Rutler on Deification

This passage comes from an interesting book by a prolific priest/author:

The truth of the saints is this; the human intellect and will become mroe human by becoming more divine. The ancient Fathers used bold language to say it in more mystical prose; but they balanced their words as skilled acrobats, and they did not mean that men become gods, as clumsy pantheists have thought. Divinity cannot be some kind of vapor leaking into creation. Humans do not become godlike, though the grace of holiness can make them a place for God. There is no contradiction, and nothing less than a great affirmation, in saying two things at once: that saints become more human by becoming more divine and that saints become truly holy by becoming human. This is a mystery which modern people misunderstand to their tragic loss. Vianney confided an old secret to his arrogant new world: "All the saints are not saints in the same way; there are some saints who would not have been able to live with other saints...all do not take the same path. Nonetheless, all arrive at the same place."

And, in a piece for the Feasts of Saints and Souls:

The greatest saints could have been the worst people who ever lived if they had misused their native gifts. St. Augustine's intellect could have created a convincingly false religion. St. Louis IX could have used his rank to ruin his kingdom. St. John of Capistrano could have invoked his charismatic charm to persuade the Christian soldiers to surrender Western civilization, and St. Ignatius Loyola could have used his organizational skills to destroy the Faith in foreign lands.

By the same logic, the worst villains in history could have become saints if they had used their political power, rhetorical talents, and energy to spread the Gospel. Herod the Great might have become a Christmas hero; the faithful might now be lighting candles at the tomb of Lenin as at a reliquary, and churches might have been dedicated to saints named Mao Tse-tung and Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler if . . . On that "if" hangs all human destiny. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3: 20)...

The crown of righteousness is offered to all those who take off their masks, for we cannot see God if we are disguised by pride. A culture of death does not make the transition from All Hallows Eve to All Hallows Day. St. John never disguised his love for his Master, and he assures our confused world: "Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).