Emmanuel
Christ to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us.
For he has made known to us the mystery of his will that he set forth in
Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:5-10).
Christ was a part of God’s purpose in creation from the start: Adam’s sin
came as no surprise to God! The biblical word for sin is hamartia, which
means “falling short of the mark.” Our being sinners in this sense is a part
of the divine plan. It is only by grace and the proper use of our freedom,
by opening ourselves to the love which God inspires in our hearts, that
we are able to overcome the deficiencies with which we are born and to
keep growing into the perfect charity that is our calling.
God’s plan for our lives, then, is a constant metanoia, “conversion,” or
turning to God: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
We will never reach complete charity in this life, but by God’s grace we
can keep growing out of our alienation and into complete reconciliation
with others, living fruitfully and with graciousness toward the world
around us.
This understanding of God’s love and plan in a unified creation-salvation
history calls for less emphasis on sin and more on grace, which is the
constant emphasis in Paul’s epistles: “Where sin increased, grace
abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). It calls for us to do less breast-beating
and more celebrating of God’s love and grace when we come to render
Eucharist (“thanksgiving”) to God as a community gathered to celebrate
God’s work, “who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Life, by God’s plan, is constant growth into the perfection of virtues. “We
are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Eph 2:10).
In the Eucharist, we receive not only Christ, the head of the body, but its members
as well.
Communitarian Focus
Jesus’ explanation of how we make our contribution to the great divine
project in creation is expressed succinctly and beautifully in his new
commandment: “Love one another just as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).
This is also at the very center of our Eucharistic Prayer, as explained by
Jesuit Father General Pedro Arrupe:
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