January 22
Divinization
he same honor,
the same latreutic worship that is paid to the divinity is paid to the
humanity as well, inasmuch as it subsists in the divinity. And therefore
God cannot confer a greater dignity upon a human being than to give it
a share in the veneration due to himself. As Saint John Damascene explains
how latreutic worship can be paid to a creature: "As a lighted piece
of charcoal is not simply wood but wood united to fire, so the flesh of
Christ is not mere flesh but flesh united to the Godhead." In that
passage he speaks therefore of the flesh of Christ as divinized; because
of this divinization there is a sharing in the honor and veneration due
to God.
The eternal Word willed to stoop to such great poverty, in order that
he might enrich us abundantly with heavenly gifts. Should one reflect on
the manner in which he enriched us, one would find it wonderful indeed,
since he enriched us by his poverty and endowed us out of his indigence.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
