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A Daring Image of the Reason for the Incarnation
Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 01-05-16 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Posted on 01/06/2017 8:13:16 AM PST by Salvation

A Daring Image of the Reason for the Incarnation

January 5, 2017

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Saints can be daring in their words. For example, St Athanasius said that God became man so that man might become God (De inarnationis c. 54, 3). And St. Thomas Aquinas said that pride is such a serious sin that, as a remedy for it, God permits other sins to humble us (Summa Theologica II IIae, 162,6).

These are daring—even dangerous—assertions if they are not properly understood. And of course they can be properly understood. We do not become gods, but we do share in the divine nature by God’s gift. God may permit our sins, but He does not cause them and we have no right to indulge them on the pretext that it will help to humble us.

But I suspect that saints, having mastered certain topics, state their case quickly so as to move on to other subjects. I suppose they trust the Holy Spirit, working through Scripture and the Magisterium, to supply what their brevity points to but does not develop. Good teachers do not answer every question; they inspire a thirst in their students to further ponder mysteries and seek deeper answers and understanding.

In the Office of Readings this week St. Maximus the Confessor supplies what I would call a daring image. It is daring not so much doctrinally as in terms of piety. He compares the sacred humanity of Christ to bait that has been set out by a fisherman or hunter. Consider his words and marvel at the insight:

Here is the reason why God became a perfect man, changing nothing of human nature, except to take away sin (which was never natural anyway). His flesh was set before that voracious, gaping dragon as bait to provoke him: flesh that would be deadly for the dragon, for it would utterly destroy him by the power of the Godhead hidden within it. For human nature, however, his flesh would restore human nature to its original grace.

Just as the devil had poisoned the tree of knowledge and spoiled our nature by its taste, so too, in presuming to devour the Lord’s flesh he himself is corrupted and is completely destroyed by the power of the Godhead hidden within it.

(From the Five Hundred Chapters by Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot (Centuria 1, 8-13: PG 90, 1182-1186))

Over the years, I have found that some (though not all) of the faithful are shocked or offended by daring images, humor about divine or sacred things, or the discussion of the flaws of saints and biblical figures. An old Latin phrase speaks of certain things that are offensiva pii aurium (offensive to pious ears). There are surely limits that should not be transgressed, but reasonable people differ on the exact location of those lines.

I call this image provided by St. Maximum daring because bait is a lowly and even gruesome image: a worm or fly on a hook, bloody chum cast on the water to attract fish, or a piece of meat thrown on the ground to attract a predator. This is not my first way of thinking of the sacred humanity of Christ on the cross: the cross as the hook and Jesus as the bait?

How bold and yet how true. Perhaps it should offend our sensibilities. For what is more offensive than the Son of God nailed by us to a piece of wood, bloody and dying outside the city gates of Jerusalem, the Holy City?

St. Maximus takes up this bloody, horrible theme and reminds us that God has always been in control. He was baiting and luring Satan all the while, defeating him through his own lust for blood and death. No sooner did Satan draw near and lay hold of this prey than the Lord defeated him. By dying He destroyed our death and in rising He restored our life.

It is bold, daring, and true.


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; christmas; incarnation; msgrcharlespope
How bold and yet how true. Perhaps it should offend our sensibilities. For what is more offensive than the Son of God nailed by us to a piece of wood, bloody and dying outside the city gates of Jerusalem, the Holy City?
1 posted on 01/06/2017 8:13:17 AM PST by Salvation
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To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...

Monsignor Pope Ping!


2 posted on 01/06/2017 8:14:36 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

Correct me if wrong - however I am almost positive that St. Bonaventure spoke of man’s final “divination”. Of course Bonaventure was using the term to refer to man’s ultimate return to God/the Trinity via admittance to the Beatific vision if he attains it; not the New Age concept often touted that starts to entertain the fuzzy pagan idea that man can become a god himself.

Some modern Franciscans start to cross this line into new age thinking. I visited a Franciscan bookstore at Graymoor in Garrison NY many years ago and it might as well have been a New Age bookstore.

Maybe the place has changed for the better now.

I graduated from St. Bonaventure and have an interest in the saint so this was my association with Father Pope’s topic.

Thanks for posting!


3 posted on 01/06/2017 8:41:35 AM PST by stonehouse01
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To: stonehouse01
Oh, those Jesuits...always pushing at that LINE in the sand, overthinking EVERYTHING.
TSK!

4 posted on 01/06/2017 9:04:01 AM PST by cloudmountain
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To: cloudmountain

“...Oh those Jesuits ...”

hehehe!! “pushing at that line in the sand” ... and the Franciscans as well ...

Our daughter attends SJU (St. Joseph’s) in Philly and loves it there - she just ignores it if a professor goes too globalist/liberal/social/justice preachy - The overall feel on campus is a true devotion to Our Lord that is real and their liturgies are very devout.


5 posted on 01/06/2017 9:34:00 AM PST by stonehouse01
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To: stonehouse01
Our daughter attends SJU (St. Joseph’s) in Philly and loves it there - she just ignores it if a professor goes too globalist/liberal/social/justice preachy - The overall feel on campus is a true devotion to Our Lord that is real and their liturgies are very devout.

You OBVIOUSLY did a great parenting job.
Ignoring profs while they orate is good practice for later in life: dull meetings and even duller bosses.
The other skill one ought to learn is how to leave a crowded room without anyone noticing.

6 posted on 01/06/2017 4:12:18 PM PST by cloudmountain
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To: Salvation

That is a very striking image.


7 posted on 01/06/2017 4:31:37 PM PST by Tax-chick ("He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his deed." Pv. 19:17)
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To: cloudmountain

That may be true, but the Spiritual Exercises have brought me many blessings.


8 posted on 01/06/2017 6:47:16 PM PST by rwa265
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To: Salvation; All

To say that man has become God is blasphemous. We ARE NOT God. Only God is God, period.


9 posted on 01/07/2017 5:11:31 PM PST by Bellflower (Dems = Mat 6:23 ....If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!)
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To: Bellflower

Are you saying that you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God — second person of the Holy Trinity?


10 posted on 01/07/2017 5:17:14 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Bellflower

**Here is the reason why God became a perfect man, changing nothing of human nature, except to take away sin (which was never natural anyway). His flesh was set before that voracious, gaping dragon as bait to provoke him: flesh that would be deadly for the dragon, for it would utterly destroy him by the power of the Godhead hidden within it. For human nature, however, his flesh would restore human nature to its original grace.**

He is talking about Christ — did you not see the word, “perfect?”


11 posted on 01/07/2017 5:19:12 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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