God conducts a seemingly strange exercise in which he
detaches attributes from his very person, but withholding his own attributes of eternity and divinity. These detached attributes are then formed into wonderful entities such as humanity.1 God then asks that these entities reunite with his very person. Furthermore, these entities called to union are damaged in this very ability to reunite, and must first overcome their damage.
We call this strange exercise: creation and redemption.
Those who rejoin Christ are humans, angels, the several orders of Heaven and ultimately all of creation.
To make this reunion more likely and meaningful, we construct the discipline of spiritual advancement, which produces in us, a better quality of soul for this reunion.
Spiritual advancement is as old as humanity, and may be attained by anyone. This book deals with spiritual
advancement within Catholicism.
Spiritual advancement as practiced in the Old Testament
was simply an ever stricter adherence to the Law of Moses.
1 God used the medium of nothing (the only thing which was not himself), to form creation. God creates by giving form to nothing, by adding his own selected attributes, either directly or indirectly. God’s idea of a tree +
nothing = a tree. Note that God withholds his attribute of divinity or eternity from any creation, because no creation has any right or necessity to exist. God’s idea of a tree is not merely “thought” with no further meaning, it already has real substance. Our own thoughts have real substance and real effect, hence the necessity of self control in our thoughts, which will be discussed further in this book.
1
Jesus was truly revolutionary in his teaching on spirituality; he demanded love without exception, and even spoke of his own person as somehow being the goal of our life. Jesus and the apostles largely spoke of the beginning purgative stages, with some instruction beyond the basics.
With the coming of Jesus however, our spiritual potential
became nothing less than participation in the divine nature of Christ, the Son of God, (2Pet 1:4). Our divine inclusion into Christ was always the plan (CCC 280, 398), and it was for this reason that the Son of God was incarnate as Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come among men to forgive sin…no sin was ever planned. Sin was an obstacle which he first had to remediate, prior to making his intended communion with humanity.
Christ, the second person of the Trinity of God, became man
for the purpose of divine union with his children.
For the first 1500 years of Christianity, very few members could even read the literature on spiritual advancement; but this was not really a problem. God provides for our material well being, and much more for our spiritual well being and advancement. Spiritual direction from a priest was the most common method, but the quality of priestly instruction varied greatly, and instruction only goes so far, only the student may do the required work on his soul.
Lay religious communities existed from the start, and the
Book of Acts mentions the Jerusalem community. The desert
fathers (and mothers), were religious communities of lay people. These and the later dedicated religious orders provided a conducive environment and moral support for those seeking spiritual growth beyond the basics. Even before the time of Jesus, there existed the Jewish Essene religious communities in Israel. These were mostly lay communities, but the famous Essene monastery at Qumran were professional religious who made spiritual advancement their exclusive task.
2
About the year 500, Saint Benedict founded the first monastery of professional religious monks, and instruction in spiritual advancement was part of this life. At this same time in Greece, Pseudo-Dionysius wrote of the three stages of spiritual advancement: Purgative, Illuminative and Unitive stages, and even spoke briefly of the ‘Divine darkness’, in which faith must advance even in the absence of any emotional compass.
The sixteenth century brought two spiritual giants, St.
John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila. John experienced and studied what he termed “the dark night”, which is our advancement beyond our very soul, into union with the person of God.
We know what to do to attain virtue, but there is no human road map to union with God (it must be provided by the Holy Spirit).2 Besides this we must detach from all that previously brought us satisfaction. Self satisfaction, even legitimate satisfaction must go, we cannot become Christ if we remain self. Satisfaction of work, family, faith…all must go in order to obtain perfection of complete union with God. Self satisfaction is advanced beyond, into union with God, that does not depend upon self satisfaction.
