at its central meaning, that the infinite God took on human flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit when Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. At that moment, nine months before His birth, the Word became flesh, God was incarnated, God became man, became one of us human beings.
The Incarnation, though, was actually the second step in the Divine Designer’s plan for ennobling humanity, for even before the Incarnation, way back “in the beginning,”God had already demonstrated His affinity for the human race when He created man in the image and likeness of God, for Genesis recounts how God created man and woman, and blessed them as the crown of His creation.
Well, since God literally invested so much of Himself in His humanity, humanity, by logical extension, is now caught up in divinity! That doesn’t mean, of course, that you and I are gods (we need that blunt reminder every once in awhile, don’t we?). But it does mean that our humanity is endowed with privileges beyond our mere natural order, because God actually and factually shares certain divine prerogatives with His adoptive children.
For instance, consider the creation of new human life, when a man and a woman share in the divine privilege of creation. Whenever a human baby is conceived, at that moment of conception, there is a new life, which certainly must be a new human life! Obviously, the new human life is still quite dependent on the life of his or her mother at least, and by extension, the new human life is normally also dependent in a real way on the life of his or her father. And yet the new human life is still quite distinct from the life of his or her father, and even distinct from the life of his or her mother.
Now, if this were just a matter of matter, that is, something limited to physical reality, something confined to the natural order, the new life, called a human “zygote,” would already be some “thing” to be careful with, some “thing” to treat respectfully, at the very least because of its potential.
However, human conception is not just confined to the natural order! For, at the moment of human conception, in every single instance of human conception, God Himself steps into the picture ! Because He has deigned to share His divine prerogative of creation with His adoptive children, God is directly involved in every act of human conception.
As Creator of the animal world, God is certainly indirectly involved in every act of animal conception, but as Creator and Father of humankind, God is directly involved in every act of human conception, for He instantly animates every human zygote with an immortal soul at the moment of conception. Consequently, a human zygote is not just some “thing” to treat respectfully because of its potential - rather, a human zygote is already some “one” to treat with love and reverence, because of his or her intrinsic value in God’s perspective as worthy of an immortal soul.
Consider Mary’s love for her Son, which certainly began right at the moment of His conception! How blasphemous to even imagine that Mary could have spent the first couple of weeks, or days or hours, or even a single moment treating the microscopic Jesus as a mere “thing,” an inanimate extension of her own body which she could dispose of, or perhaps decide to keep, however she might think fit. No, thank God, no! From the beginning, Mary welcomed the new Life within her with love and reverence, so much so, that when Mary went to visit Elizabeth, the divine Zygote’s real presence, only a few days after conception, was already bringing joy and blessings to those ready to respond to the grace of divine visitation.
So, human parents clearly share in the divine prerogative of creation, because God always is directly involved in human procreation, and we can even note that God never does this on His own, completely without human intention!
Now, God shares His divine prerogatives with His adoptive children not just in the matter of natural generation, but also in the phenomenon of spiritual generation. For, when someone is created anew with the divine life of baptism, God imparts a character on the human soul that elevates it immensely and indelibly in dignity.
But, in accordance with Divine Revelation, God never gives the divine life of baptism on His own, completely without human intention. And note further that neither does a person baptize himself! Normally, of course, a priest or deacon administers this sacrament, but in an emergency, any one of us could pour water on the head of some unbaptized person and say, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,”and God would step into the picture to endow that person with the divine life of baptism! But no one of us can pour water on his own head to receive baptism, nor can a person even stand in the rain or under a waterfall and suppose that God is sanctioning and cooperating in such an “autobaptism.”
Only in the most extreme circumstance, when a person truly desires baptism but is denied it because of tragic circumstances beyond his control, is there recourse to what is known as “baptism of desire,” the guarantee that God’s grace can reach a person in an extraordinary way if the person is deprived of the ordinary means of God’s grace. Is this because God is stingy with His grace? Not at all! Rather, God is so serious, sincere and emphatic about sharing His divine prerogatives with His adoptive children, that He chooses to enlist and respect their cooperation in dispensing sanctifying grace, just as He looks to human cooperation for the matter of human procreation.
Now for my final point: all this clearly applies also to forgiveness of sins! Non-Catholics ask why a priest is needed for sacramental absolution and, inexcusably, too many Catholics have fallen into this same sad skepticism. Why does God involve human beings in the creation of new life? Why does God involve human ministers in the act of baptism? Why did God, in both the New and the Old Testaments, specify His human priests for the ministry of reconciliation of all that is unclean? Why did Jesus, on Easter Sunday, say to certain men, His apostles, His first priests, “Receive the Holy Spirit - whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound”?
Well, since God literally invested so much of Himself in His humanity, humanity, by logical extension, is now caught up in divinity! The divine prerogative of creating human life, the divine prerogative of elevating human life with the baptismal infusion of deifying grace, the divine prerogative of reconciling human life through the forgiveness of sins - all this, (and more!) God could have chosen to ordinarily do without human intention and cooperation, but all this (and more!) God has, in His divine wisdom, decreed that He will bring about precisely through means of human intention and cooperation, thereby showing us and all people of all times and places how serious, sincere and emphatic He is about sharing His divine prerogatives with His adoptive children!
