Tuesday, June 3, 2008

2Cor 4, 16-18 What is unseen is eternal

(2Cor 4, 16-18) What is unseen is eternal
[16] Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. [17] For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, [18] as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
(CCC 42) God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, imagebound or imperfect, if we are not to confuse our image of God --"the inexpressible, the incomprehensible, the invisible, the ungraspable"-- with our human representations (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Anaphora). Our human words always fall short of the mystery of God. (CCC 50) By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation (Cf. Dei Filius: DS 3015). Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (CCC 260) The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God's creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity (Cf. Jn 17:21-23). But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: "If a man loves me", says the Lord, "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him": (Jn 14:23). O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me forget myself entirely so to establish myself in you, unmovable and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to trouble my peace or make me leave you, O my unchanging God, but may each minute bring me more deeply into your mystery! Grant my soul peace. Make it your heaven, your beloved dwelling and the place of your rest. May I never abandon you there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to your creative action (Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity).

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