St. Teresa experienced and wrote of the several grades of
prayer from beginning stages to the divine union…after Jesus showed her the place in Hell, if she would have if she remained 2 The Holy Spirit of God provides inspiration and information to anyone seeking spiritual advancement, since the beginning of human spiritual understanding. In example, Hinduism, which is likely the oldest system of spiritual advancement, acknowledges this Spirit of God. Hinduism existed far prior to Judaism or Christianity, and would not be expected to use the same terms. Hinduism proves its essential truth by its recognition of one God, called Brahmin. Such essential truth is enough to provide inclusion into God. This inclusion into God is termed “salvation” by later Christianity. Christianity provides specific sacraments for this inclusion into God, via the body of Christ, but God is not limited, and may use his own methods prior to, or after Christianity for the “salvation” of souls.
3
in her lax life as a (self satisfied) nun. She went on to lead and reform the Carmelite order. By the end of her life, her sisters had to pull her back to her seat, as she physically levitated in prayer.3
By about 1900 the term “victim soul” came into use. This
is a profound dark night in which the moral remediation of the victim (who is a member of Christ), makes spiritual advancement (usually salvation) for others. St. Gemma Galgani, St. Faustina and St. Pio are recent spiritual remediators or victim souls.
The idea of divinization of the individual is first recorded in 2Pet 1:4; it has been written of by many saints, and it exists as Catholic doctrine in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In paragraph 398 we read,
“Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined
to be fully divinized by God in glory.”
From CCC 460, “The Word became flesh to make us
partakers of the divine nature…For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.”
Many saints and doctors of the church have written of our
intended divinization.4 Most speak of it occurring in the final Unitive stage, and termed it the “spiritual marriage” or “divine union” with Christ. In the sixteenth century divinization was described as the outcome of the dark night of the soul, as 3 Ascension to Heaven is a common occurrence in religious literature, but it is necessarily figurative. The mind of God in in fact, in all of creation that he thinks about, therefore giving non divine creation to the creation which we live in. God then asks us to reunion with himself. All of creation and even God is advanced in this reunion. God obtains greater dimensions of himself, and those obtaining union, obtain divine union.
This idea is explored later in this book.
4 The book, “Mystical Evolution”, by Fr. John Arintero is an in depth study of the process of divinization in this life and is still in print.
4
written of by St. John of the Cross. It occurs after full purgation of selfishness, and even self, in this life or the next. We cannot become Christ, if we remain self.
_________________________________
Christian spiritual advancement is simply a deeper sharing in Christ — in his very person — ultimately ending in divine union.5 This is the highest and most fulfilling existence possible, and it was intended to occur in this life, and it still may. Those we call saints have often attained this divine union in this life. This typically requires many years, but Saint Francis made the journey from playboy to divinization in five years.
Christ himself calls every person to such perfection and union,
“Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”, Mt 5:48.
Spiritual advancement occurs as we eliminate self will, allowing a deeper indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is both giver and gift of our union with Jesus Christ. We become
Christ, who is now all who constitute the body of Christ.
It sounds daunting and mystical, but it’s no more mystical than living a just life as a first century carpenter. To deny one’s self does not require abandoning family, food, sleep, or even 5 Spiritual advancement may be made for others to some degree. In Colossians 1:24 the apostle Paul says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is stil lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Here, Paul is a member of the ‘ongoing Christ’, which is the body of Christ on earth, with the same, continuing mission of Jesus Christ, (union of God and man).
This mission was and is remediation of sin, allowing the former sinner to be incorporated into Christ, who is now all who constitute the body of Christ. This is the idea of remediator or victim soul, spoken of on the prior page.
This is possible because, “…we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”, Rm (12:5). It is for profound reason that Jesus Christ tells us, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Lk 6:28.
5
the enjoyments of life, rather these are had according to God’s will, not our own.
The science of elimination of self is well developed;
religious orders have for centuries molded their member’s
wills away from self, and toward God. These religious orders exist as practical aids to spiritual advancement, and their techniques may be used by anyone according to their circumstances. The seemingly pointless discipline they require has real results in mastering self will: uniforms, schedules, endless rules...there is little room for individual will. This selflessness becomes a habit, and over time a character of the soul. The sacraments they have received act with fuller effect, drawing them closer to God as self is mortified.
