Monday, October 1, 2012

Deification and the Middle East

What do they have in common?  Oh, so much.  Excerpts:
...In the context of the Christian faith, “communion is the very life of God which is communicated in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ”. It is a gift of God which brings our freedom into play and calls for our response. It is precisely because it is divine in origin that communion has a universal extension.
While it clearly engages Christians by virtue of their shared apostolic faith, it remains no less open to our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters, and to all those ordered in various ways to the People of God. The Catholic Church in the Middle East is aware that she will not be able fully to manifest this communion at the ecumenical and interreligious level unless she has first revived it in herself, within each of her Churches and among all her members: Patriarchs, Bishops, priests, religious, consecrated persons and lay persons. Growth by individuals in the life of faith and spiritual renewal within the Catholic Church will lead to the fullness of the life of grace and theosis (divinization). In this way, the Church’s witness will become all the more convincing.

The example of the first community in Jerusalem can serve as a model for renewing the present Christian community and making it a place of communion for witness. The Acts of the Apostles give us a simple yet touching early description of this community born on the day of Pentecost: a company of believers who were of one heart and soul. From the beginning there was a fundamental connection between faith in Jesus and ecclesial communion, as becomes clear from the two interchangeable expressions: one heart and soul. Communion is not the result of our own human efforts. It comes about, above all else, by the power of the Holy Spirit, who creates in us the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6)...

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