Fully Human—Full Divine
OPENING PRAYER
Lord, Jesus Christ,
You are the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Hear our prayer for truth and integrity
in all segments of society today.
May the truth be spoken by us and affirmed in others,
that in seeking truth, the world will come to find You,
the Source of All Truth.
Wherever relationships are weakened
by deception or hypocrisy,
strengthen good Christian character among us
that we may bear witness to the critical need for truth.
May your Spirit of Truth fashion minds and hearts
open to a moral integrity so strong
that both words and actions can be trusted.
In public and private life,
deepen among us a genuine commitment
to honest, sincerity and truth-telling.
Let nations and peoples not compromise truth
by rationalization or pretense,
but safe-guard and defend it always
as Your most precious gift.
Lord, may those around us come to know
that they can take us at our word,
until that day when all the world lives in truth
and the Truth sets us free.
Amen.
Source: http://www.holynameebg.org
"FULLY HUMAN—FULLY DIVINE"
""There is only one problem on which all my existence,
my peace, my happiness depend: to discover myself in
discovering God. If I find Him I will find myself and if I
find my true self I will find Him.”
― Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
How do you view your humanity? God became completely human, omitting nothing that belongs to our human nature. [Jesus Christ] is without sin, because sin does not belong to our nature….If we do not accept our own concrete humanity, we will be less capable of appreciating the humanity of Jesus. Otherwise our love and admiration for him may take the form of refusing to see in him the qualities we experience most in our own humanness. We project onto Jesus a “perfection” that is, in fact, incompatible with humanity. Jesus becomes more like an angel than a man. By thus making the incarnate Word superhuman— one who was only slightly like us— we deny the reality of the self-emptying of the Son of God. We also weaken the link that our common nature gives us. If my humanity was not good enough for Jesus, if his divinity required something better, then how can it be said of him that he was “like us in all things— excluding sin”?....Christ became human so that we might become divine, that we might see and learn from him the infinitude of love of which the human heart is capable….The incarnation makes no sense without the corresponding doctrine of our divinization. God’s Son descended so that we might ascend, that we might share the divinity of him who humbled himself to share our humanity.
The paradox in acknowledging this doctrine of divinization, according to Fr. Casey, is that “only by becoming divine can we begin to be fully human.” Religion is called upon to help the “transformation of sinful humanity” to become “fully human” like Jesus.
We proclaim as Catholic Christians that Jesus the Christ is fully human and fully divine, like us in every way except sin. Jesus became human “so that we might become God” (See CCC, nos. 456-483). In emphasizing Jesus’ divinity, we may unknowingly reject or diminish Jesus’ and our humanity.
Instead, we may seek to re-create ourselves through disguising ourselves with items such as our dress or cosmetic surgery in order to create an image of ourselves as we want to be perceived. To avoid ridicule or rejection, we may become noncommittal in expressing our opinions or beliefs, or to “join the crowd” to become invisible as individuals.
As stated by Fr. Michael Casey OCSO, a Trappist Monk, in his book Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Interactive Christology:
Therefore, we are called to let Jesus model for us what it means to be fully human. In Jesus we see a human being who is centered on doing God’s will, aware of the present moment, humble, loving, welcoming, inclusive, caring, compassionate, self-sacrificial, courageous, who challenges injustice despite the cost, and who has many other virtues. We become more divine as we become more fully human like Jesus.
Please read this week The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Nos. 28–33 and 108—114)VIDEOS
"Who is Jesus" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"What Is Deification [Divinization]? (Fr. Thomas Keating)
"Who is Jesus and What Makes Him Unique" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Deification" (Fr. David Meconi)
"Jesus is Always Fully Human and Fully Divine" (Fr. James Martin)
"What is the Doctrine of Deification" (Carl Mosser, Ph.D.)
"Who Jesus Truly Is" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Divinization [Deification]" (Fr. Maximilian Mary Dean, F.I.)
"The Identity of Jesus" (Bishop Robert Barron)
"Two Natures of Christ" (Fulton Sheen)MUSIC
"Deep Within"
"Endless is Your Love"
"God Beyond All Names"OTHER RESOURCES
"Jesus: Human and Divine" (Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM)
"Creation and Incarnation" (Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM)
"The Sanctifying Humanity of Jesus' Incarnation"
"Who Are You Jesus? God Who Shares in Our Humanity" (Marist Messenger)
"Understanding the Doctrine of Deification" (Cary Dabney, M.Div.)
"Catholic Spirituality in Practice" (C 21 - Boston College)
Other Resources on Catholic Social Teaching