“Ave atque vale!” These are the traditional words of valediction at a Roman funeral, and were made famous by Catullus’ poem commemorating the funeral of his brother. They mean, “Hail and farewell!”
The Bible tells us that we too have died and been buried. Our baptism was the funeral service for the old man and the birth-celebration for the new child of God born from above. But we also die on a daily basis. Every day we are called to carry our cross, the instrument of our execution. Every day we are to put the sin nature to death, to re-enact what Christ underwent in His passion.
On the Cross, as His body was dying, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” So it must be with us. We commit our lives to God when we ask Jesus to become our saviour. This is an act of faith: we choose to rely on God to meet our need; we trust in His love and grace.
But God wants to transform the whole person, and this is where our death fits into the picture. We need to say goodbye to the old ways of thinking, the old fears and confidences. We have to let God change every part of us, to shape us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our insecurities lie in different places, according to the makeup of the individual. One man looks for security in alcohol, another in money, another in political power, and so on. The old man says, “I have a deep need, and this is the only thing that can satisfy it!” The new man says, “Yes I have a need, but nothing on this earth can satisfy it. God alone can fill that hole: apart from Him there is emptiness and sorrow.”
These attitudes are at war with one another: the former looks for solutions in the physical, the temporal, the finite, the imperfect. The latter sees by faith that the answer is found in God, who is spirit, who is eternal, who is infinite, who is perfect.
All we go down to the dust;
and weeping o’er the grave we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Faith sees through the veil of perception. This world of sensations is a world of shadows cast by the true reality of the heavenly dimension. Its pain and pleasure are real; our lives are real; but God is more than this. If we mistake Him for His creation, we become pantheists and fall into logical contradiction.
Non intellego ut credam, sed credo ut intellegam.
All Along the Watchtower 
Just as after our birth each person must struggle against the dangers to its life and endure sicknesses, enemies, wars and famine etc. so too after our rebirth into the spiritual life after baptism. The same problems are still manifest but to these are now added a dimension to our struggles which are supernatural and even more demanding. There is, in that sense, a higher meaning given to that which previously had no meaning in and of itself such as suffering and death. These things can now be understood in a new light and if not rationally embraced, certainly spiritually embraced. Our blindness, if our rebirth is effectual and we take care to preserve it, is taken away and a new way of seeing is opened up to us that was never so much as even imagined. The new creation has then matured into a the new man.
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Indeed. We wrestle not only against thoughts, but against the agents who create and disseminate those thoughts. The gods of the Gentiles who refuse to bow the knee to Yahweh work against those who do, for which reason there is war in heaven, until the time Holy Michael casts down the Devil.
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I like to think of it in a similar manner as our understanding of Christ Himself. For if we are being transformed into other Christ’s we have an imperfect version in our new birth to Christ; 1 Divine Person with 2 natures . . . 1 human and the other Divine. With us it is 1 human person with 2 natures that are human and divine. If we do well and develop into the New Man, which is a mere reflection of Chrsit, then we too have hope in becoming, in a way, devine ourselves, through spiritual adoption as God’s children. Our lives then becoming the work of shining up our mirrors so that we too can reflect Christ all the better and reveal His Glory in our imperfect ways.
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Some have also seen a mirroring of the Trinity in the Pauline tripartite formulation of humans as body, soul, and spirit – notably John G. Lake. We can also refer to our status as “sons of God” in the positional sense. The new sons of God (i.e. Christians) replace the old sons of God (i.e. the gods), which is why both John and Paul affirm our role as God’s new council, drawing on Daniel 7.
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I think one of the best summations of what the purpose and path of those who desire to be transformed by Christ in this world is found in the words of St. Ignatius. It goes without saying that it is far easier to say or to pray these things to live it.
PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION
Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.
And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.
From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.
For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.
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St Ignatius of Loyola truly had a discerning mind.
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He did and I would bet that he is turning over in his grave to see what has become of the order which he founded. St. Ignatius pray for us.
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Well, the convulsions of this present age were foreseen by Daniel and Paul. If people don’t want to accept the truth, then they will find any excuse to get away from it. Case in point, the dogged refusal in the academic community to reject realism and materialism and substance dualism.
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Satan is prowing the halls of almost every institution these days. We need to familiarize ourselves with his lies and distortions if we are not to be victimized. Not that this is anything new . . . only now it has become the norm and he no longer needs hide in the shadows.
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Indeed, and this I believe is what St Paul meant when he referred to the “lawlessness” of the last days. I understand him to be referring to intellectual lawlessness (which then results in social anarchy).
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Aye, it is both as I tried to point out in a few posts and comments. Law presumes order and yet lawlessness presumes a lack of order. We suffer from the latter and it still remains whether we will again regain this or if this is a prelude to the return of the One who is the Law and the Order of all the universe.
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Indeed. I would argue inductively that the constellation and intensity of signs we are experiencing mean that it is very probable that Christ’s return is near.
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One cannot say but it is not surprising that many are seeing the signs or intuiting the same conclusion.
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This is a prayer I say most days on waking.
St Patrick’s Breastplate
I arise today, through a mighty strength,
the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the
threeness, through confession
of the oneness, of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today, through the strength of Christ’s
birth with his baptism, through the strength
of his crucifixion with his burial,
through the strength of his resurrection with his
ascension, through the strength of his
descent for the judgment of Doom.
I arise today, through the strength
of the love of the Cherubim,
in obedience of angels, in the service
of archangels, in the hope of the resurrection
to meet with reward, in the prayers
of patriarchs, in prediction of prophets,
in preaching of apostles, in faith of confessors,
in innocence of holy virgins, in deeds of
righteous men.
I arise today, through the strength of heaven;
light of sun, radiance of moon, splendor of fire,
speed of lightning, swiftness of wind,
depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock.
I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide
me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to
hear me, God’s word to speak to me,
God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me, from the snares of devils,
from temptations of vices, from every one who
shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in
a multitude.
I summon today, all these powers between me
and those evils, against every cruel merciless
power that may oppose my body and soul,
against incantations of false prophets, against
black laws of pagandom,
against false laws of heretics, against craft of
idolatry, against spells of women and
smiths and wizards, against every knowledge
that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ to shield me today, against poisoning,
against burning, against drowning, against
wounding, so there come to me abundance
of reward.
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A fine prayer to start the day indeed, Malcolm.
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Scoop, it covers everything and parts of the prayer I know by heart with repeated saying.
Especially this, Its known as the Deers Cry.
I arise today, through the strength of heaven;
light of sun, radiance of moon, splendor of fire,
speed of lightning, swiftness of wind,
depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock.
I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide
me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to
hear me, God’s word to speak to me,
God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
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Malcolm, thank you for this.
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I missed out the last part of the prayer
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me, Christ on my right,
Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye of every one that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
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