More from Von Balthasar's Prayer:
[God's] love is no mere diffused, all-pervading medium, dissolving everything in vague sentiment; on the contrary, it becomes present in the exact features of one very particular, historical Person [Jesus Christ]...it attains visibility in his very precise words, actions, sufferings and miracles. So all the world's inchoate love which feels its way toward God must allow itself to be transformed and integrated into the drama of this one, particular Person, in order, through him, to "enter heaven itself" (Heb. 9:24) (p. 57)
Of course, this would be impossible if Christ were a mere man: however perfect, he would always be simply one of us and nothing more. But since he is both the Son and the Word of God, he has the power to integrate us into himself as his "members", to integrate our finite persons - without destroying or endangering them in the slightest - into the life of his infinite Person. It follows that being "in" the Son as a member of his mystical body is much more than being granted access to God on the basis of any "merit", however infinite. It is this very access..." (p. 58)
The question "How can we hear God's word?" is answered thus: we can, because we are in the Word. Because the Word who became flesh takes us into himself giving his own self as our mode of existence. Grace has not imparted some general, vague, "supernatural elevation" to us, but a participation in the personal existence of the eternal Word of God, who became "flesh" like us so that we should become "spirit" in him, and who therefore "is able to help" us toward our "heavenly call", since he was "made like his brethren in every respect" (Heb 2:17 - 3:1) The grace which the Father gives us is christoform: it assimilates us to the Son without violating us as human beings - for the Son himself became a human being. (p. 58)
No comments:
Post a Comment