Experiencing God - Incorporated Into Christ 33

Five truths of the Christian Faith that, if we take them seriously and live them daily, will completely transform our lives:
1.  Christ really lives within us
2.  We have many false selves, and we are incapable of healing our own state of disintegration.  Only the Divine Physician can heal us.  Only Jesus can fill us and lead us to our fullest potential.
3.  It is through the Holy Spirit that we can fully know Jesus, and in union with Him, find our true identity.
4.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, our hidden selves can grow strong, and Christ can live in our heart through faith.
5.  We will grow into our true "selves" by dying to our unreal selves.  This is called "an incorporation into Christ".  This is real union.  The life of Christ risen is shared with us in an intimate way.
George Maloney SJ - "Alone With The Alone"

When St. Paul left Ephesus after three years of ministry there. a Christian community had been formed.  Upon his leaving, he spoke to the Ephesians in a very moving way.  His words were more a caution to remain faithful.  Faithful to whom?  Faithful to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Paul knew that this small community which he had dedicated his life too transform would be subject to many temptations.  Paul referred to these temptations as fierce wolves that would try to persuade them to abandon their faith in Christ, and to induce them into falling back into their old ways.

If we look at those old ways in today's terms, what would they be?  They would be anything that would lead us to a false way of living, a false way of being.  It could mean getting caught up in consumerism, greed, profiteering at the expense of others, unhealthy pre-occupations with pleasures or self-gratification.  Really, anything that would take us away from the life built on Christ, to move us back to a more self-centered existence.

St. Paul assured the Ephesians that he did not act in this manner himself while he was with them.  He renounced that as a way of life because he knew it would lead to death.

In the Gospels, Jesus prays for His disciples for the same thing.  "Father, keep those you have given me true to your name so that they may be like us."  In other words, protect them from everything that leads to death in order that they may be given the joy of New Life through the Holy Spirit.  It is an appeal that they remain incorporated into Christ, to live their lives fully as Christ had taught them.

This is not just a message that is only relevant to the people of Ephesus, or to the disciples of Christ.  It is a message that is particularly relevant to us today.  We cannot be incorporated into Christ, into this real intimate union that Fr. George Maloney speaks about, unless we are incorporated in the community of which Christ is a part.  We cannot heal our own state of disintegration.  This can only be done by the Divine Physician, Christ.  We need that exposure to the community of faith where Christ is present in order that our true selves grow strong.