Meditations for Each Day 37 (4): Our Obligations as Members of Jesus Christ

Our Obligations as Members of Jesus Christ

A Christian is a member of Jesus Christ. "Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ?" (I Cor. 6, 15). Our alliance and union with Jesus Christ is consequently much more noble, more intimate and perfect than the members of a human and natural body with their head. Hence i t follows that we belong to Jesus Christ as members to their head; that we are dependent upon Him and under His direction as members are upon their head; that we are one with Him as members are one with their head.

We must not be amazed when He assures us that His Father loves us as He loved Him: "Thou hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me" (John 17, 23); that He will write His name upon us: " I will write upon him the name of my God" (Apoc. 3, 12); that we will

share one abode with Him, namely, His Father's bosom: "Where I am, there also shall my minister be" (John 12, 26); and He will let us sit with Him upon His throne (Apoc. 3, 21). What goodness! God is not content to call us His friends, His brothers, His children; He wishes us to be His members.

Let us love and bless Him and consider that this membership obliges us to live the life of our Head, to perpetuate His life upon earth, and to continue all the virtues He practised. How far removed we arc from that holy life! How horribly guilty is he who commits a mortal sin! He dismcmbcrs Jesus Christ; he tears one of His members from Him to make it a member of Satan. Let us give ourselves to Jesus Christ as His members, and profess to live His life henceforth. It would be an outrage to see a member live any other life than that of its head. Wherefore, St. Gregory of Nyssa says: "Christianity is the profession of the life of Christ" (Ad Harmonium, De professione Christiana).

Our Obligations as Temples of the Holy Ghost

A Christian is a temple of the Holy Ghost. "Know you not," says St. Paul, "that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost?" (I Cor. 6, 19). Being children of God and one with the Son of God as members with their Head, it necessarily follows that we must be animated by the same spirit. St. Paul says: "And because you arc sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts" (Gal- 4 , 6); and "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8, 9). Hence the Holy Spirit has been given us to be the Spirit of our spirit, the Heart of our heart and the Soul of our soul, to be always with us and within us, not only as if dwelling in His temple, but actually as part of the mystical body of Jesus Christ, which should be animated by His Spirit, for the members and every part of the body should be animated by the spirit of their Head.

This being so, who can tell or even imagine the excellence of the Christian religion, the dignity of a Christian who is a child of God, a member of Jesus Christ and animated by His S pirit ? How great is our obligation to God, what should be the sanctity of our life, and

how guilty he is who commits mortal sin? For he drives the Holy Ghost from His temple to give entrance to the evil spirit; he crucifies Jesus Christ in himself, stifling His indwelling spirit to establish His enemy, Satan, in his soul.

All these truths are essentially solid and infallible. Let us consider them attentively, weigh them carefully and engrave them deeply upon our hearts, to excite ourselves to bless and love God because of our infinite obligations to Him for having made us Christians. We must resolve to detest our ingratitude and our past sins, and henceforth to lead a life worthy of the perfection of the Father whose children we are, and of the purity of the Spirit whose body we share.

Ejaculatory prayer: - 'Our Father Who art in Heaven, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Pater noster qui es in caelis, fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra.

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Tenth Colloquy

Admirable Accomplishments of the Father, Son and

Holy Ghost in Making US Christians

To MAKE US CHRISTIANS GOD THE FATHER GAVE U

His Divine Son

Two great achievements, which include many others, were necessary to make us Christians. The first was to break and destroy the unhappy and detestable alliance we had contracted by sin, with Satan, whose slaves, children and members we had become. The second was to reconcile us with God, whose enemies we were, and establish us in a new alliance with Him, nobler and more intimate than the bond we enjoyed before sin. To accomplish those two things, it was necessary to blot out our sins, to deliver us from the power of Satan, to purify and cleanse our souls from the guilt of their crimes, and clothe them with the graces and gifts befitting the title of children of God and members of the Son of God.

Here is what the Eternal Father accomplished for this purpose. He sent His Only Beloved Son, His Heart, His love, His delight, His treasure, His glory, and His life. He sent Him, I say, and gave Him. But where, to whom and why did He send and give Him?

1. He sent Him into this world, to this land of misery and malediction, a place of darkness, horror, sin and tribulation

2. He gave His Divine Son to us, that is, to His enemies, to ingrates and perfidious creatures, to Jews, Herods, Judases and executioners who have outraged, persecuted, sold and crucified Him, and who still outrage, persecute, sell and crucify Him every day. By giving His Divine Son to us, He delivered Him up to the torments

and death of the Cross. "God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son" (John 3, 16).