Conversely, our world is geared toward satisfaction, growth and indulgence of self...all to the detriment of our souls. We are told to eat richly, drink well, purchase, pleasure ourselves, get honor, find fault and demand our rights. Jesus had a different mindset. How would Jesus live if he were a reformed sinner, rich, bed ridden, a mother? Read the lives of the saints.
Personal spiritual advancement promotes social justice and even salvation for others. We observe how original and subsequent sin introduced mistrust, greed, hatred, war, poverty, injustice. These may be reformed by the mediation of spiritual advancement. When we suffer anger into patience, and greed into trust and moderation, individuals and nations are bettered, and the corruption is no longer suffered as social disorder.
National and worldwide prosperity, security and justice depend upon personal integrity. Political repair has limited success, while sound morality and good spiritual advancement would prevent the damage in the first place. All of creation benefits as distorted forms of spirit, (love, patience, justice, 6
reverence, moderation), are remediated (by moral effort) into their original perfect forms.6
We are called to make union with Christ, who is now the
entire body of Christ, who is Christ himself,7 The entire body 6 There is no shortage of good ideas in our world. But they fail to take effect because of the partially corrupt human will. Political action has a limited effect, but in the end it is simply rearranging the deck chairs. If collective humanity were to improve its will, there would be a positive change from the bottom up. It would provide a real and good foundation to all actions and events.
Spirit forms the unseen framework of creation. Spirit is intangible but as real as matter; and it has real effect. Spirit is immaterial being.
Being is anything that exists: a rock, an idea, energy, emotion, logic, a person. Patience, respect, hate, reverence, morality, memory, free will, are all spirit, and all have real effect in our world. Spirit is the underlying framework of all creation, and corruption of the willed moral virtues degrades the operation of all creation. Spirit forms matter, spirit forms spirit, spirit forms events. Consider that anything that can be described in terms of logic, will, virtue, act, emotion, mathematics or physical law has these same immaterial spirits or qualities as its foundation. Anything you can think of is first of all spirit, to which a material nature may be added.
7 The Catechism of the Catholic Church states explicitly that we become Christ in at least two paragraphs: (1) CCC 1213, “Through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ.”; (2) CCC 795, “…Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself…he and we together are the whole man.” The idea and term “Whole Christ”, occurs at least six times: CCC
795, 796, 797, 1136, 1187, 1188. Christ is now all who constitute the body of Christ: Jesus, Eucharist, humans, angels. CCC 398, “…man was destined to be fully divinized by God in glory….” Even without sin, we were destined to rejoin Christ. Redemption of sin was not the original reason for Christ (since sin was never intended), communion was the reason. Sin was an unintended obstacle that Jesus Christ overcame, before he could make his originally intended communion with humanity.
2Pet 1:4, “…he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature...”.
Mt 25:34, “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world..’” During his mission, Jesus Christ referred to himself as being the kingdom of God.
Related verses for divinization: 2Pet 1:4, 1Jn 3:2, Lk 6:40, 16:26; 7
of Christ in some way benefits from this reunion, to which we bring new dimensions of love. We bring our hard earned spiritual advancement made in our fallen world, and the entire body of Christ benefits. God who cannot advance in virtue has
found a way to do just that.
___________________________________
Let us recall the purpose of our lives, and make a plan accordingly. The purpose of our lives is to make spiritual advancement and bring our improved souls to union with God.
Sin and death were never a part of the plan. Adam and Eve were to have perfected their human virtues, then with the coming of Jesus Christ; they would have made divine union.8
Christ’s plan for our spiritual advancement has a
beginning, a progression, and a definite end point, which is complete and divine union with Christ, which we call Heaven.9
CCC 260, 398, 460, 795, 1988. Related verses for the faithful as the literal body of Christ: CCC 790, 795, 789; 963; 1Cor 12:27, Rm 12:5, 1Cor 1:2, 1Cor 6:15.
