Clinic Cases December 2019
Incarnation: Christian Theol. Effectuation of the hypostatic union through the conception of the second person of the Trinity in the womb of the Virgin Mary
Webster’s New World Dictionary
Hypostasis: Christian Theol. The union of the wholly divine nature and of a wholly human nature in the one person of Jesus Christ (in full hypostatic union)
Kenosis: Christian Theol. The voluntary abasement of the second person of the Trinity in becoming man
Third College Edition
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1-5, 14
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came to be through Him and without Him nothing came to be. What came to be
4 through Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race,
5 the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son full of grace and truth.
The common Christian reading of the Bible is that Jesus “died for our sins”—either to pay a dept to the devil (common in the first millennium) or to pay a dept to God the Father (proposed by Anselm of Canterbury, 1033- 1109). Anselm’s infamous Cur Deus Homo has been called “the most unfortunately successful piece of theology ever written.” My hero, Franciscan philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus, (1266-1308) agreed with neither of these understandings……For Scotus the Incarnation of God and the redemption of the world could never be a mop-up exercise in response to human sinfulness, but the proactive work of God from the very beginning. We were “chosen in Christ before the world was made,” as the hymn in Ephesians put it (1:4). Our sin could not possibly be the motive for the divine Incarnation, but only perfect love and divine self-revelation! ….The Incarnation in Scotus’ theology is the whole purpose of creation.
Father Richard Rohr, OFM
It is impossible to imagine the creator of the universe voluntarily reducing Himself to the helplessness of an infant. It is hard to wrap your mind around the deep and magnificent meaning of the Incarnation: that God, in a supreme act of Self-emptying love, became poor for us, entering fully into our flawed humanity in order that we could have the chance to enter more fully into God’s perfect divinity. Franciscan theology claims that the primary motivation for God’s Incarnation is God`s goodness, not human sinfulness. Francis of Assisi understood that the Incarnation was a dynamic expression of God’s overflowing love and mercy, as well as a revelation of God’s poverty and humility.
Gerard Thomas Straub
Posted in Reflections
The Lord would not only love His creation as a Father, but would enter in to His creation, emptying Himself, hiding Himself, as if He were not God but a creature. Why should He do this? Because He loved His creatures and because He could not bear that His creatures should merely adore Him as distant, remote, transcendent, and all-powerful.
Thomas Merton
One day God wanted to come down and enjoy His creation. He took the form of an elderly man in a flowing white robe and began walking along seashore. A child saw Him and approached Him and said:
“You look like God.”
God answered, “I am God.”
“Wow,” said the child. “Can I ask you some questions? There are certain things I do not understand.”
“Of course,“ God said.
“Why did you become man and die for us?” asked the child.
“I became man so that I could be seen and loved. Before I became man I was distant, separate from my creation. I wanted to become a part of my creation, to touch and experience it as you and other humans do. In short, I became man out of love,” answered God.
“But why did you suffer and die?” asked the child.
“I suffered and died to share with you your suffering and the suffering of others. I would not ask you to do anything I would not do,” answered God. “Why do we suffer?” asked the child incredulously. “Suffering can be a gift,” God answered. “It causes the person who suffers to come close to Me, to talk to Me, and so enter into the kingdom of heaven. If there were no suffering people would forget Me, would become totally independent and separate from Me, and we would not share our love for one another. Also, the person suffering elicits compassion from others, and the others, in seeing the person suffering, forget themselves and their own needs and in so doing enter into our shared love since as I said so long ago, whatever you do to the least of these my little ones you do to me. So you see, suffering can be a gift.”
The child, with a puzzled look on his face, asked God, “What can help me to believe and understand what you have just said?”
“Faith,” God responded.
What questions would you ask of God if you were that hypothetical child? There are so many things we do not understand about our world. Wars, violence, poverty, all beg for answers. Most of the evil in the world is due to man’s use of his free will. When God granted man free will He became vulnerable and assumed this vulnerability so that man could choose to love Him or reject Him, so that He would not impose His will on man, another sign of God’s humility. Unfortunately many do choose to reject Him and in so doing trample and ignore the rights and needs of others. However, on the other side of the coin, we do see immense good in the world, compassionate persons responding to other people’s needs, all due to love, a love for one another that mirrors God’s love for us. God is love and in the end love and goodness will triumph.
God’s love is nowhere more apparent than in the children of the world. Each child is a gift to be cherished, nurtured and brought to fulfillment. Hidden in each child is a treasure for the future of the world. We must support all children and ensure their wellbeing, especially the most vulnerable children. They light the pathway to God for us.
The following is a mother’s prayer which pertains to all of us:
All too often I forget that Your kingdom belongs to the children and those who become like them. Give me a deep awe and respect for the precious ones you have entrusted to me. Help me understand what a supreme honor it is to see the world through their simple eyes, especially the things of the Spirit.
Sherry Boas
from A Mother’s Bouquet
All of us here at the Villa La Paz Foundation and Hogar San Francisco de Asís remain grateful for your support of our children. God’s blessings on you and yours during the Celebration of His Birth and in the New Year. We love you and wish you His peace.