Lv 13: 1-2. 44-46/ Ps 31(32): 1-2. 5. 11 (7)/ 1 Cor 10: 31 – 11: 1/ Mk 1: 40-45
From today’s readings: “...he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the priests among his descendants.... Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered.... Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.... go, show yourself to the priest.... ”
Divine Prerogatives and Human Agents
“Incarnation” is a big word, but with a little help, even a child can marvel at its central meaning, that the infinite God took on human flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit when Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. At that moment, nine months before His birth, the Word became flesh, God was incarnated, God became man, became one of us human beings.
The Incarnation, though, was actually the second step in the Divine Designer’s plan for ennobling humanity, for even before the Incarnation, way back “in the beginning,”God had already demonstrated His affinity for the human race when He created man in the image and likeness of God, for Genesis recounts how God created man and woman, and blessed them as the crown of His creation.
Well, since God literally invested so much of Himself in His humanity, humanity, by logical extension, is now caught up in divinity! That doesn’t mean, of course, that you and I are gods (we need that blunt reminder every once in awhile, don’t we?). But it does mean that our humanity is endowed with privileges beyond our mere natural order, because God actually and factually shares certain divine prerogatives with His adoptive children.
For instance, consider the creation of new human life, when a man and a woman share in the divine privilege of creation. Whenever a human baby is conceived, at that moment of conception, there is a new life, which certainly must be a new human life! Obviously, the new human life is still quite dependent on the life of his or her mother at least, and by extension, the new human life is normally also dependent in a real way on the life of his or her father. And yet the new human life is still quite distinct from the life of his or her father, and even distinct from the life of his or her mother.
Now, if this were just a matter of matter, that is, something limited to physical reality, something confined to the natural order, the new life, called a human “zygote,” would already be some “thing” to be careful with, some “thing” to treat respectfully, at the very least because of its potential.
However, human conception is not just confined to the natural order! For, at the moment of human conception, in every single instance of human conception, God Himself steps into the picture ! Because He has deigned to share His divine prerogative of creation with His adoptive children, God is directly involved in every act of human conception.
As Creator of the animal world, God is certainly indirectly involved in every act of animal conception, but as Creator and Father of humankind, God is directly involved in every act of human conception, for He instantly animates every human zygote with an immortal soul at the moment of conception. Consequently, a human zygote is not just some “thing” to treat respectfully because of its potential - rather, a human zygote is already some “one” to treat with love and reverence, because of his or her intrinsic value in God’s perspective as worthy of an immortal soul.
Consider Mary’s love for her Son, which certainly began right at the moment of His conception! How blasphemous to even imagine that Mary could have spent the first couple of weeks, or days or hours, or even a single moment treating the microscopic Jesus as a mere “thing,” an inanimate extension of her own body which she could dispose of, or perhaps decide to keep, however she might think fit. No, thank God, no! From the beginning, Mary welcomed the new Life within her with love and reverence, so much so, that when Mary went to visit Elizabeth, the divine Zygote’s real presence, only a few days after conception, was already bringing joy and blessings to those ready to respond to the grace of divine visitation.
So, human parents clearly share in the divine prerogative of creation, because God always is directly involved in human procreation, and we can even note that God never does this on His own, completely without human intention!
Now, God shares His divine prerogatives with His adoptive children not just in the matter of natural generation, but also in the phenomenon of spiritual generation. For, when someone is created anew with the divine life of baptism, God imparts a character on the human soul that elevates it immensely and indelibly in dignity.
But, in accordance with Divine Revelation, God never gives the divine life of baptism on His own, completely without human intention. And note further that neither does a person baptize himself! Normally, of course, a priest or deacon administers this sacrament, but in an emergency, any one of us could pour water on the head of some unbaptized person and say, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,”and God would step into the picture to endow that person with the divine life of baptism! But no one of us can pour water on his own head to receive baptism, nor can a person even stand in the rain or under a waterfall and suppose that God is sanctioning and cooperating in such an “autobaptism.”
Only in the most extreme circumstance, when a person truly desires baptism but is denied it because of tragic circumstances beyond his control, is there recourse to what is known as “baptism of desire,” the guarantee that God’s grace can reach a person in an extraordinary way if the person is deprived of the ordinary means of God’s grace. Is this because God is stingy with His grace? Not at all! Rather, God is so serious, sincere and emphatic about sharing His divine prerogatives with His adoptive children, that He chooses to enlist and respect their cooperation in dispensing sanctifying grace, just as He looks to human cooperation for the matter of human procreation.
Now for my final point: all this clearly applies also to forgiveness of sins! Non-Catholics ask why a priest is needed for sacramental absolution and, inexcusably, too many Catholics have fallen into this same sad skepticism. Why does God involve human beings in the creation of new life? Why does God involve human ministers in the act of baptism? Why did God, in both the New and the Old Testaments, specify His human priests for the ministry of reconciliation of all that is unclean? Why did Jesus, on Easter Sunday, say to certain men, His apostles, His first priests, “Receive the Holy Spirit - whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound”?
Well, since God literally invested so much of Himself in His humanity, humanity, by logical extension, is now caught up in divinity! The divine prerogative of creating human life, the divine prerogative of elevating human life with the baptismal infusion of deifying grace, the divine prerogative of reconciling human life through the forgiveness of sins - all this, (and more!) God could have chosen to ordinarily do without human intention and cooperation, but all this (and more!) God has, in His divine wisdom, decreed that He will bring about precisely through means of human intention and cooperation, thereby showing us and all people of all times and places how serious, sincere and emphatic He is about sharing His divine prerogatives with His adoptive children!
posted by FrPitstick | 2/14/2009
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