8 Jesus Christ made this reunion with his children, and he left the sacraments of sanctification and a priesthood to administer them. Upon his second coming he was to have found humanity eager and prepared for divine inclusion. Those already having made divine communion would have been our guides, these are the saints who have attained to the spiritual marriage or divine union, and it was intended to be made in this life. No sin or death was planned, so Adam, Eve and family would have been these guides for future generations. With no sin, the Eucharist, (not baptism) was originally intended as our entry into the very person of Christ, what we now call the body of Christ.
9 It is a Catholic teaching that our spiritual advancement ends upon our death (particular judgment), or upon the general judgment, whichever we experience first, the Book of Revelation, has some people not dying, but going directly to the final, general judgment. The general judgment marks the end of creation, and the beginning of eternity. Jesus Christ wil attempt divine communion with all of creation, so that “God may be all in all”, 8
This original plan remains, even though its progress is damaged by the effects of sin.
The beginning, as everyone knows is the creation of moral creatures, first the Heavenly orders, angels then human persons.10
The progression has us first perfecting our human virtues.
Then with the coming of Jesus Christ, we are to make inclusion into his divine nature, (in this life). Jesus was not originally intended to lift us out of sin (sin was never planned); he came to make divine union with each person. Sin was an (unplanned) obstacle he first had to overcome, before humanity could make divine inclusion.
Jesus not only came as planned, he left as planned. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ left us the sacraments of sanctification and a priesthood to administer them, and the knowledge that he is to return. The interim period is our time of preparation for his second coming, at which Jesus Christ will attempt divine communion with all of creation, (also called the general judgment), so that “God may be all in all”, (1Cor 15:28).
No one need wait for the second coming of Christ to make this divine communion, it is offered at an individual level now.
(1Cor 15:28). This general judgment is Christ’s second coming, which is detailed in the Book of Revelation chapter 21. This general judgment or communion will result in a “new Heaven” and a “new earth” (Rev 21).
Heaven and earth will exist in a “new order” of divine union with Christ, and they will be populated by divinized angels and humans. When someone or something is unable to make a particular or general union with Christ, it is left behind with al other evil unable to attain union with Christ…this is Hell. Heaven, Hell and Purgatory have their own more detailed chapter later in this book.
10 There are nine Heavenly orders which are currently known: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels.
9
The end point, is the second coming of Christ; the original plan did not included individual deaths, so everyone would have lived to the second coming of Christ. The book of Revelation, chapter 21 speaks of a new divine order in which there is no more death or corruption, and a new Heaven and a new earth. This is the end point of creation, and the start point of eternity. From Revelation 21:1-4;
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look!
God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
We observe that the “end of creation” (the second coming
of Christ), is not at all the end of the world, or the end of existence. Rather, all that exists will no longer exist in the created realm, but as the person of Christ. Anyone existing in Hell would be the exception, although this was never planned.
It is difficult to imagine a tree or a rock as being an element of the person of Christ, but do not think of the body of Christ as limited to a human body. When the Eucharist joins the body of Christ, it retains a level of existence on the alter as bread, but since it has joined the person and divinity of Christ, it now had divine existence
At the general communion (also called the general
judgment), the body of Christ will not be a giant human Jesus Christ coated with trees, rocks and all of creation…all of 10
creation will now be the body of Christ, and divinely so. As the apostle Peter says, “…we will participate in the divine nature
[of Christ].”, (2Pet 1:4).11 We will not live our lives alongside Jesus Christ in Heaven, we will live as a member of Christ…who is heaven itself.
This new order of creation is the result of Jesus Christ making communion with all of creation, so as to bring about the highest fulfillment of what he has created. Jesus Christ is
“the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End.” , (Rev 22:13). Christ is the source of all creation, and the communion of all creation. Heaven and the
resurrection are the very person of Christ. 12 Jesus Christ will attempt communion with all creation. All goodness will make the communion; the evil left behind is Hell.
