Category: Universal Call to Holiness

For the Church – 2 – The rebuilding

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“No more, for the House of Israel, shall any of the hostile nations surrounding her be a thorn that wounds or a briar that tears; and so men will learn that I am the Lord Yahweh.

“The Lord Yahweh says this: ‘When I gather the House of Israel from the peoples among whom it is dispersed, this is how I am going to display My holiness in the sight of the nations. They shall live on the soil that I gave to my servant Jacob. They shall live there in confidence, build houses, plant vineyards; they shall live in confidence. When I inflict punishments on all the hostile surrounding nations, then men will learn that I am Yahweh their God'” (Ez 28:24-26).

NEW – Deification of Man in Christianity

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Deification Front CoverDeification is the transformation of man into god through the grace of God. Predominant in the theology of Eastern Christianity, but marginalized and obscured in contemporary interpretations of the theology of Western Christianity, Bartolo-Abela explores how it is deification, not just salvation, that was and remains the intent of God for mankind, with deification occurring not solely in patria, but in via and in patria. This is an understanding of deification which has been largely lost and needs to be recovered in the Western Church.

Examining the works of the Church Fathers on both sides of the East-West divide in Christianity, Bartolo-Abela shows that rather than being restricted to the East, deification featured consistently in many theological works popular in the West, with Continue reading “NEW – Deification of Man in Christianity” →

What is the meaning of the divine inheritance?

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The question was asked, “What does ‘the divine inheritance’ mean?” The response is simple, though by no means brief if answered in depth. The divine inheritance means we are called to literally inherit everything God the Father has, with Himself as Perfect Love above all else. And you have no idea what that is like, what perfect bliss and joy it entails, until you have tasted it.  Continue reading “What is the meaning of the divine inheritance?” →

What does it mean to be a child of God?

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To be a child of God means to be an adoptive member of the Divine Family.

When we become children of the living God by taking steps to rediscover our true heritage and giving the Almighty Father our fiat with sincerity of heart, in essence and in fact, we become adoptive members of the Divine Family. The Family – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and, yes, even the Mother* – take us in. They take us into Their Hearts and envelop us in Their bosom, showering us with all we need to become gods by grace (2 P 1:4; Ps 82:6).  Continue reading “What does it mean to be a child of God?” →

The Heart of the Father by Thomas W. Petrisko

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HeartoftheFatherCov-final__53107_stdThe Heart of the Father: Why the Paternal Heart of Life is the Answer to the Culture of Death by Thomas W. Petrisko (2013) of Saint Andrew’s Productions.

“”We raise our voices and pray that the Love which is in the Father,” Pope John Paul II writes in Dives in Misericordia, “may once again be revealed at this stage of history…that it may be shown to be present in our modern world to be more powerful than evil, more powerful than sin and death.”

“Now, in our time, our Heavenly Father shows us the means to see this great Love of His that is so merciful, so wanting to be discovered – it is through His Heart of Life, His Divine Paternal Heart!  Continue reading “The Heart of the Father by Thomas W. Petrisko” →

What is deification? – Response to a question

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Deification is the attaining of likeness to God and union with Him so far as is possible (Dionysus the Aeropagite, EH 1. 3, PG 3. 376a).

God, you see, wants to make you a god; not by nature, of course, like the One whom He begot but by His gift and by adoption (Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 166.4).

Deification or the “divinization of the Christian is not an identification with God [but] an assimilation, a very eminent restoration of the original divine likeness [through a process where one] participates by grace in the perfections that God possesses by nature” (Gross, 1936/2003). Deification results Continue reading “What is deification? – Response to a question” →

The mystical Levitical priesthood – 3 – The spiritual priesthood

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“The faithful who have noetic prayer* . . . [that is, those whose heart of their souls has been reopened through purification and llumination, and pray from said heart, the nous] have spiritual priesthood, especially those who have reached such a degree of grace as to pray for the whole world. This is the spiritual liturgy on behalf of the world. The prayers of these people, who sacrifice Continue reading “The mystical Levitical priesthood – 3 – The spiritual priesthood” →

On God the Father – 2 – Why He created us

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We were created to love Him and adore Him, being infinitely loved, held and cherished in return

God our Father created us – human beings; men, women and children – precisely “because He is a Father and has a Son from eternity” (Staniloae, 2012, p. 39). Hence, the First Person of the Holy Trinity created “a category of beings toward whom He could show a love like the one that exists between Him and His Son” (ibid.), because since He is Infinite Love – and love, true love, Continue reading “On God the Father – 2 – Why He created us” →