Divinised?

[didymus]

A question about our asst. pastor’s sermon this morning. First of all, it was quite good, Fr. F talked about the Communion of Saints, the role of saints who have gone before us, &c.
But then he quoted St Anathasius [sp?]
as saying that “God became Man so that man might become God.” and I sort of went “huh?” The only thing I know about St Anathasius is his creed, obviously written to combat heresy.

Then Fr. went on to say that when we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, we are “divinised” and he used the term a couple times. Has anyone heard this before?

If he had said “we partake Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity” I wouldn’t have thought twice, and part of his theme was asking Christ to make us more like Him so maybe Fr. was just using an odd choice of words.
I did like that he pointed out that the Body and Blood are something we can only receive “here, in the Catholic Church” (actually in the Orthodox as well, but why quibble?). I suspect our pastor would never say such a thing.

 

[4HisChurch]

I will be very interested in the replies. I’ve occasionally heard something like this, and, like you, it gives me reason to pause.

 

[Pax]

There is nothing wrong with this when properly explained. Unfortunately, many priests do not explain the meaning of this in their sermons. They either assume too much or don’t want to take the necessary time to explain what it means. Let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter.

All this means is that “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.”[2 Peter 1:3-4]

We have been born again in the Spirit. We have put on Christ. We are temples of the Holy Spirit. We are adopted sons and daughters of the Father. Jesus is our brother. We are as Paul says in Romans 8:29, “to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.”

Jesus makes an interesting response to the Pharisees when He says, "Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

These images in scripture are what we mean by divinized. It in no way means that we become God.

I hope this helps.

 

[Joseph_Mary]

This is something with which I’ve noticed people have a hard time.

Let’s start of with the obvious: “the good thief” on Calvary was “sainted” by Jesus Himself. We KNOW “the good thief” (whatever his name) is in Heaven, as it is recorded the Savior Himself said so. Given that all of the believers are part of the Body of Christ (as Jesus says Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus), then we can say that “the good thief” is, in some mysterious way, a part of Jesus’ Body in Heaven (don’t ask me how - that’s what makes it a “mystery”).

OK, since “the good thief” is, undoubtedly, in Heaven, and definitely is a part of Jesus Body, in some mysterious way, and since Jesus is God (along with the Father and Holy Spirit) then “the good thief” is “part of God”. Since there are no “parts” of an infinite thing such as God, then we must say “the good thief” has become God, by his perfect confession to Jesus, on his own cross. “The good thief” has emptied himself of his own ego, and allowed himself to be filled by the Divine, that is the Holy Spirit. THIS is why it is NOT improper to ask “the good thief” to pray that you too are able to give a perfect confession (among other prayers you may want to direct his way). “The good thief”, being a part of the Body of Christ, and being in Heaven, has a special closeness to the Divine, that is, he has been filled with the Divine, he has become God, or, if you like, God has become “the good thief” at his death.

Since Jesus established a Church, He left the powers to “bind and loose” with His Church, and His Church has the power to say, for example, a impoverished Christian mystic of the 5th Century is a member of the Body of Christ in Heaven, and our prayers to that person are, in fact, prayers to God.

SO, this brings us to the point of a person becoming “divinised” by receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus during Holy Communion. God, being infinite, is placed inside of you, your body consumes this infinity, but we still have free will. We are free to consume that Divine Infinity, and not act accordingly. However, I challenge anyone to continue to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus day after day and not change. You WILL change, I’ve seen it happen too many times, I’ve even seen it happen to myself (I have been a rather wicked person in my life, changed by the Body and Blood of Jesus, brought to me during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass).

The only way to deny the Communion of the Saints is to deny the Power of the Church, and to deny the Real Presence of Jesus in the Mass. All three are identical. The only way to deny the Power of the Church is to deny the Communion of the Saints and the Real Presence. The only way to deny the Real Presence is to deny the Communion of the Saints and the Power of the Church.

 

[Pug]

Here is the CCC on this very topic:

**460 **The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”:“For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”

Or try the USCCB on the topic in this pdf file.

We call our reception of Christ in the Eucharist “Holy Communion,” for through our reception of his Body and Blood we come into communion with him who is All-Holy. The Son of God came to share in our lowly humanity that we might come to share in his holy divinity. When we receive Christ in Holy Communion, we are united to the Risen Christ and come to share in his divine life. Thus, through Christ’s indwelling, we are likewise united, in the Holy Spirit, to God the Father, the source of all holiness.

 

[didymus]

Thanks for the responses. It was just the word “divinised” that threw me, I’d never heard it used before, at least not in a Catholic context.

I wouldn’t blame Father for presuming too much, I think he was trying to pack as much in to a limited time as he could. At least it’s good to get some real meat rather than cotton candy.