The preceding is an outline of the history of spiritual advancement and God’s plan for humanity, from creation 11 Our divinization has been spoken of by the Church, apostles and saints for 2000 years. The divinization of the human individual is Catholic doctrine appearing in the catechism and scripture: (CCC 259, 398, 460, 1988; 2Pet 1:4, 1Jn 3:2, Lk 6:40, 16:26); St. John of the Cross also spoke of this idea. The book “Mystical Evolution” by Fr. John Arintero, is an extensive study of spiritual advancement from humanity to divinity and is still in print.
12 Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly made statements that Heaven is the person of Christ. From his Mass homily at Monte Cassino, May 24, 2009,
“…this word Heaven does not indicate a place above the stars but something far more daring and sublime: it indicates Christ himself…”
From his book “Dogma and Preaching”, under the article of “The Meaning of Christ’s Ascension”, “…we go to heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. Heaven is a person: Jesus himself is what we call heaven.” Jesus himself taught, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me wil live, even though they die.” (Jn 11:25).
Observe here also that the first level of participation in Christ is simply to believe in him. We will see that salvation and spiritual advancement are a participation in Christ, and Heaven is not a place but a person, (Christ).
11
through human virtue, to divine inclusion. What follows is a summary of the techniques of spiritual advancement.
__________________________________
Let’s make a rule for spiritual advancement right away. We will study it for the remainder of the book.
Any activity, be it action, thought or will, must
be stripped of illegitimate selfish content. Those
wishing perfection must strip it even of legitimate
self interest. What remains of the action must have
its origin and end in Christ.
Illegitimate selfishness makes for a sinful act, and it’s fairly easy to identify. Legitimate self interest is not as easy to identify, because it is legitimate (but not perfect); but for those seeking spiritual perfection, even legitimate self interest must
go.13 Any idea that may be prefaced with the word “self” —
self satisfaction, self accomplishment, self interest — must go.
God has no enmity toward prosperity, but if we want to move beyond this limited life, we must detach from all that is not Christ.
What remains of the action must come from, and go to Christ, for the end purpose of participation in Christ.
Perfection is arrived at when the student is no longer his own person, but an instrument of Christ, because he is a member 13 We may end up doing the same action, (eating, sleeping, working) in much the same way, but our reasons and the intended end of our actions are now the very person of Christ, and this will fine tune our legitimate actions into selfless actions. Our goal is complete participation in Christ, who is now the entire body of Christ, but we cannot become Christ if we remain self, even legitimate self.
12
of Christ; but the student may not become Christ if he remains self.
We might observe spiritual advancement as being a three
stage process. It is just a rewording of God’s plan for humanity, discussed a few paragraphs ago, but now on an individual level.
The purgative stage has the student mastering the heavy, sensual failings. The illuminative stage has the student practicing a life of moral and religious virtue; the student is adept in living a life of virtue. The unitive stage has the student reforming his unknown selfishness which is hidden in legitimate action and even in virtue and religion. This is the means of the unitive stage; the end is to enter into full divine union with Jesus Christ.14
Spiritual writers term this unitive stage, “the dark night of the soul”, and it happened to the biblical Job. Job had perfected his human virtue; he did not know it, but he had done so according to his own terms. Job’s legitimate self interests had to go, these interests were not evil, but nor was Job yet perfect. Job emerged from the trials into a final perfection.
Had Job lived after the coming of Christ, he would have made complete divine inclusion into Christ, (after his final purgation). Christ would have encountered no hidden resistance in making union with Job.
The saints who have made the journey no longer ate, slept
or worked as they pleased, but as Christ pleased, and the further their advancement, the more important the fine details became. In the end they had truly become instruments of 14 The last two stages, the illuminative and the unitive stages were part of the original plan. We were to first perfect our human virtues; then, with the coming of Jesus Christ, perfect our theological virtues allowing our full divine inclusion into Christ.
