The 4th Century bishop, St. Athanasius, in his work called The Incarnation, wrote “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church echoes this comment by stating, “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.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church no.460) What does this mean exactly? Don’t we only confess one God? How can this saint and bishop say that we will become gods?
First of all, they are not promoting polytheism (belief in many gods). Instead, they are referring to a theological concept in the ancient church called Divinization or also sanctification. God has made it possible for us to be partakers in His own Divine Life. Recall Part One of this series; in the beginning God created Adam and Eve by putting in them the breath of life. By original sin, they lost the breath of life, which resulted death. Jesus by His Paschal Mystery and sending forth of the Holy Spirit has made it possible for us to receive the breath of life again. We do this by receiving the sacraments, thus receiving God’s sanctifying grace. That’s why Baptism is so important. Jesus is the son of God by nature. He is Divine. By our baptism though, we human beings with human nature can become adopted sons and daughters of God. We can share in His divine life.
In this last part, I wish to emphasize the importance of personal responsibility when it comes to our faith. We are called to holiness and this call implies doing our part to respond to God’s grace. It is unfortunate that many times, Catholics reduce their faith by simply “going through the motions” “showing up” or marking off a “checklist of sacraments”. But our call to holiness is much more than just collecting sacraments to post nice pictures on social media. God’s grace will always be there, especially in the sacraments, but we must do our part so the sacramental graces can bear good fruit in our lives. Personal responsibility implies repentance (on-going conversion) and doing charitable deeds.
Repentance
In the bible, repentance is an important term when it comes to a relationship with God. The Bible is the greatest love story, the love of God for His people. God is always faithful, but many times people were unfaithful. They chose to follow the gods of foreign nations rather than following the God who had freed them from slavery in Egypt. As God’s people suffered as a result of their infidelity and idolatry, God called them to repent; to turn their hearts back to Him.
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, JOEL 2:13
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Revelation 3:19
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Proverbs 28: 13
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” MATTHEW 4:17
Repentance comes from the Greek word Metanoia, which means “change/transformation of the mind” So on one level, repentance involves feeling sorry for our sins and turning back to God. On another level though, it implies on going conversion. To choose Christ is not something that our parents did for us at our baptism. Rather, we must choose Christ every single day. We strive to do better every day God gives us. Repentance/on-going conversion is fundamental to taking responsibility of our faith in Christ.
LIFE OF CHARITY/LOVE
We have all heard “actions speak louder than words.” The same axiom is true in our spiritual life. For instance, if I have a girlfriend and I tell here “I love her” But then I never listen to her, talk to her, spend time with her, do stuff to support her, then all I’ve done is express empty words. The same applies to our relationship with God. See scriptures that described about the power of love, which is faith put into action.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 CORINTHIANS 13: 13
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” MATTHEW 7:21
So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed, someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. James 2:17-18
Summary/Conclusion
This series has explored several fundamentals of Christian doctrine. Part one analyzed original sin; it is the cause for humanity’s susceptibility to sin, suffering, and eventually death. Part Two stressed our reason to hope. Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to deliver us from the power of death and make it possible for us to live forever with God. God has given us access to His grace especially through the sacraments. This final part hopes to awaken us to greater responsibility for our spiritual life. Our faith is not a magic show or ritual. It is a relationship with God who offers His grace while asking for our cooperation. We need on-going repentance as well as carry out deeds of love. If we do this, we can hopefully hear the words of the Christ one day telling us, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34