3. Why did He send and give His Only Son in this way? To deliver us from the tyranny of sin and the devil; to wash our souls in His Precious Blood, to adorn us with His sanctifying grace; to be our redemption, our reparation, our purification, our justification, our sanctification, and to raise us from the horrible position of slaves, children and members of Satan, to the admirable dignity of friends and children of God, brothers and members of Jesus Christ. "0 ineffable goodness!" exclaims St. Augustine. "0 incomparable mercy! We were not worthy to be slaves of God, and lo! we are numbered among His children!" 0 Good and Amiable Father, what shall we render to Thee for the infinite gift*Thou hast bestowed upon us, in giving us that which Thou dost hold most dear and precious, Thy Only Son? We offer Thee Thy same Dearly Beloved Son in thanksgiving, and in union with our obligation, we offer, give, consecrate and sacrifice ourselves to Thee wholly and irrevocably. Take us and possess us perfectly and forever.

To MAKE US CHRISTIANS GOD THE SON ASSUMED HUMAN

Nature and Died on the Cross for Us

To make us Christians, the Son of God left the bosom of the Eternal Father and came into this world, was made man and lived thirtyfour years upon earth, counting from the time of His Incarnation. How many mysteries and great works He accomplished during those thirty-four years! How many painful things He suffered! What confusion, opprobrium and torments He endured! What bitter tears and Precious Blood He shed! How many fasts, vigils, labors, fatigues and torments and how much weariness, bitterness and anguish He bore! All this He did to make us Christians, children of God and His members.

0 my God, Thou didst employ only six days in creating the world, and a moment in making man; but to make him a Christian, Thou didst devote thirty-four years, and thirty-four years of a life of incessant

labor and unspeakable suffering. It cost Thee only a few words for the creation, and it cost Thee all Thy Blood and Thy life with infinite sufferings for the Redemption. Since I have so many obligations to serve Thee because Thou hast created me, how much more am I obligated to Thee for having redeemed me? If I owe myself wholly to Thee for the gifts of being and life by creation, what do I owe Thee for having given Thyself to me by the Incarnation, and for having sacrificed Thyself for me on the Cross? 0 my Saviour, insignificant as I am, let me at least be wholly Thine! May I live only to love, serve and honor Thee, and to make Thee loved and honored in every possible way!

Role of the Holy Ghost in the Incarnation

And the Sanctification of Our Souls

The Holy Ghost also helped to make us Christians. He formed our Saviour, our Redeemer and our Head in the sacred womb of the Blessed Virgin. He animated and directed God the Son in all He thought, said, did and suffered, His consummate Sacrifice on the Cross: "Who by the Holy Ghost offered himself unspotted unto God" (Heb. 9, 14)After our Lord ascended into heaven, the Holy Ghost came into this world, to form and establish the body of Jesus Christ, His Church, and to apply to i t the fruits of His life, His Precious Blood, His passion and death; otherwise, our Lord would have suffered and died in vain.

Moreover, the Holy Ghost comes in baptism to form Jesus Christ in our souls, to incorporate us, to give us birth and make us live in Christ, to apply to us the infinite merits of His Precious Blood and His death, and to animate, inspire and direct us in all we think, say, do and suffer as Christians and for God; therefore we cannot pronounce the name of Jesus except by the power of the Holy Ghost, and we are not sufficient to think a holy thought without the grace of God. What great and wondrous marvels have been wrought by the Father, Son and Holy Ghost to make us Christians! 0 blessed St. John, you were indeed right to say in the name of all Christians: "The world

knoweth not us" (I John 3, 1). How we should bless and love the Father, Son and Holy Ghost for having called and exalted us to the dignity of Christians! What should be our life! It should be all holy, all divine, all spiritual for our Lord tells us. "That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit" (John 3 , 6). 0 Divine Spirit, I give myself wholly to Thee: take possession of me and direct me in all things. Grant that I may live as a child of God, as a member of Jesus Christ, and as one born of Thee: "That which is born of the Spirit," who is consequently Thine, and should be possessed, animated and directed by Thy vivifying grace.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Let the mercies of *the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men." Confiteantur Domino misericordiae ejus: et mirabilia ejus filiis hominum (Ps. 106,8). 79-

Eleventh Colloquy

By Baptism We Were Made Christians

Baptism is a New Creation

BAPTISM is a new creation; therefore Sacred Scripture calls the Christian a new creature. Baptism is a second creation of man of which the first is merely a shadow and a figure.

By the first creation, God drew us from utter nothingness; by the second, He drew us from the nothingness of sin which is a much deeper abyss. The former void is not opposed to the power of God; but the latter infinitely resists Him by its infinite malice. When God created us in Jesus Christ, as St. Paul says, when He gave us new being and new life in Jesus Christ by baptism, He found us in the nothingness of sin, in a state of enmity, opposition and contradiction towards Him. But He overcame our malice by His goodness and by His infinite power.

By the first creation God gave us a human, frail and mortal being; by the second He imparted to us heavenly and divine being.

By the first creation He made us to His own image and likeness; by the second He restored His image which sin had effaced, and imprinted it more nobly and more excellently than the original pattern, making us partakers of His divine nature in a much more eminent degree.