13
Christ. Their participation was such that they were hands, hearts and minds of the person of Christ.
In the next chapter we will study the means by which we
share in the very person of Jesus Christ by sanctifying grace, which is given to us at baptism. The purpose of spiritual advancement is to fully cultivate this sanctifying grace to its full divine indwelling of the Holy Spirit, allowing our complete union with Christ the Son of God, via the human Jesus Christ.
Grace: Sanctifying and Actual
Definitions:
Sanctifying grace is the means by which a person, or even bread or wine is included into the divine life and person of Jesus Christ. Sanctifying grace is infused into one’s soul, normally at baptism. Because of original sin, which makes selfish damage to our soul, we must first purge and perfect our soul before sanctifying grace may make its full divine indwelling. Cultivating the full divine infusion of sanctifying
grace is the purpose of spiritual advancement.15 The Holy Spirit is the giver of sanctifying grace, and is its major component.
15 At its core, sanctifying grace is the divinity of God. Sacraments are not a decree of God, but a sharing in God, which is offered by God. Each sacrament offers a specific sharing in the very person of Christ. The sacrament of marriage is not less than the sacrament of holy orders, but it is different, and both are not just decrees, but an actual sharing in Christ.
We observe that a police officer (for instance), is empowered by decree to enforce the laws of the legislature, the written law is the entity from which he draws his authority. A priest is “in the person of Christ”, not just authorized by Christ.
14
Sanctifying grace is required to share in the divine nature of Christ. We may work through all other stages of spiritual advancement, prior to divine union, without sanctifying grace.
Divine union with Trinitarian Christ, through his human incarnation Jesus Christ, was offered only with the person of Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago. The many prophets were animated by the Holy Spirit, to some high degree which was less than a divine sharing in the life of God.
Justification is defined in CCC 2019, “Justification includes the remission of sins, sanctification, and the renewal of the inner man.” Anyone who may be identified as being a just person in Heaven or on earth has been justified by the efforts of himself and of the Trinity of God.
Sanctification, also called divinization in CCC 1999, is our full “participation in the divine nature” (2Pet 1:4), of Jesus Christ. It is for this reason a person is given created life, (CCC
398). Sanctification occurs by the full indwelling or infusion of sanctifying grace.
Actual graces are all other graces that support the sanctification or divinization of the student. Actual graces (think grace of action) may be given in any form, to assist us in our vocation or tasks in life.
__________________________________
Catholic terminology uses the word “sanctification” where
Protestants would use the term “salvation.”16 Our divine 16 In a nutshell, Protestant/Evangelical theology has Jesus Christ saving us from impending Hell (by atonement of our sins), and taken to Heaven where we live alongside Jesus. Catholic theology has us making union with the person of Jesus Christ, and living as members of him (as the body of Christ), in Heaven and the resurrection, both of which are Jesus Christ himself. Pope Benedict XVI made repeated statements that Heaven is the actual person of Jesus, (Jn 11:25).
15
inclusion (sanctification) was the original plan; there was no plan to save us from sin, death or Hell, because none of these were ever planned. No salvation from anything was required in the original plan. Our sanctification, divinization or divine union in this life, was the original plan, hence the term
‘sanctifying grace.’17
Adam, Eve and family as created, were not divinized, but
were to work toward divinization18. Divinization was finally offered with the coming of Jesus Christ. The plan had all of humanity alive, eager and prepared for divinization with the first coming of Jesus Christ. With no sin to contend with, Jesus would have made this divine union via the Eucharist. With the unplanned inclusion of sin into humanity, the original plan was changed to make baptism the means of divinization. Baptism both washes away sin (sin was never planned), and offers sanctifying grace, for our divine union with Jesus Christ.
17 Why does Christ create us as free human persons, only to desire reunion with us later? What is the point? The reason for our lives are our unique virtues that we bring to our reunion with Christ (who is now the entire body of Christ). These virtues are hard won in the arena of creation, and even more so in our current fallen world, hence a better quality of love. Christ himself gains these virtues by enlarging his person, as the entire body of Christ. The purpose of our lives is spiritual advancement, so as to advance within Christ at our reunion. This reunion was intended to occur in this life, and stil may.
18 If Adam and Eve were divinized, they could not have been corrupted by sin. Sin can simply take no hold upon anyone or anything that is divine.
How then could Jesus Christ take on our sin? Jesus had a human nature and a divine nature. We may determine his divine nature by observing what was not corrupted, when he made union with humanity, and took on humanities sin, at the last supper/first Eucharist. All created parts of Jesus were corrupted by sin, except for his divine, uncreated will. The reader may read the appendix on Christology for further details.
16
God’s original plan for each person was divinization, (CCC
398, 2Pet 1:4). Everyone was to have shared in the divinity and person of the Trinitarian Son of God. Jesus Christ, who is the human nature of the Son of God, was to have been our mediator from human to divine.19 In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 398, we read, “Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully divinized by God in glory.”
This divinization or sanctification is the goal of spiritual advancement. It is what we work toward by purging selfishness and cultivating virtue and faith. At some point, either before of after death, sanctifying grace is required to complete the process of divinization. Every person was intended to attain divinization in this life, and may still do it.
CCC 1988: “God gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature. For this reason, those in whom the Spirit [fully] dwells are divinized.”20
19 Our participation is in all three members of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the giver of sanctifying grace and all graces, and is himself a grace. The Son of God is our creator and our intended end, through his human incarnation Jesus Christ. From John 14:23, “…if anyone loves me, he wil keep my word; and my Father wil love him, and we wil come to him, and make our abode with him.” Our participation is in the entire Trinity of God.
In this book ‘Christ’ is used, knowing that the entire Trinity is involved.
The term ‘God’ is used, referring to all three persons of the Trinity.
Explanations of God, Trinity, Son of God, Christ, Jesus Christ, divine and human person may be found in appendix ‘Christology.’
20 We usually do not walk about divine in this life because we have not prepared our soul for the full (divine) indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Divinization in this life occurs after we attain perfection of virtue and faith, and many of the saints have done it in this life. Supernatural miracles and knowledge are an indicator; these arise from a participation in the divine nature of Jesus Christ.
In baptism, Jesus Christ (and the entire body of Christ) takes on our sin, and by moral effort, remediates our sin into his own virtue, resulting 17
This participation was intended to occur in this life, and it still may. With the onset of sin however, our full divine participation may only occur after we free our soul of all traces of self. Self: pity, indulgence, dependence, destruction…they all must go. We cannot become Christ, if we remain self. We may do our purgatory in this life or the next, but it cannot be avoided.21
What we know as salvation ― incorporation into the body
of Christ ― is simply God’s pre-planned communion with humanity from the beginning (CCC 398, Ep 1:4, Mt 25:34), with Christ now taking on the additional (unplanned) task of remediation of sin. Sanctification is our actual sharing in the life and person of Jesus Christ, who is the human nature of the Son of God. Because of the effects of sin, we usually begin our participation in the human nature of Jesus Christ, then after purging all selfishness, we may participate in the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself makes this union, our task is to prepare ourselves for this participation.22
in union with Christ. Baptism was devised by Christ as a response to sin, but sin was never part of the original plan. The original plan was communion with Jesus Christ in a sinless world, and the Eucharist (left to us by Christ) would have been the means of our divine communion into Christ.
Salvation from sin was not part of the original plan, hence baptism was not part of the plan, but a later necessary addition. Eucharist was the originally intended means for our divinization within a sinless world.