By the first creation God placed man in the visible world made at the beginning of time. By the second He placed the Christian in a new world. What is this new world? What is the Christian's world? It is God with all His perfections, the very bosom of God. It is Jesus Christ the God-Man, considered in Himself, in His life, in His mysteries, and considered also in His body which is His Church. This is

the world of the new creature, quite different from the first world of the first creature.

The original world is a world of darkness, sin and malediction: "The whole world is seated i n wickedness" (I John 5, 19); but the second is a world of peace, sanctity and benediction, in which there is an infinite number of infinitely beautiful, delightful and agreeable treasures. What ravishing and wonderful delights there are in God, in the perfections of God, in the sanctity of God, i n the eternity of God, in the immensity of God, in His glory, in His felicity, in His riches, in the earthly life of Jesus Christ and in all His mysteries, actions, sufferings and virtues; in His glorious and immortal life, in His Church and in the lives of all His saints!

In the world of Adam there arc heavens, stars and elements. In the world of the Christian the heaven is God and the bosom of God; the sun is Jesus; the moon is Mary; the planets and the stars are the saints; the earth is the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ; the water is Christian grace; the air i s the spirit of the Holy Ghost; the fire is love and charity; the bread is the Body of Jesus Christ; our wine is His Precious Blood; we are clothed with Jesus Christ: "For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ" (Gal. 3, 27). There are no poor, nor mendicants, in the world of the Christian, because all true Christians are infinitely rich: "All things are yours" (I Cor. 3 , 22). We arc all magnates, princes and rulers.

Woe to the world of Adam, wholly corrupted by sin! Let us leave it to the children of this world and give our hearts to our Christian world. Let us forsake the world of Adam to enter the world of Jesus Christ. All who belong to Jesus Christ are apart from the world of the old man, as Jesus Christ is not of it: "They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world" (John 17, 16).

We Christians find true riches, honors and pleasures in our r egenerated world. The children of darkness find pleasure in seeing the things of their world, in speaking of them and hearing of them: "They are of the world. Therefore of the world they speak" (I John 4, 5)- SO we should find our happiness in studying, describing and learning the wonders and news of our world, which are infinitely more delectable

than the news of the sinner's world: "The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law" (Ps. 1 1 8 , 85)

Finally, we should die to the world of Adam, to live in our world and the life of our world which is God and Jesus Christ our Lord. We inhere in Him as a part of Himself, consequently to be animated by His spirit and live His life. This death and this life arc expressed in St. Paul's words: "You arc dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God" (COL. 3, 3). Let us give ourselves to God that He may fill us with His lofty sentiments. Let us earnestly entreat Him to render His gifts fruitful i n us, and to imprint in our hearts great contempt and aversion for the world of Adam, with a new, profound esteem and love for our own Christian world.

Baptism is a Regeneration

Sacred Scripture calls baptism a regeneration and a rebirth: "By the laver of regeneration" (Tit, 3, 5 )"Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost" (John 3, 5). Baptism is a generation and birth, having for exemplar and prototype the eternal generation and birth of the Son of God in His Father's bosom, and His temporal generation and birth in the virginal womb of His Mother.

In His eternal generation, the Heavenly Father communicates to His Divine Son His being, His life and all His divine perfections; so, too, in our baptism, the Father gives us, through His Son and in His Son, a being and life all holy and divine.

In the temporal generation of the Son of God, the Eternal Father gives Him a new being and a new life, a life all holy and divine, yet none the less clothed with mortality, passibility, and all the wretchedness of human life; similarly, the new life which God gives us in baptism is wholly environed and beset by frailty, weakness, mortality and all the infirmities of human life to which i t is United.

The Holy Ghost was sent to form the Son of God in the sacred womb of the Blessed Virgin. He i s likewise sent to form our Lord and to make Him live by baptism in the depths of our soul, to in

corporate and unite us with Him and to give us birth and life in Him: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3, 5)

The Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity have cooperated by the same power and goodness in the admirable work of the Incarnation, are present in our baptism, cooperating to give us the new being and new life in Jesus Christ which is conferred upon each neophyte.

Thus baptism is an ineffable generation. "Of his own will hath he begotten us" (James I, 1 8 ) , and an admirable birth, a living image of the eternal and temporal generation and birth of the Son of God. Therefore our life should be a perfect image of His life. "We arc created in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2, 10); We are "born of God" (John I, 13) We should live only by God, in God and for God; we must live no life but that of Jesus Christ, directed solely by His spirit, which should animate and possess us completely.

Let us be very humbled to find ourselves so removed from this life which should exist in all Christians. Let us give ourselves to God with a great desire to live the real life. Let us implore Him to destroy in us the life of the world and sin, and to establish His admirable life in us, that we may not be like those unhappy beings whom St. Paul says are "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4, 18)