21 From this we see that the state of Purgatory is our existence as the body of Christ, which is short of ful divine union. If Adam and Eve had never encountered sin, they still may have encountered internal selfishness, which was short of sin. Even legitimate self interest must be subdued before we may fully participate in Christ. We must be fully selfless to make the “soul transplant”, which turns the individual into Christ. This should not amaze anyone, every person has he origins in the very person of Christ.
22 Participation is a recurring principle in theology, and in practical spiritual advancement. The human soul, and spirit in general have both individual and communal natures. Saint and doctor of the church Thomas 18
The Catechism of the Catholic Church does state that all
persons are eligible for salvation (CCC 1260, 1281), and the saints have repeatedly testified of non-Catholic’s attaining salvation. St. Pio, who is the best documented saint in history, told many visiting people that their non-Catholic or non-Christian spouse/child/friend/etc. had attained salvation.
Baptism by desire is the term given to the salvation process of those who do not willfully exclude Christ, but have not received sacramental baptism.23 CCC 1260 describes baptism by desire,
“Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.”24
Aquinas, taught that have participation to some degree with whatever we will or think. In example, if we think of a tree, we share in the idea of a tree.
God does not allow a person to fully become a tree, but he does allow a person to become a member of Christ. To make this membership, every willed element of our person must participate in Christ. One’s will, intellect and the many virtues must all make this union.
23 In baptism, Jesus Christ (and now the entire body of Christ), takes on our sin, and by moral effort, remediates our sin into his own virtue…union with God. We shall see that the originally intended sacrament for sanctification (salvation) was Eucharist. Baptism was devised by Christ as a response to sin, but sin was never part of the original plan, only our communion with God, and this was the task of the Eucharistic sacrament.
24 To obey our conscience (which is fallible) is not a second rate action, it was our only available action until God revealed himself in religion (to Abraham and Moses), then made further revelation of himself as Jesus Christ. With the coming of Jesus Christ we may make participation beyond human and religious virtue and share in the very person of God, in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the human nature of God, who is also fully divine.
Christ is the substance of our moral conscience. Our moral conscience does not draw its substance from a decree of God, but from the person of 19
Our initial entry into the body of Christ is participation in
the human nature of Christ, (which explains why we do not walk around divine).25 We retain this status so long as no deadly sin is made (1Jn 5:16-17). The final form is our participation in the very divine nature of Christ.
________________________________________
In addition to sanctifying grace, there exist actual graces, which are all graces that are of non-sanctifying nature. They help us on our path to sanctification or inclusion into Jesus Christ. They also assist us in many ways in our daily lives.
Actual graces may also assist the Church and the entire world.
Actual graces are given in blessings, prayers, repeated sacraments (Eucharist, penance), application of holy water or oil, and more.26
God; when we obey our conscience we move and act within Christ, within his moral dimensions. With the coming of Jesus Christ, we are offered full participation in the complete divinity and person of Christ. Just as every priest acts “in the person of Christ”, so to every member of the Common Priesthood of Christ”, lives “in the person of Christ.” If not yet in the divinity of Christ, then in the human nature of Christ. Once selflessness is attained and sanctifying grace is attained, then divine participation in the body of Christ will be attained.
25 Due to the effects of sin, our damaged will does not have the perfection necessary to make immediate inclusion into the full divine nature of Christ. We usually start our participation in Christ in his human nature, then after Purgatory (in this life or the next) we make full participation in the divine nature of Christ.
26 The sacrament of Holy Orders is a sort of hybrid of actual grace and sanctifying grace. Consider that a priest candidate who is in a state of mortal sin, is not personally raised to a state of grace, by the application of the sacrament of holy orders. Yet anyone who the priest baptizes receives the state of grace (salvation).
20
Actual graces help us to perfect the sanctifying grace which we obtained at baptism. Other sacraments, such as matrimony are given better form when we put to use our actual graces. Actual graces may be observed as our virtues.
Patience, joy, reverence are all human or theological virtues which are perfected with the help of actual graces.